Why Kyle Petty believes Bristol win is 'huge' for Ty Gibbs

He did not have the best car in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but Ty Gibbs drove the race of his life in the closing laps to finally break through for his first win at the sport's top level.

Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson led a combined 474 of the 505 laps, but Gibbs was one of five drivers who stayed out after the race's penultimate caution for Chase Elliott with 24 laps to go. The clean air was enough for Gibbs to keep Blaney and Larson at bay to secure his first Cup Series win in his 131st start.

The win is Gibbs' six consecutive top 10 this season, but all signs point to it leading to even more success for the 23-year-old. Former driver and current analyst Kyle Petty was quick to point out how Gibbs has been able to overcome the early struggles he experienced in his Cup Series career.

Kyle Petty speaks to significance of Ty Gibbs' first Cup Series win

"When he came out of what was the the Xfinity Series, now the O'Reilly Series, he had seven or eight wins that season, won a championship and everybody thought, 'Man, this kid's gonna take the Cup Series by storm," Petty said on "Inside the Race." "And then we get about halfway through that first season and it's like, 'Ok, he's human. Let's give him some time.' And then it was like, by the time we get to Year 2 and then into Year 3 it's like, 'This kid's never gonna win. I don't know what's happened to Ty Gibbs, where has he gone to, where's the Ty Gibbs that we saw?'"

Those early struggles after winning the 2022 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series championship only added to the criticism that Gibbs faced. After all, he entered the season winless and many questioned if he could compete at the Cup level despite the top-tier equipment that he is in, all while driving for team owner and grandfather Joe Gibbs.

On Sunday, he proved that notion wrong and did so in a respectful and mature way on the track, something Petty specifically made note of.

"(Sunday), he holds off the two dominant cars, the five of Kyle Larson and the 12 of Ryan Blaney, in a green-white-checkered shootout," Petty continued. "... And I give these other guys credit also because what we saw in those last few laps is respect. Blaney respected Ty Gibbs, he respected what that car was. We saw Larson respect them as they go into the corner. This was not, 'Let's run through somebody to win a race to get the trophy,' and Ty Gibbs did the same. He held his lane, he didn't block, he didn't do anything, and the first win is huge. It's huge for Ty Gibbs."

Gibbs has only led 43 laps so far this season, but he already has five top-five finishes and is fourth in points through eight races. For comparison, he only made the playoffs once during his first three full-time seasons under the old format and has never had more than eight top-fives in a single season.

Gibbs may only be getting started now that he has finally won a Cup race. All the criticism aside, Gibbs has handled it in stride and continues to show a level of maturity that may only lead to more success after holding off two past champions at Bristol.