With the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season three days away from commencing, Joe Gibbs Racing unveiled the news that had been amplifying from months by announcing that Ty Gibbs will driving for the organization on a full-time basis in the Xfinity circuit.
The 19-year-old grandson of Joe Gibbs, team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing and a NASCAR Hall of Famer, from Charlotte, North Carolina, will be piloting the No. 54 Toyota Supra, beginning at Daytona International Speedway, in his quest to contend for his first Xfinity Series driver’s championship and defend JGR’s title following the 2021 championship-winning season with Daniel Hemric, who is now competing for Kaulig Racing. Veteran Chris Gayle, who led the No. 54 JGR Toyota team to 11 victories and a runner-up result in the 2021 Xfinity Series’ owners’ standings while working with seven different competitors, will be returning to JGR to serve as Gibbs’ crew chief.
“I’m excited to get going on the 2022 season,” Gibbs, who will make his first NASCAR national touring series start at Daytona, said in a team statement. “Monster Energy will sponsor the majority of the races, including the first one at Daytona and it’s great to have Interstate Batteries and Sport Clips on board. Chris Gayle and the crew guys from the 54 were great last year and hopefully we can have even more success this year.”
Gibbs is coming off a sensational season to date, where he competed in 18 of the 33-race Xfinity schedule. Making his debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in February, he claimed his first career win and became the sixth different competitor to achieve a victory in an Xfinity debut. He backed it up with victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Watkins Glen International in August and at Kansas Speedway in October. To go along with a pole at Road America in July, a total of nine top-five results and 10 top-10 results, Gibbs claimed the 2021 Xfinity Series’ Rookie-of-the-Year title.
Gibbs is also coming off a championship-winning season in the ARCA Menards Series, where he drove the No. 18 JGR Toyota Camry to 10 victories, 11 poles and top-10 results in all but one of the 20-race ARCA schedule as he wrapped up his first ARCA title by 37 points over Corey Heim. He also achieved four victories in the ARCA Menards Series East region and two in the ARCA Menards Series West region.
Gibbs’ announcement completes Joe Gibbs Racing’s three-car roster for the 2022 Xfinity Series season as Ty Gibbs and Brandon Jones will both contend as full-time JGR Xfinity competitors. Trevor Bayne and Drew Dollar are scheduled to make select starts in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Supra that will be driven by multiple competitors for the entire season, beginning at Daytona.
Ty Gibbs is scheduled to embark in his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 19, with coverage to occur at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.
