Joe Gibbs grandson, Ty Gibbs, captured the pole for Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Gibbs spoke to the press and admitted that he initially wanted to pursue Pro Motocross over NASCAR, but said he’s ‘blessed’ to have taken this path.
Gibbs surprised fans when he put his car on top of the time sheets. He placed 0.025 seconds ahead of Spire Motorsports ace Carson Hocevar, while race favorite Shane van Gisbergen landed sixth.
NASCAR reporter Claire B. Lang shared an excerpt of Gibbs’ post-race presser.
“Very blessed to be in the position I’m in. Honestly, I didn’t really grow up wanting to race NASCAR,” said Gibbs, “If my mom probably didn’t say no, I’d probably be racing pro motocross right now. So that would be my thing. But you know, fortunately, she said no. And this is, you know, you get paid a little better and probably can have a little longer career. So it was a little bit better on the business decision.”
“But I really just love competing, love racing on wheels. And if it’s from bikes to this. I just enjoy it. And this is just what the path that God took me down and here I am,” he added.
Ty Gibbs has had an uptick in performance this year. The 23-year-old had a seven-race top-10 streak early in the season, while he grabbed his maiden Cup Series win at Bristol.
Furthermore, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has finished among the top 5 in two of the three road courses so far. Sonoma will be the final road course race this season, and Gibbs will be looking for a triumphant start to his 2026 In-Season Challenge. He’s matched up against Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon for the first round.
On the other hand, JGR is embroiled in a messy data theft lawsuit with Spire Motorsports. The team alleges that Gibbs’ former crew chief, Chris Gabehart, stole sensitive data to bolster Spire’s operations.
The legal battle looms in the background as the two teams share the front row on Sunday.
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Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart respond to Joe Gibbs Racing’s amended lawsuit
Joe Gibbs Racing recently amended its lawsuit to include an internal source from Spire Motorsports. The source supports claims that Chris Gabehart violated his temporary restraining order.
As part of the TRO, Gabehart is limited to his role as Chief Motorsports Officer and can’t perform any Competition Director-related duties. The veteran crew chief responded with a court filing, arguing that a forensic analysis of his devices found no evidence of wrongdoing.
“there was no evidence that Mr. Gabehart transmitted, distributed, used, or otherwise shared any JGR confidential information…..Spire offered to have its own files forensically examined. JGR ignored this offer—because it wanted a lawsuit more than the truth,” Gabehart and Spire Motorsports’ response read.
Spire Motorsports further argued that, despite the data theft claims, Joe Gibbs Racing dominates the sport with regular top 5s and race wins. SM pointed to a lack of competition from the Chevrolet camp.
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