Ty Gibbs jumps into the deep end with Chili Bowl debut

Ty Gibbs has completely thrown himself into the deep end here.

The NASCAR Cup Series youngster and grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs Racing has helped convince ‘The Coach’ to put all his drivers back on dirt, leading to his own debut in the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals on Tuesday night.

Other than his Midget debut in the Turkey Night Grand Prix, his experience in a Midget is quite minimal. He tested the Chad Boat-owned indoor car at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, North Carolina and then had two three-minute hot laps on Sunday in practice day.

Now he’s going to race.

“It’s just super cool to be able to do this,” Gibbs shared Sportsman on Sunday. “It’s been super fun. It’s just a blast. I had my first practice and there weren’t many laps, but it was really fun for what I had to do.

“It was like a dopamine hit. So funny. I was excited running around, doing laps and just feeling it. I feel more comfortable than I was last time, just that one time, but I don’t know. I like it more and more every time I get into it.”

Gibbs tested a 410 Sprint Car during the fall, which really started this process, both because he enjoys several disciplines of motorsports, but also because Toyota is hugely invested in Midgets and Sprint Cars. He also raced Micro Sprints all summer at Millbridge.

But Indoor Midgets have wider tires and Gibbs again has to adjust because they ride differently than the outdoor counterpart.

“I feel like I had more grip than I honestly expected going into it,” Gibbs said of practice. “I don’t really know yet, but I feel really good in the car. I feel comfortable. The car drives me more than I drive it because I just don’t have the experience yet.

“I can’t say enough how much fun I’m having. I’m enjoying it and I just wish I could run more laps.”

Boat has really enjoyed working with and developing Gibbs as a dirt racer.

“First of all, Ty got into the Micro and immediately adapted to it, didn’t he,” Boat said. “Ty is a racer. I was very unsure at first because I wondered where it was going to go, but I learned that Ty is a racer, all the way through.

“He has all the potential to learn it and now it’s just a matter of getting him round. Like Daison Pursley is 20 years old and Ty is not much older, but there is a difference of thousands of laps. Ty may never catch up, but we have to do everything we can to speed up that process.”

Boat praised his entire team for how much people like Pursley, Justin Grant and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. everyone has pitched in with Gibbs.

“He’s got a lot of guys to lean on and help him learn,” Boat said. “So we go into Tuesday with realistic goals and find out where our starting point is here for the future. It’s no different when I bring a kid up from Micros here. Finish in 18th place? Okay, that’s a starting point. Let’s see where we are in 6-12 months and if we are doing the right things from a process point of view.

“If we do that, we’ll end up where we want to be.”

Gibbs is taking this seriously, and he knows it’s going to be a process. But he wants to progress and he wants to expand his racing portfolio in the coming years.

“I want to run everything,” Gibbs said. “Honestly, I would love to do everything I could. I love the open wheels, dirt and tarmac. I wish I could drive everything. I think maybe one day I can. Cup is my main focus and always will be that, but racing is fun.

“You know how much of a race fan I am. I love this. All of it. It’s my life. It’s all I want to do and I don’t care about the naysayers or if anyone thinks , I shouldn’t. I just really enjoy it.”

Gibbs said the atmosphere at the Chili Bowl reminds him of going to Supercross and Motocross events with his father, the late Coy Gibbs. There’s a lot of this that Gibbs drives in a way that he thinks he would have enjoyed with his father.

“It’s a lot like racing bikes with my dad, and I wish I could go back any day of the week to do it again,” Gibbs said. “It was so much fun. But this has very similar vibes. It’s a blast, I’m learning a lot and I’m enjoying how much the track changes.

“It makes me a smarter racer and I like all the ways it challenges me. It’s just really fun.”