HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — Ty Gibbs uses few words to describe his driving style and what he likes in his No. 54 Toyota Camry XSE, but his results in 2026 speak volumes.
In the 10 NASCAR Cup Series races run this season, the 23-year-old has finished among the top-10 seven times, a mark highlighted by his breakthrough victory April 12 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Asked about the achievement in his post-win press conference, Gibbs said, “It feels good. It’s an honor to win with my family.”
Gibbs drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, the team his grandfather debuted 35 years ago in the Daytona 500.
Joe Gibbs, then the head coach of the NFL’s Washington franchise, with two of his three Super Bowl titles already in hand, had successfully pitched Interstate Batteries CEO Norm Miller on backing his nascent Cup Series team with driver Dale Jarrett.
They debuted together in the 1991 Daytona 500 and promptly won The Great American Race a year later. It was the first of JGR’s 229 Cup Series victories, the most recent being Ty Gibbs’ Bristol triumph.
“This is our future. This is what we want to do as a family. We love it,” said Joe Gibbs after Ty’s win at Bristol.
JGR’s past and present sport the iconic bright green hue of Dallas-based Interstate Batteries, the leading replacement battery brand in the United States. Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Ty Gibbs will carry the tenured colors of Interstate Batteries on his No. 54 Toyota in the Würth 400.
“Interstate Batteries has been a part of my family’s team since the very beginning,” Ty Gibbs said. “I’ve grown up with them. It’s cool to have such a long-standing partnership with them and to be able to carry on their legacy in NASCAR.”
JGR has nine Cup Series wins at Texas, and on three of those occasions, it has been a green Interstate Batteries machine in victory lane, all at the hands of Kyle Busch – April 2013, April 2016 and April 2018.
A 10th Texas win, and the 230th Cup win for JGR, are in Ty Gibbs’ purview as he chases his second career victory.
“We’ve got a great team with a lot of experience,” Ty Gibbs said. “Having the right people around you, it means a lot and it makes a big difference.”
Racing and winning at JGR is a family affair. Ty’s mother, Heather, is a co-owner of the team, and his cousins, Jackson, Miller and Jason, are all present within JGR. Jackson is a tire changer on the pit crew, Miller works in the marketing department and is also part of the team’s pit crew development program, and Jason recently joined the social media team.
“Coach started all of this with Interstate Batteries, and the same drive and determination he had then, he has today,” Ty Gibbs said. “He’s at the shop early and is there late, and his commitment to this place and this sport shows.
“Coach is after it. My mother is after it. My cousins are after it. We’re all chasing one goal – winning.”
