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Motorsport

INSANE: Ty gibbs first win is about validation but they don t see it that way | Vintage Vibes

Ty Gibbs Chris Gabehart

There was a degree of validation attached to winning the Food City 500 on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway for Ty Gibbs, crew chief Tyler Allen and team owner and grandfather Coach Joe Gibbs.

That last title is especially relevant.

One thing that has been uncovered since Joe Gibbs Racing sued former competition director Chris Gabehart in February is a conviction from the defendant that Coach often conflates 'grandfather' and 'team owner' when it comes to the No. 54 car.

Gabehart claims that the No. 54 was treated differently because the driver is part of the family. Gabehart has stated in court filings that he was undermined by the family in trying to hold the younger Gibbs accountable last season.

At one point, the No. 54 car was struggling so mightily that Coach replaced Allen on top of the pit box with Gabehart, only further exaggerating the tensions between all involved. The No. 54 never did get that first win in 2025 and Gabehart took a job at Spire Motorsports that resulted in litigation.

The whole thing painted the No. 54 car, Gibbs and Allen like an internal mess, which made it all the more surprising when they came out of the figurative gate extremely competitive this season.

Ignoring the two crashfest drafting track races to open the season, Gibbs has finished no worse than sixth over the past six races and now scored that elusive victory in his 131st start at the highest level.

He did it with paired with Allen, leaving both the crew chief and owner-grandfather very proud and validated … not that the driver cares what anyone on the outside has to say about him.

"People can say what they want, can say false things ..." said Ty after winning the race. "I'm not big on social media. I just love racing cars."

Without even being asked about it, he addressed claims from Gabehart that he skipped competition meetings, which was part of the accountability concerns.

"Obviously people are going to say false things about how I wasn't present in meetings," Ty said. "I've been the same the whole time, just to clarify that."

What does he have to say to his detractors?

"I don't care," he said. "Something else to focus on, I guess. I guess today they're going to have to focus on something else."

Allen got emotional talking about what this does for them too.

"Yeah, I think Ty needed this," Allen said before choking up a little bit. "We both needed this. We're a team. We both needed this confidence boost. I've been saying forever when he gets one, he's going to get a lot.

"It's just huge for the team, his confidence. It's been a really good start to the year."

It would have been really easy for this driver and crew chief to be fractured by the decision made by Coach to put Gabehart on the pit box last summer. But for his part, the three-time Super Bowl winning head coach made a football analogy.

"I told him, ‘I worked under four different head coaches before I ever had a chance to be a head coach (and) I learned a lot from each one of them.’ … They were all different. But highly motivated (and) very successful.

"I think for a young guy, he’s already got a lot of experience there because he's went through a lot. But hopefully he really enjoys this one, too."

His grandson said he didn’t want to reach this level of success with any other person atop the pit box.

"We've had a ton of fun this year," Ty said. "Tyler has been such a great crew chief. People are going to stir stuff up in the media. I might not be the most-liked person, so everybody is going to jump on it because they don't have much going on. That's what's going to happen.

"We've been in all the meetings, hammering down, working hard, pushing teammates to the win and stuff like that, like last year at Talladega. … Me and Tyler obviously have been through a lot, a lot of crazy stuff. To be in the position we're at now, we both believe in each other, we knew it the whole time. It's super cool to work with Tyler. Tyler is the one. Credit to Tyler."

All told, the Coach isn’t interested in talking about ‘validation’ because as he sees it, his grandson is just the latest 23-year-old around the 100 full-time starts mark to finally put it together.

“No, I don't,” he said. “I think our team there that we have put together now is really, really a huge deal. It's real hard up here, as you guys know, to get a crew chief, to get the pit crew. The pit crew today, those guys were on it.

“They as a group, too, I think believe in Ty and believe that he can do it. You go to the racetrack a lot and you haven't won, it's tough to go through that.

“Ty is 23. I've checked a lot of some of the really, really good ones somewhere around there. 23 is about when. We'll see about the future. You have to earn it every week here. There's nothing given to you.”

And Ty himself sees what comes next as just a continuation of the status quo. He says he still refuses to engage on social media and he doesn’t see Sunday changing anything fundamentally over how he views himself.

“One win doesn't change my career not one bit,” he said. “I knew I was capable of it. My team, obviously I know they're capable of it so yeah, doesn't mean anything. I could win the next five or just win this one and be done for a long time. It doesn't mean anything.

“I feel like I knew I was capable of doing it. It's obviously about putting it together. We've had great runs in the past. People are going to hammer me on my position I'm in. That's fair. I don't really care. Just keep working hard. I really love racing, so it's fun.”