“We Need…to Be Better” – Joe Gibbs Grandson Critical of Career Best Finish as Toyota Makes an Epic Comeback

After a three-week Chevrolet winning streak, Toyota has laid down the marker with their new Camry and JGR driver Christopher Bell earned a dominant victory at the Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. Besides #20’s performance, it was overall a good weekend for the team and especially for Ty Gibbs, who finished P3. The driver of the #54 car had a great moment as he earned a career-high finish in the Cup Series. Gibbs’ solid finish is a testament to the fact that he’s prepared to change his fate this season. But, the young driver also realizes that in order for that to happen, he’ll have to do better. Talking about the same, the racer, in a post-race interview, dissected his run and emphasized the need for improvement.

Ty Gibbs started the season where he left off last year with a string of strong finishes. Many have also opined that he seems like a potential race winner this year. However, there will be a lot to prove for the young driver who was the only JGR star not to make the playoffs in 2023.

Ty Gibbs outlines where JGR needs to get better but hails Phoenix performance

In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Toyotas only led 15 out of a whopping 1,253 laps at the Phoenix Raceway. In the 2024 United Rentals Work United 500, Toyota cars lead 298 out of the 312 laps, which is an improvement of unbelievable proportions. Five of their drivers led the race and for the first time in the manufacturer’s history, 4 drivers led 50 laps or more in a single Cup Series race.

On the other hand, for Ty Gibbs, it was a career-best Cup Series race finish of P3 and he had words of praise for both his manufacturer and Joe Gibbs Racing. The start to the season had not been the best for them and to come out with such a dominant display was absolutely exceptional. However, it is only one race and there is still a lot of work left to be done as per Joe Gibbs’ grandson.

“Just need a little bit more…it’s a good day, really good recovery,” Gibbs said to a reporter after the event, adding, “Yeah I think that JGR and Toyota…they’ve done a great job. We are happy with it, but we need to be a little bit better. It’s definitely a positive from the last two Phoenix races.”

He might believe that some things need to be improved, but one thing is for certain, there will be a party at Joe Gibbs Racing tonight and that’s all thanks to Christopher Bell, who handed the team a much-needed race win.

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It has been a while since JGR has been the champion of stock car racing. It has been a very long time, in fact. Last season, when Bell made it to the championship finale, it signified the changing of the guard. Maybe Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr’s time at the top of the team has come to an end. Maybe it’s time for the new generation to step up and that’s exactly what the driver of the #20 did on Sunday. He is the first Toyota winner of the season and he will hope to do what he failed last year in the championship race.

“Man, this one feels really good. Just a credit to (crew chief) Adam (Stevens), man. Adam, my engineers… all the mechanics on this thing. You don’t get cars like that very often, as you know. Just super, super proud. Proud to be on this #20 car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have the capability of running races like this a lot. Hopefully, this is the first of many this year,” he said after the race as per NASCAR.

It will be interesting to see how the Joe Gibbs Racing star performs for the rest of the season. Being one of the youngest drivers in the team, this season might be the perfect opportunity for Christopher Bell to assert himself as the top driver in the team.

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