After starting the ARCA Menards Series season with three runner-up finishes in his first four career starts, Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Terrible Herbst/Advance Auto Parts Toyota) broke through and earned his first career series win at WWT Raceway outside of St. Louis. Gibbs then scored his second win in the previous series race at Salem Speedway.
Not only has he found success in the ARCA Menards Series, Gibbs also earned his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway earlier this month.
The grandson of legendary NFL head coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs, the younger Gibbs was frustrated by the run of runner-up finishes to start the season but he’s happy to have finally found his stride.
“It was really cool to get the win at Gateway. You work so hard to get a win and I’ve finished second so many times this year to finally breakthrough and get the win felt really good,” Gibbs said. “That last lap pass was for the win was awesome and our Camry was so good from the start of the weekend. I feel like we had the fastest car from when we unloaded. We actually blew up in practice and had to start from the back in the race and came through the field for the win. To be able to do that just shows how strong our team is.”
One of the most impressive aspects of Gibbs’ performances this season is the fact he hasn’t seen many of the tracks he’s raced – and found success – on.
Gibbs and crew chief Mark McFarland, last year’s championship winning crew chief with driver Sheldon Creed, have built a solid foundation. McFarland knows what Gibbs needs in his racecars and he’s worked with Gibbs to develop a vocabulary to help improve the racecars when they aren’t to the driver’s liking.
“Working with Mark (McFarland) this year and having more success has been awesome,” Gibbs said. “Mark has been a great to help to me as a driving coach and as a crew chief working on my cars. He knows what he’s doing and always sets our Camry’s up right. Every time we’ve been to the track this year we’ve been really fast. It’s been a good year.”
The Herr’s Potato Chips 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway is set for Saturday, October 5. Practice starts the day’s activities at 2 pm ET, with General Tire Pole Qualifying at 5 pm ET. The 200-lap main event, scheduled for live broadcast MAVTV, will go green shortly after 8 pm ET. ARCA for Me members can access live timing & scoring, live chat, and live track updates at ARCARacing.com. New users can register for free with a valid email address at ARCARacing.com/login. For more information, please visit TrackEnterprises.com.
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