The final piece of the Silly Season puzzle was put into place today, when Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Ty Gibbs will be replacing Kyle Busch next season. Although the move was widely expected ever since Busch announced his 2023 plans with Richard Childress Racing, there were a couple of interesting nuggets with today's announcement.
Gibbs will be replacing Kyle, just not in the No. 18 Toyota. Ty will instead keep the familiar No. 54 Camry as he makes the full-time transition to the Cup Series. The team did say that they plan to utilize the No. 18 in future years, but did not go into any further details.
The last time that the No. 18 car was not used in a full season was during the 1991 season. The organization has won three Cup titles (Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Busch in 2015, 2019) using that number. This will mark the first time since 2003 that the No. 54 will be used full-time in the Cup series.
The move may seem strange, but it allows Gibbs to avoid the lofty expectations of filling Kyle's shoes. Kyle casts a large shadow, and the team would rather go in a different direction going forward.
Now Ty will be able to build his own image, carving his own path. Gibbs won the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity title with seven wins and 23 top-ten finishes. In just 51 career Xfinity starts, he has won 11 races (21 percent), scored 33 top-10 finishes (64 percent) and led 1,234 total laps. That all came after he won 18 ARCA races, including the 2021 championship.
There will be a familiar face making the jump with the young driver as Chris Gayle will serve as Ty's crew chief in the Cup Series. The two will aim to build on their championship season in the Xfinity Series.
The organization may have lost a Hall of Fame driver in Busch, but they have another generational talent to fill the void. Their four-car effort next season is a nice, even mixture of youth and experience.
Veterans Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr are both returning, as is youngster Christopher Bell. All three will be extremely motivated next season, in different ways. Hamlin was bounced from the Championship Four thanks to a legendary move by Ross Chastain at Martinsville. Truex was one of the most consistent drivers last year but missed the playoffs. Bell saw the championship slip through his fingers on the last pit stop of the season-finale.
Gibbs and the entire JGR organization are still in mourning over the passing of Ty’s father. Coy Gibbs was the son of team owner Joe Gibbs, and is the second son that Joe has lost in the last four years. Now it is Joe and Ty that will push on together next season.
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