Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs was made available to media prior to the Circuit of the Americas race this Friday:
TY GIBBS, No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Can you talk about the qualifying lap?
“First off, we have a very favorite Interstate Batteries Toyota GR Supra. I’m excited about that. Chris (Gayle), my crew chief and Kyle Abrahims, my engineer, have worked very hard this year to prepare for this race. Last year, they had a good run, so it’s cool to be here and come and race at COTA. It’s one of the nicest facilities. I wish all of our racetracks were like this. It’s so awesome. The experience is so cool. Being here is awesome and a pleasure.”
What do you like most about COTA?
“The media center is so much nicer and it’s super cool. It’s one of the newer track, so you know with all of the newer tracks are going to have the updated facilities. It’s just a cool experience. There are roller coasters over there. I’m scared of heights, so I’m not doing that. There are people zip lining into turn one which is pretty crazy too. There is just a lot of cool attraction here. It’s really cool to be able to race here and to come here – it’s one of those races that are just fun and you are not stressed out. You are focused on your car. You can kind of look at the scenery and have a good time. It’s just fun to be here.”
How are you so good at this track in your first time out here?
“First of all, I want to give all glory to God and second of all, I’ve got Toyota. They provide our simulators. I’ve got go-karts. I was at the go-kart track yesterday and I made 94 laps at Go Pro. I just enjoy racing and the road course stuff is nice I think because it’s easier to watch film on it because you can kind of compare and translate film to braking markers. It’s a little easier. Ovals are so much, I think, of a finesse. You don’t have as much braking markers there. You’re not as focused on that. Road courses are fun. They come in and do something different and focus on just turning right and left and I have a good time, a good flow with it. It’s just been patient and having the right arc going into the corner.”
Is ‘Let’s Go’ your official catch phrase?
“I don’t know. So, here’s the thing – it was the let’s freaking go. I’m going to get in trouble, and I don’t want to cuss, so I just did let’s go – LG and now I comment under people’s posts LG, but people are LFG, and I don’t want to do that. That was a funny question.”
So, it’s the clean version of that phrase?
“Yeah. My grandma is watching me, and she will get after me, so I don’t want to do anything wrong. I’m already on thin ice.”
Why are you on thin ice?
“I need to fix my act up a little bit I think and more personally. I’m on thin ice with myself because I get very frustrated sometimes – we all do – but there are sometimes where I just need to fix myself and check. Think before I talk, stuff like that. Little stuff I’m learning as a human as I get older with being frustrated.”
What is your biggest weakness?
“I think there is multiple weaknesses. Trying to perfect everything is always going to lead to weaknesses. Fixing my performance off track is going to be the biggest thing compared to on-track – just little things and who I’m being around and stuff like that. Just normal thing and trying to be the best person I can be is the biggest weaknesses right now. I’m just learning. On track, being patient as we saw. Patience is what I think is my biggest weakness, but I think it’s not a weakness because I’ve been patient. Just where I’m lacking is in that moment to be patient and not freak out for no reason.”
Did you take some notes on what Kyle Busch did from last year?
“For sure. I think we are pretty close to what Kyle (Busch) had. We just had to make some minor adjustments, just I think from my feel in the sim and stuff like that. The guys worked hard. The guys work so hard and me giving them credit and saying thank you is not enough. Thank you to them. There is no comparison there. Those guys worked their butts off. Chris (Gayle, crew chief) and Kyle (Abrahims, engineer) are the best guys and I’m super close to them. They work really hard, and we have a good car.”
Toyota Racing PR
