Ty Gibbs is 35/1 to win at Kansas. He's live this week, maybe drop a couple bucks

Ty Gibbs / No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD Preview

Hollywood Casino 400

 

No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD News and Notes

• FIRST SEASON: Ty Gibbs is competing in his first full NASCAR Cup Series season driving the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD.
• 2023: Gibbs is 17^th in the NASCAR point standings and has scored two top-five finishes (fifth at both Pocono and Watkins Glen) and seven top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Richmond (Va.) Raceway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Chicago Street Circuit, Pocono Raceway and Watkins Glen.
• Gibbs has finished in the top-15 in 13 of the 27 Cup Series events.
• KANSAS: Gibbs has only two Cup Series starts at Kansas with a best finish of 34^th. Gibbs has started two Xfinity races with a win in the fall of 2021 and a third place in the fall of 2022.
• NEW RECORD: Gibbs is the youngest driver ever to reach 12 victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at age 20 years, 10 months, one week and one day old. The previous record was held by Joey Logano.
• 2021: Gibbs completed in only 18 Xfinity races in 2021, but won four races and finished 13^th in the Xfinity Series final driver point standings. That earned him the Xfinity Rookie of the Year award.
• WHAT A DEBUT: In Gibbs’ Xfinity Series debut in February 2021 at the Daytona Road Course, he led 14 of the 56 laps en route to his first career Xfinity Series win. Gibbs became the youngest driver to win a Xfinity road course race at 18 years, 4 months, 16 days. The Charlotte, N.C., native also became the second-youngest winner in Xfinity Series history after Joey Logano who won in June 2008 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta when he was 18 years and 21 days old.
• IN GOOD COMPANY: Gibbs is the sixth driver to win in his Xfinity Series debut, joining Dale Earnhardt, Joe Ruttman, Ricky Rudd, Terry Labonte and Kurt Busch. Those five drivers had already driven in the NASCAR Cup Series before racing in the Xfinity Series.
• ARCA CHAMPIONS: Gibbs became the 2021 ARCA Menard Series Champions on the strength of 10 wins, plus one win each in ARCA West and ARCA East.
• ATOP THE PIT BOX: Veteran crew chief Chris Gayle will oversee the No. 54 team’s efforts in the 2023 season. Gale, who is from Little Rock, Arkansas, has led his drivers to two NASCAR Cup Series victories and 37 Xfinity Series wins. He was also the crew chief of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship with Gibbs. The list of drivers Gayle has visited victory lane with includes Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Christopher Bell and John Hunter Nemechek.
• KANSAS: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 119 total starts at Kansas in Cup competition with eight wins, 35 top-five and 55 top-10 finishes. The team has led 1,532 laps.
• RACE INFO: The NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas is scheduled for 3 pm EDT on Sunday, September 10 and will be broadcast on USA, SiriusXM Channel 90 and MRN.

 

Ty Gibbs, Driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD

“I like Kansas although we haven’t finished that well in the Cup car there. But it’s a fast, fun track and we’ve had some success there in Xfinity and won the ARCA championship there in 2021. So we should have a solid Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD and we’ll see what we can do.”

 

 

Gibbs 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
27	0	2	7	0	9	14.4	18.2

 

 

Gibbs 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Poles	Laps Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
15	0	0	1	0	2	17.0	22.9

 

 

 

About Joe Gibbs Racing:

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the premier organizations in NASCAR with four NASCAR Cup Series teams, three NASCAR Xfinity Series teams, and a driver development program. JGR is based in Huntersville, N.C., and owned by 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Joe Gibbs, who also earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was named as one of the NFL’s top 10 coaches of all-time with a winning career that included three Super Bowl Championships as head coach of the Washington franchise. JGR has competed in NASCAR since 1992, capturing 400 wins over that span. No team has more combined wins across the sport’s three national series in the history of NASCAR. In addition, JGR has won five Cup Series championships along with four Xfinity Series driver championships and six Xfinity Series owner’s championship. The organization also has captured four Daytona 500 titles, considered to be NASCAR’s premier event each season.

 

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Micah Roberts' Top-10 Finish Prediction: 2023 Southern 500 at Darlington

Read my full write-up on Sportsline.com

1 #1 Ross Chastain (10/1) - He was 29th in the spring Darlington race but before getting involved in an accident, he was fast, real fast. Fast enough to win the race winning Stage 2 and leading four times for 93 laps. He’s led laps in his last five there with a best of third-place in 2021. My reason for liking him this week is believing his car will come off the hauler fast as he did on the 1.333-mile layout at Nashville where he led the most laps (five times for 91 laps) on his way to his only win of the season. Darlington is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval with 25 degrees of banking with each end being different from each other. He’s going to be fast again this week and be sure to find a better price elsewhere.

2 #19 Martin Truex Jr. (5/1) - When looking at his last three Darlington finishes, you might think he doesn’t like the new car very much. He was 24th last spring, 31st in the fall, and 31st in the spring race this season. But he led 221 laps between the three races. He was in an accident in two of them and had a water pump failure in the other. He’s led laps in his last seven starts there and he has two wins overall and leads active drivers with 914 laps led over 22 starts. He’ll lead laps again on Sunday and fight for the win.

3 #11 Denny Hamlin (15/2) - This is the Lady in Black’s chosen one as he has a best average finish of 7.7 in 22 Cup starts. His four wins are the most among active drivers. He has 12 top-fives, 20 Top-10s, and led 801 laps. He’s pulled all the right moves to win the Lady over and he knows how to build a relationship with her. His race management of tires is the key to all his success. His tires never seem to wear because he’s not all over the place. He keeps his car steady early in runs and by the time all others are slowing down with tire wear his tires are preserved and it’s an edge he’s been successful with at Darlington forever. Too Tough to Tame? He laughs at the notion with a 7.7 average finish.

4 #2 Brad Keselowski (16/1) - It’s got to be tough being part-owner of RFK Racing with no wins the last two seasons watching his teammate Buescher win three of the last five races using a car similar and equal to Keselowski’s own. This sounds like the spot where he could win his first for RFK. He’s third among active drivers with an 11.7 average finish with a 2018 win and he was seventh last fall and fourth in the spring.

5 #22 Joey Logano (18/1) - He’s been good at Darlington at all stages of his Cup career but finally got his first win there last spring. He sat on the pole in both races last season and led 171 laps between the two races. This season in May, he finished 18th. He has a 13.3 average finish between 19 starts.

6 #20 Christopher Bell (12/1) - His only win this season came in the Bristol Dirt Race and he closed out the regular season with no umph or pizazz. No one is talking about him. But he can prove himself to everyone this week when the playoffs begin. And the good news about him is that he’s been very good in his last three races at Darlington with a sixth, fifth, and 14th in May. All three of those were using the NextGen car.

7 #24 William Byron (15/2) - He’s led laps in his last three Darlington starts – all in the new car – and his least amount led happened in his first win there in May. He led just seven laps but was second in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. It’s a good track for him and he’s in the good graces of the Lady.

8 #8 Kyle Busch (10/1) - His only Cup win at Darlington came in his fourth start there in 2008, but he’s led a bunch of laps over the years – 899 laps led. The reason you might play him this week is because he finished seventh in the spring race and his car finished second and third last season with Reddick driving it.

9 #5 Kyle Larson (6/1) - In the old car, he was always on the brink of winning at Darlington with five top-fives in eight starts. He was runner-up three races in a row, but the new car changed his groove. He was no longer able to tempt the Lady with charm and skills. His edge was gone. His best in his last three with the NextGen car was 12th sandwiched by a 20th in May and 36th in May of 2022, his only DNF there. He's led 715 laps with no wins. But he did win an Xfinity Series race there in the spring.

10 #17 Chris Buescher (18/1) - He’s had three top-10s in his last five starts at Darlington, including 10th in the May race. He’s had three Cup wins in the last five races and the two he didn’t win were on road courses which used to be his specialty. RFK Racing is bringing the speed weekly and found something recently to make them super-fast. He’s a good driver to drop $10 on just because he’s winning everything lately.

Micah Roberts' Top-10 Finish Prediction: 2023 Go Bowling at the Glen

Read my complete article on Sportsline.com

1 #8 Kyle Busch (12/1) - He has three wins on the season with eight top-fives and 13 top-10s and I believe he’s going to have the same fast car he’s had on the roads this season and that Tyler Reddick used to win two races last season. The RCR set-up for this No. 8 Chevy has been incredible and Busch took it over this season with a runner-up at both COTA and Sonoma and was fourth at Chicago. He has two wins at Watkins Glen. I like the price as well.

2 #9 Chase Elliott (7/2) - He’s the best statistical road racer in NASCAR with a 7.8 average finish, seven wins, and 16 top-fives. Amazing stuff for sure, but he’s yet to win his last 12 on them including all nine starts with the NextGen car that was introduced last season. He’s led a bunch of laps in the new car and he was fifth at Sonoma, third at Chicago, and runner-up at Indy this season but he didn’t have the best car in any of them. He won the two Watkins Glen races before Larson won the last two. I think he’ll battle hard for the win, but his lack of wins on the roads should have his price going upwards like last week when he was 8-to-1 to win at Indy, but he lost and now he’s 7-to-2? He wants to make the playoffs and this will be the last shot where he has a weighted edge.

3 #20 Christopher Bell (12/1) - In 18 Cup starts on road courses, he has a 15.3 average finish which includes two wins and nine top-10s. Every race no matter where, he finds himself in the mix leading laps in five of his last seven road/street starts. I also like the direction that JGR is going in their road course program. He’s my top Toyota to finish.

4 #45 Tyler Reddick (9/1) - He’s the second-best active driver in NASCAR, or say the stats that show him with a 12.9 average finish in 18 Cup starts. He has three wins and six top-fives. He’s had two starts at Watkins Glen and finished in the top-10 of each. He’ll be in the mix for a win.

5 #99 Daniel Suarez (10/1) - Desperation makes him attractive to bet on but the weighted price doesn’t. Caesars is protecting against a problem that doesn’t exist and never exists – risk on Suarez. The desperation aspect is him sitting 28-points behind the 16th and final playoff spot. He has three top-fives in five Cup starts at Watkins Glen. He was fifth last season in the new car, the same year he won at Sonoma. He’s a live bet this week but search for better odds.

6 #34 Michael McDowell (12/1) - He comes off a massive win last week where he clearly had the best car proving so in practice and also the entirety of the race. He also had the best race of his entire Cup career at Watkins Glen last season, the first year of the NextGen car, finishing sixth. Watkins Glen is a much different track than Indy, but I think he’s established himself as one of the better road racers.

7 #19 Martin Truex Jr (15/2) - He has five road course wins in 48 starts while averaging a 14th-place finish. He’s become one of the favorites each time on them in the last half of his career. He had four straight top-three finishes at Watkins Glen, kicked off with a 2017 win, that stalled last season with the new car. He’s back up to speed now, all good.

8 #17 Chris Buescher (20/1) - He ended his streak of eight straight top-10s on road courses by finishing 11th last week at Indy. He was ninth at Watkins Glen last season. He’s always around the front and will likely be competing for the win.

9 #11 Denny Hamlin (18/1) - This is his best road course track and his car has been improving as the weeks go by. Last season's 20th at the Glen was a product of not having their NextGen car fully figured out. Now they’re fast everywhere. He has top-fives in four of his last six starts at the Glen which began with his only road course win in 2016.

10 #54 Ty Gibbs (17/1) - He needs points as he’s 49 points down from the playoff cutoff line and he needs to race his tail off like never before. He’s a good season on them this season with a best of ninth at COT and a worse of 18th at Sonoma. He was 12th last week at Indy. He also won the 2021 Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen. The price is a bit short, but I’ll likely just have match-up plays on the rookie.

Chase Elliott is +300 favorite to win 2023 Go Bowling at the Glen

 

9 CHASE ELLIOTT   Age: 27 (Nov. 28, 1995)   Hometown: Dawsonville, Georgia   Resides: Dawsonville, Georgia   Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson   Standings: 19th

No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1   INDY REWIND: Chase Elliott nearly captured his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of 2023 last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The 27-year-old driver rolled off the grid from the third position and steadily ran inside the top five throughout the first stage, ending it in third. Elliott followed that up with a fifth-place finish in the second stage. Late in the race, the 2020 Cup Series champion was in the second position, closing in on the leader but ultimately ran out of time. Elliott's runner-up finish marked his second top-five finish in just three starts on the 2.439-mile road course. BACK WHERE IT STARTED: Watkins Glen International was the site of Elliott’s first premier series win. He led 52 of 90 laps en route to victory in 2018. In just six starts on the 2.45-mile road course, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native has three top-two finishes, including two wins. Elliott’s most recent trip to victory lane at Watkins Glen came in 2019 after he swept the stages and led all but 10 laps of the race. His average finish of 5.67 is not only the best among active Cup drivers but also the best all-time among drivers with more than two starts. Among his other track-leading marks are stage wins (three) and points earned (220) in the stage racing era. Elliott is tied with teammate Kyle Larson for the longest active streak of top-10 finishes at the track (four). KEEP THE TOP FIVES ALIVE: This season, Elliott has three road course starts in the Cup Series and has finished inside the top five in each of them. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet earned a fifth-place result at Sonoma Raceway, a third-place effort in the inaugural Chicago Street Course event and most recently finished as the runner-up at Indianapolis – making him the only driver to finish inside the top five in the three most recent events on road courses. Elliott holds a series-leading average finish (3.33) across those three races. He also has the second-most points earned in that span (115). ROAD RACING RUNDOWN: Since the start of 2022, Elliott’s best finish on a road course is second (twice) – Road America in 2022 and last weekend at Indianapolis. In that span, he leads the series in top-five finishes (six) and is tied for the second-most top-10s (seven) across nine starts on serpentine tracks. Since the start of last season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has paced the field for a series-high 129 laps on road courses. He has also earned two pole awards (Road America and Watkins Glen in 2022) and has a series-leading average finish of 7.11. Despite missing the race at Circuit of The Americas in March 2023 due to his leg injury, Elliott has the third-most points earned (311) in that time frame.  LEGEND IN THE MAKING: In 28 Cup Series starts on road courses, Elliott has an average finish of 7.64, with seven wins, 17 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s. His average finish is the best among active drivers and ranks second all-time among drivers with five or more starts, behind NASCAR legend Fireball Roberts.  WINNING WAYS: Elliott has proven his road-racing prowess, leading all active drivers with seven wins on road courses – most recently at Road America in 2021. He is also third on the overall list of drivers with road course victories, trailing only NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight). Elliott has victories across five different road courses, which is the most in series history.  VIEW FROM THE TOP: Veteran crew chief Alan Gustafson has plenty of experience on tracks where left and right turns are made. Across 49 Cup Series races on road courses, the Ormond Beach, Florida, native has led his team to seven wins (all with Elliott) – a series-high among active crew chiefs – 20 top-five finishes and 27 top-10s.    WIN AND IN: Elliott sits 19th in the driver points standings, 80 markers below the provisional playoff cutline with just two races remaining in the regular season. A victory would lock Elliott into the postseason. Between the two remaining tracks, Elliott and the No. 9 crew have two wins at Watkins Glen and a best effort of second (twice) at Daytona International Speedway. Currently, the No. 9 squad is the final team in the provisional playoff field for the owner’s title, 51 points above the cutline. GET UP AND GO: NAPA Auto Parts is back on board the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Watkins Glen. The Atlanta-based company was the primary partner for Elliott’s 2019 victory at the track. Get a look at all the angles of the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet here. Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on how meaningful Watkins Glen is to him: "Watkins Glen (International) always stands out to me because of the first win. That one will always be special because of that. Will it always be good to us? Probably not, but I do enjoy going up there. It is a very nice part of the country – a very underrated part of the country. Just the memories I have from that first win weekend are super special and something that I will hold onto forever." Elliott on his outlook with two opportunities left to lock himself into the playoffs: "Certainly, don’t want to have yourself in a position to have to win at Daytona (International Speedway), but that’s a possibility at this point. I feel way better about going to Watkins Glen (International) than I do Daytona because there is more in my control going there verses a plate race."