NASCAR insiders dub Ty Gibbs ‘teammate of the year’ after pushing Chase Briscoe to Talladega win

It’s been exactly one month to the day since Ty Gibbs earned a reputation for being a bad teammate. It was then, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, when Gibbs irked Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who is racing for a NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Gibbs gave Hamlin a battle for position just outside the top 10, and it ended with Hamlin dumping him and accusing him of “teammate bullsh*t.” But then came Sunday’s Round of 8 race at Talladega Superspeedway. Gibbs found himself locked to the bumper of another JGR teammate in Chase Briscoe, who was looking to clinch his spot alongside Hamlin in the Championship 4.

Gibbs was racing for his first win in Cup competition. If he wanted to make a move, he had an opportunity to do so. Instead, he chose to push Briscoe across the start/finish line, suddenly becoming “teammate of the year,” Jeff Gluck of The Athletic said.

“Ty Gibbs, instead of going, you know what, I’m going to give myself the best chance for my first win, which would probably be to push Bubba [Wallace] far out enough and give the chance to maybe get past Briscoe or maybe make it three-wide or something,” Gluck said on The Teardown podcast. “He says, you know what, I’m gonna follow Briscoe down through, and I’m going to push Briscoe and be his wingman. Ty Gibbs, teammate of the year.”

Ty Gibbs earns compliment from Chase Briscoe after Talladega

Gibbs played ball with his teammate in front of him. Briscoe appreciated it, and made sure to shout him out after the race.

“Ty Gibbs, just incredible teammate there,” Briscoe said. “I honestly would not have won that race without Ty.”

One day, you have to think that win will come for the 23-year-old Gibbs. But with all of his teammates in the championship picture, he made the call to put the company ahead of himself.

“We had a conversation about Ty Gibbs being a horrible teammate at one point in these playoffs, and now it’s come a different direction. Now, he’s the greatest teammate in the world where his teammates are literally signing his praises after the race,” The Athletic‘s Jordan Bianchi said. “In all seriousness, that’s a tough position for Ty Gibbs. You’re racing for your first win, you’ve had a frustrating year, you’d like to end it on a high note — in your mind, is it best to maybe go get that win and put some things to bed a little bit?

“But I will say this, it’s probably actually better or more advantageous for him and the company’s growth to maybe take some of the pressure off of him doing this and saying, you know what, when it comes down to it, he will do the right thing, and he will put the greater good of the company before his own interests.”