IMSA has hit the track today for the Roar Before The Rolex at Daytona International Speedway. As for the NASCAR Cup Series, they are still 26 Days to Daytona away from practice and qualifying. Next up in the series is the Joe Gibbs Racing #54 team. After a promising start to the 2024 season, the year fizzled out for Ty Gibbs’ sophomore year. With Daytona on the horizon, what will be in store for Gibbs and the Joe Gibbs Racing #54 team in 2025?
The #54 Team
Driver: Ty Gibbs
Crew Chief: Tyler Allen
Sponsors: Monster Energy, Interstate Batteries, He Gets Us, SiriusXM
2024 Statistics: 8 Top-5s, 12 Top-10s, 12 Poles, 417 Laps Led, 17.4 Average Finish
2025 Season Preview
First Win Dreams
During the early portion of last season, it seemed certain that Ty Gibbs would pick up his first win of his Cup Career. Afterall, Gibbs led the Cup Series in average finish and put on an impressive performance at Bristol. However, the remainder of the season saw more struggles from Gibbs and the 54 team. Still, the potential for his first win is looming. After making the playoffs last year, surely Gibbs can take the next step and pick up career win #1 this season.
Forgotten Piece of JGR Crew Chief Shuffle
Most of the headlines from the JGR crew chief swap centered around Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart, and Chris Gayle. However, Ty Gibbs was Gayle’s driver last year. Now, Gibbs too will have to build rapport with a new voice on top of his pit box. Not only that, but Tyler Allen is only entering his second season as a crew chief. Last year, Allen was the crew chief for JGR’s 20 Xfinity car. His rookie season as crew chief saw him lead his team to 8 wins. With Gibbs only entering his third Cup season, is it the right move to go with an inexperienced crew chief? On the flip side, could this be the start of a new dominant duo in NASCAR?
Recovering from Mechanical Letdowns
Toyota stumbled during the second half of 2024. Ty Gibbs might have been the poster child for their mechanical issues. While others from JGR, 23XI Racing, and Legacy Motor Club had issues, Gibbs bore the brunt of the issues. On top of 3 DNFs due to mechanical issues, a majority of non-lead lap finishes came due to a mechanical issue. For the 54 team, those bugs need to be ironed out before hitting the track in 2025.
Daytona 500 Outlook
After a pedestrian 2023 for Ty Gibbs at the World Center of Racing, 2024 saw him run quite well at the track. One of few to run every lap, Gibbs managed to pick up a superspeedway best finish of third in the summer race. He worked the draft and avoided being a key fixture in a major pile up (as he was in the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400). Other than Talladega, Gibbs has taken well to superspeedway racing. Between Daytona and Atlanta, he has picked up 3 Top-10s with only a single DNF.
Which season will prove to be more accurate to Ty Gibbs’ future: 2023 or 2024? If it is the latter, then maybe more attention should be paid to Gibbs heading into Daytona. After the announcements of Martin Truex Jr and Jimmie Johnson attempting the Daytona 500, this year could mark the most number of Toyotas in any 500 field. If that is the case, then TRD will be a formidable bunch to conquer on that day. As long as Ty Gibbs can survive to the end, he could easily take advantage of the numbers and pick up his first career win in style.
Days to Daytona Countdown
40 Days: Team Penske #22; 39 Days: Team Penske #12; 38 Days: Hendrick #24;
37 Days: 23XI Racing #45; 36 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #20;
35 Days: Hendrick Motorsports #5; 34 Days: Hendrick Motorsports #9
33 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #11, 32 Days: Henrick Motorsports #48;
31 Days: Joe Gibbs Racing #19; 30 Days: Team Penske #2;
29 Days: Trackhouse Racing #99; 28 Days: RFK Racing #6;
27 Days: Trackhouse Racing #88
