MERCED, Calif.—Three weeks removed from the NASCAR Cup Series season, Ty Gibbs is almost giddy.

The driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota is ready to jump back into a race car, but it’s anything but stock. 

Gibbs has returned to the West Coast to run the final four races of the USAC National Midget tour with Chad Boat’s CB Industries—and he’s grateful for the opportunity.

“I’m excited to get back in the car,” Gibbs said. “I love this. It’s so much fun. Just to get another shot to go race is what I enjoy. It’s the best part.”

At 23, Gibbs is just starting to find his groove on dirt. He’ll use the final four races of the USAC Midget season to prepare for the Tulsa Shootout and the Chili Bowl Nationals. 

Unlike most of the young racers in the pits, the second-generation driver didn’t hone his skills in quarter-midgets or midgets. Gibbs' youth was spent with his father Coy as the family branched out with JGRMX into AMA Motocross and Supercross.

Now, he’s making up for lost time. 

“Everyone thinks I grew up in the NASCAR stuff,” Gibbs said. “I was full-commit motorcycle racing. I grew up on dirt and going to the test track that we had for the longest time. I loved it so much.

“This is fun. This reminds me of that. But this is a hobby for me. It’s another form of racing. It’s fun because it’s another challenge for me to do. Obviously, the Cup car is a challenge as well. 

“I love racing. I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I don’t think I’m smart enough to do anything else, so I’ll stick with this. And not big enough to play any sports—so I play this and I really enjoy it. I’m really pumped to be here.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who won the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series title, just finished his third full season on the Cup tour. Gibbs has dabbled in midgets and expanded to 410 sprint cars this year. In his first Kubota High Limit race in March at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he qualified for the A-Main but made the highlight reel after flipping down the backstretch. 

Gibbs wasn’t intimidated. He returned the following month at Lakeside Speedway, followed by a run at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track in May.

In addition to testing High Limit competition throughout 2025, Gibbs made his World of Outlaws debut during the World Finals earlier this month. 

“I learned a lot,” Gibbs said. “I think most of it was seat time. The cockpits between (Midgets) and the sprint car are similar. There are subtle differences. It’s a little smaller, but for me, I’m a small guy—not the smallest. There are a couple of dudes smaller than me. But it’s pretty close.

“So, just getting more experience in the car, getting more experience on the dirt. Watching the dirt change. Watching the night progress. Watching the track get cut in and how they race.”

Gibbs proved to be a quick study. He led hot laps on opening night in the World Finals before qualifying fourth in Flight B. But traffic presented a challenge for the novice sprinter. Gibbs finished sixth in his heat and fifth in the LCQ, missing the final transfer spot by one position on Thursday. Gibbs finished 11th in his Friday heat and third in the C Main, once again failing to advance by one position.

The finale proved more of a struggle. Gibbs finished 10th in his heat and 6th in the C Main. Given the experience and depth of the talent pool, Gibbs accomplished his goal.

“Sprint cars are obviously so much different than this,” Gibbs said. “Most of the sprint car stuff I felt was aero for me, kind of feeling the aero out and keeping my wing board in clean air.”

California is a homecoming of sorts for the Gibbs clan. His Super Bowl-winning grandfather, Coach Joe Gibbs, spent his formative years in west Los Angeles County before playing football at San Diego State and eventually transitioning to a graduate assistant for Don Coryell. Gibbs’ late father Coy played football at Stanford University.

Having never seen the quarter-mile dirt oval at Merced Speedway, Gibbs studied previous races at the track before his first of two nights on Friday. He was 25th in time trials, sixth in his heat and finished eighth in his semi-feature. Gibbs qualified 32nd for Saturday’s Chase Johnson Classic. He ran seventh in his heat and seventh in the semi-feature.

On Tuesday, Gibbs travels south for the Jason Leffler Memorial, the inaugural USAC Midget event at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield. For Joe Gibbs Racing, it’s almost a full-circle moment. After Leffler won his third national midget title, he made his stock car debut with JGR in 1999. 

In 2000, two years before Gibbs was born, Leffler ran the full Busch Grand National Series for Gibbs. Although Leffler’s tenure at JGR was short-lived, that team served as the precursor for the No. 11 crew and driver Denny Hamlin. 

Gibbs Cup roster currently includes two standouts who honed their skills on dirt, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, who in his first year with JGR joined Hamlin in the 2025 Championship 4 round.

As dirt track racing becomes more interwoven into the fabric of JGR, it’s not surprising that the third-generation of Gibbs athletes would branch out into open-wheel competition.

“I just want to get good and win races,” Gibbs said. “I want to be competitive. 

“I’m pumped to be out here and hopefully learn a lot, get better in a non-wing and just get more experience. I’m just excited to go racing.”

Mention the opportunity to return to Ventura Raceway for the Turkey Night Grand Prix and Gibbs beams at the prospect. What did he learn from his experience lat year?

“I was not fast and I need to spend more time in a midget, so we’re doing that,” Gibbs said. “Obviously, showing up for the biggest and baddest shows is pretty cool, too. It’s the only way to learn and get seat time.

“But Ventura is sick. I grew up around a lot of people that raced there and spent time in Ventura and I think it’s sweet. The ocean’s right there, too. So, it’s crazy the way the tide changes can also change the track surface as well.

“It’s just a cool environment, a super cool track. It’s one of the coolest locations in the world for a race track—right on the beach. Ventura is a very historical track. It’s been around for a long time. Obviously, I respect that. I’m super excited to go race there.”