The 2023 Cup Series season was indeed the beginning of a new era for Joe Gibbs Racing. The departure of Kyle Busch after a long and successful stint led many to believe that JGR would take a hit after losing out on their star driver. Instead, the team had some major surprises of the season, one of them being their new driver, Ty Gibbs. While many young talents are touted to be the next big thing in NASCAR, in reality, very few of them live up to their billing.

Fortunately for JGR, they were not dealing with unknowns when signing up Gibbs for the No. 54 drive. Racing alongside Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, and Christopher Bell, the 21-year-old was impressive throughout the camping. However, one would argue that Gibbs’ stint wasn’t that big of a deal without the wins in his debut season, but a Rookie of the Season title counts for something. That being said, he has now caught the attention of rival drivers and teams going into the 2024 season, sizing him up as a real competitor.

Ty Gibbs could prove to be a dark horse this season

The Athletics reporter, Jordan Bianchi, recently conducted an anonymous garage poll. This poll included drivers, team members, and even executives, but their identities were not disclosed. While there were several segments laid out in the report, one that concerned Gibbs, was his pick as the biggest surprise for the 2024 season.

Leading the charts by a narrow margin was Ty Gibbs. It has to be noted that the upcoming season will see the likes of Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek, and Justin Haley take the field. However, given that JGR’s No. 54 has already passed his rookie season with flying colors, the next step is to compete for wins and potentially even eye a playoff spot.

Additionally, you’ve got to take into consideration that MTJ was a regular-season champion. On the other hand, Bell and Hamlin were in contention for the championships. So there was hardly any wiggle room for the young driver to make his space in racking up the wins, at least. In terms of consistency, Ty Gibbs managed a total of ten top-10 finishes and three top-fives. His best finish throughout the season was a P4 finish at Charlotte Roval.

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Needless to say, there’s room to improve for Ty Gibbs in the upcoming season. After a good all-round effort from the entire team, as they were firing on full cylinders last season, going into 2024 will be an air of expectation surrounding Gibbs.

Gibbs is seen as the successor to Truex Jr and Hamlin

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From the outside, the JGR team looks like a well-oiled machine, at least in the past few years, that has been the case. But they cannot be operating like this for long. Both their senior drivers, Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin, are in their 40s, so give or take, they have a couple of seasons left in their tanks. Therefore, seeing Gibbs and Bell get more podium finishes the next season would only add value to the team’s future aspirations.

Denny Hamlin might even feel this season will be his best shot at lifting the championship, owing to the momentum and ride he has. So you see the point why JGR and Gibbs need to start churning out positive results. On the other hand, Christopher Bell is indeed leading the charge and working towards that transition phase, but the team will need Gibbs to contribute as well.

SHR’s dependence on one driver did cost them dearly, and JGR certainly would want to stay away from such a scenario. However, confidence is the key, they say, for a NASCAR driver. Luckily for JGR, Ty Gibbs is running high on this particular metric.

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