Ty Gibbs proving to be breakout driver of 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season

With Rookie of the Year contenders in Josh Berry, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar dotting the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series grid, the breakout star of the season may be surprising to some. 

Ty Gibbs seems to have forgotten to abide by the obligatory sophomore slump standards. The 21-year-old driver currently sits third in the Cup Series points standings, just seven points behind Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr, who are currently tied for the points lead. Gibbs currently sits 68 points above the playoff cutline after Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol. 

While Bristol ultimately wasn't the site of Gibbs' first career win, he led 137 laps and swept the stages en route to a ninth-place finish, his fourth top-10 finish in five races to start the 2024 season. After leading 57 laps last weekend at Phoenix, Gibbs sits third in the laps-led category for the Cup Series, spending 194 circuits out front so far this year. 

It's not to say that a breakout year for Gibbs was wholly unexpected, but it is impressive that the young driver is exhibiting extreme speed and consistency early in the season. Gathering as many points as possible is crucial for young drivers such as Gibbs, who may not have experience battling on the playoff bubble come August and September. 

After narrowly missing the postseason a year ago, Gibbs has been the most consistent driver to start the 2024 season and is even being called a championship contender by some. While that notion may or may not become truth come the playoffs, it certainly seems feasible after the first five weeks of the season, where no driver has shown the consistency of Gibbs on the variety of tracks the circuit has traveled to. 

With the series traveling to Circuit of The Americas on Sunday, Gibbs is looking for a similar effort to 2023, where he finished ninth. He was also ninth at Richmond last spring, proving that there is a positive outlook for the next two weeks for the No. 54 team. 

While Gibbs is happy with the consistent effort his team is showing, he is no doubt focused on trying to get his first career win. The Bristol night race in September seems like a worthy candidate for that distinction, especially since Gibbs will have experience on a Bristol track that raced completely different from how it raced last fall. Dover, a similar track to Bristol and home of a 13th-place finish for Gibbs in 2023 is also a worthy candidate, as is Kansas, where Gibbs ran in the top five last spring before being caught up in a wreck. 

Regardless of what happens next Sunday in Austin, the road certainly seems to be paved for Gibbs to not just be a playoff driver, but a serious threat to upset the hopes of perennial contenders in his breakout sophomore season.