AUSTIN, Texas — When the NASCAR Cup Series took to the 3.41-mile Circuit of The Americas road course Saturday morning for practice, Ty Gibbs controlled most categories. His No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the first car to hit the track and sat atop the scoring pylon throughout the extended session until the waning seconds when William Byron jumped to first.
Byron nipped Gibbs in qualifying, and the sophomore driver would start from third position in the 68-lap race. The No. 54 team still believed it was going to be a contender in the outcome of Sunday’s race.
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Gibbs raced inside the top five for the extent of the opening stage before his crew chief Chris Gayle called him to pit road from second position, coming to two laps remaining in the stage. With the bulk of the field flipping the stage, Gibbs still earned three stage points by finishing eighth.
Seeing how the race was playing out, Gibbs was called to pit road again late in the second stage, giving up valuable stage points to be in contention for the win in the final stage. Gibbs placed 11th in Stage 2, missing out on stage points by the slimmest of margins.
Throughout the final stage, Gibbs was just a tick off from Byron’s lightning pace. Christopher Bell made a late rally to pass the No. 54 car within the final five laps of the race for second position. Gibbs held on to third at the checkered flag, tying the best finish of his career (Phoenix Raceway, two weeks ago).
It was a solid showing for Gibbs, who’s currently on a streak of five straight top-10 finishes, the longest streak of his Cup career.
“We track these things we call strong performances, right? Which are top fives, leading laps and getting stage points and leading in the last part of the race,” Gayle said after the race. “This was another one for us. We honestly felt like we had a shot to win today. We needed to be a tiny bit better car-wise to pull it off, and you need to flip position and get to the lead, and I think we would have been in an OK spot.
“Long runs, we were better. Short runs, we weren’t quite good enough. It was trading off that. We got the long run but still didn’t quite get there. It’s a good day. Good to be disappointed with a third.”
The frustration was apparent on Gibbs’ face following the event. All that matters to him currently is winning his first Cup race as he remains winless through 57 attempts.
“It was good, but the most important is a win, and that’s what I wish I could have got,” Gibbs said. “It’s a good points day, looking at the big picture.”
Gibbs jumped to second in the regular season championship standings behind only his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. Six races into his sophomore season, he’s a slim five points off the lead. Gibbs’ 7.8 average finish through six races leads the Cup Series.
MORE: 2024 Cup standings | Gibbs’ career stats
Gayle, who has been paired with Gibbs for the last four seasons dating back to the Xfinity Series, has seen his driver mature in great spurts. Nearly every week, the No. 54 car is part of the conversation for the win.
“[He’s] ahead of schedule probably,” Gayle added. “We’re right on pace where he’s doing a good job, but I think we’re going to take two steps forward, and there will be one every now and then we regress on because we’re still ahead of schedule. It’s still early in his career.
“To be this high in points, to have the start to the season that we’ve had, now we’ve got a margin where if that happens we’re still in good shape. I think that’s what is good is we’re in a good position right now.”
With a pair of short tracks on the horizon, the schedule continues to lend itself to the No. 54 team. Gayle believes the team had a car capable of winning last fall at Martinsville Speedway before getting plowed by Joey Logano during the final stage. First up is a 400-lap event on Easter Sunday at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where the team has struggled.
“We need to be a little better than where we are, but we’ve been able to do that at some of these race tracks so far this year,” Gayle said of Richmond. “If we continue the improvement that we did from last year to these first few events, we will be in good shape.”
RICHMOND: Upcoming schedule