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Chris Graythen\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\nTy Gibbs wants racing to be \u201cfun.\u201d Crew chief Tyler Allen points to the way both men have matured in their respective roles as the reason for their success this year in NASCAR\u2019s Cup Series.<\/p>\n
Apparently, it\u2019s the combination of fun and maturity that\u2019s working for the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team this season. <\/p>\n
Related Story<\/p>\n
This year, the duo produced Gibbs\u2019 first career Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500. That victory made Gibbs the fifth driver to record his inaugural win in NASCAR\u2019s premier series at the tough half-mile track.<\/p>\n
In the season\u2019s first eight races, Gibbs and his JGR team have recorded six-consecutive top-10 finishes. He hasn\u2019t finished outside the top 10 since the second race in February at Atlanta. Of those top 10s, all of them were top fives except one, a sixth at Darlington. Gibbs is fourth in the driver standings, 19 points behind third-place JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. He trails standings leader Tyler Reddick by 105 points. <\/p>\n
Chris Graythen\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Ty Gibbs with team owner (and grandpa) Joe Gibbs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this points format suits us well,\u201d Allen said. \u201cTakes a little bit of that pressure off to win but adds the pressure to be consistent. I think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done so well this year.\u201d
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This year\u2019s performance is a huge change from the two men\u2019s inaugural season together in 2025. Last year, they recorded five top-five and 10 top-finishes in 36 races.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took us a while to get to know each other,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThat was no surprise to me. He can get frustrated. I tend to be a little more level. If he\u2019s out there complaining about the race car, I\u2019m trying to figure out what to do to fix the race car. But I think he\u2019s matured a lot. At the end of last year and at the beginning of this year, he\u2019s shown a lot of maturity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took us a while to get to know each other. That was no surprise to me. He can get frustrated. I tend to be a little more level.\u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of discussions about how last year went, how we wanted to go into 2026. A lot of that was about having each other\u2019s backs. I\u2019m not going to make the right call every time. He might speed on pit road. We need to be OK on that and focus forward. I think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done really good this year is focus forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen described the duo\u2019s 2025 season as a \u201ccharacter-building kind of year.\u201d <\/p>\n
Related Story<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were really struggling with performance,\u201d Allen explained. \u201cA lot of stuff going on in the background that no one really knows. But we were focused on building the program. It wasn\u2019t going to be something that got better immediately. I\u2019m a young crew chief; he\u2019s a young driver. I think this past month-and-a-half has built confidence in all of us, me especially on the (pit) box, Ty in the car, that we can perform at the level that JGR should perform at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gibbs noted in his post-race interview that one victory doesn\u2019t define one\u2019s career; however, Allen said the Bristol win was the \u201cconfidence boost\u201d that both of them needed. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been saying forever when he gets one, he\u2019s going to get a lot,\u201d Allen continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe just loves driving race cars. He wants it to be fun. I said, \u2018We\u2019re going to make this year fun.\u2019 He\u2019s having fun right now. A loose, fun Ty is a fast Ty.\u201d <\/p>\n
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