Ty Gibbs shocked the NASCAR community when he won in his first Xfinity Series start earlier this year in February. The 18-year old has continued to turn heads throughout the 2021 season. Having won three of the ten races he’s competed in. But his performance raises the question. Have we seen this before? Or should he be considered a “once in a generation” talent?
The young driver is only racing part-time in Xfinity this year so things like endurance, at least schedule-wise, are out of the question. But we can still go over racing ability, strategic style, and compare him to previous drivers to get an idea of how good this kid is.
Previous Xfinity Drivers
Over the past few years, the Xfinity Series has seen a ton of great young talent. But the driver who reminds me a lot of Gibbs is William Byron. Byron competed full-time in the 2017 Xfinity season, in which he won four of the 33 races. Ty Gibbs has almost tied him in wins in only a third of the races. Not to mention that he is a year younger than Byron was when he was in Xfinity.
Now, a lot of that could be boiled down to the teams they race(d) for as well as racing style. Gibbs has a more aggressive style (Daytona road course race for example) while Byron likes to stay back and be more strategic. That in itself can bring more wins but isn’t necessarily the best thing to do when competing for a championship. Luckily for Gibbs, he isn’t, so he can go out there and be as aggressive as he wants to. Simply because a bad day isn’t going to affect his season. He’s going out there to show what he can do.
My Take
Ty Gibbs is an amazing driver don’t get me wrong. But we can’t really know how good he is until he competes for a full season. One of the big things in NASCAR, like many sports, is the longevity of your success. How long can you be the best before the inevitable win drought comes? If he can compete in a full season and continue to win races as he has. Who’s to say he can’t be the next Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson? It’s just too early to call at this point. But I’m excited to see where his career takes him!
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