KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All Ty Gibbs has to do is start the Reese’s 150 on Saturday at Kansas Speedway and he’ll be crowned the ARCA Menards Series champion for the 2021 season.
Only 19 years old, Gibbs — whose grandfather, Joe Gibbs, led the Washington Football Team to three Super Bowl titles and has won five NASCAR Cup Series titles as the owner of Joe Gibbs Racing — has been dominant this season.
He’s won 10 of 19 races entering the season finale, including the Dutch Boy 150 in May at Kansas Speedway, and has led an ARCA Menards Series record 1,590 laps this season.
“We’ve worked really hard this year, and that’s showing off,” Gibbs said. “I’ve worked really hard, and that’s showing off. When you have a team and a driver who work really good together and work hard, I feel like that pays off. So, I’m very thankful to be able to have a shot to win the championship this season.”
Gibbs won the pole and led all 100 laps during the spring race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, so it’s a good bet he’ll do more than simply take the green flag when the Reese’s 150 gets under way at 6 p.m.
Gibbs grew up around the sport. His father, Coy, owns the team he drives for and his grandfather is one of the most respected people in auto racing — a support system he knows he’s lucky to have.
“For sure, it helps a lot,” Gibbs said. “I love to be able to do this with my family. It’s super cool to be able to do what you want to do in life and love. It’s awesome. ... I really enjoy racing with my family.”
Gibbs also will run in the Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at 2 p.m. on Saturday before the ARCA Menards Series race. He swept the Xfinity and ARCA Menards races at Charlotte Motorspeedway in late May, a feat he aims to pull off again at Kansas.
“It’s going to take perseverance, and I’ve got to have my stamina up,” Gibbs said. “It’s a lot of laps, a lot of miles I’m going to do that night. That's going to be the biggest thing, being able to make sure I’m really disciplined on hitting my line and my marks and being hydrated — just everything. It’s a big test for me for the top level because you’re running the same laps and same miles.”
Gibbs hopes his impending ARCA Menards Series coronation is the first of many motorsports championships in his burgeoning career.
“It would be really cool to win it,” he said. “A lot of great drivers have won it in the past. To have my name added would be really special to me.”
NASCAR Hall of Famer Benny Parsons cut his teeth in the series, winning titles in 1968 and 1969.
Several current Xfinity and Cup Series veterans — Justin Allgaier, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon — have won ARCA Menards Series championships in the past and the circuit, providing a proving ground for other drivers including Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears.
But none of those drivers is Gibbs’ racing idol.
“Out of everyone past and present I would love to line up against, it would probably be Aryton Senna,” said Gibbs of the late Brazilian Formula One champion who died in an on-track crash in 1994. “I’m a big Aryton Senna fan. I actually have a helmet of his painted and sitting in my house here. Even though I was born after he passed, I still feel a cool connection there. I really like him and how his driving style was and how he raced. I took a lot of stuff away from that. Out of all the drivers, I would like to be more like him than anyone.”
