Somebody is gearing up to steal Cinderella’s shoe. For the past four races, Ty Dillon has been in the spotlight for NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge. Seamlessly toppling Cup Series veterans like Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski seemed like a work of art for a driver whose last win was at a 2014 Xfinity race. However, behind this glamorous veil lies an undeniable truth. Somebody else was quietly executing their work of art. That is Joe Gibbs’ grandson.

Ty Gibbs is currently the silent runner at Joe Gibbs Racing. He is leagues apart from his stellar teammates like Denny Hamlin or Christopher Bell, who are leading the season in wins. However, his turnaround is something to be studied, and riding the wave of recent finishes, Ty Gibbs is going for something more meaningful than a million dollars this weekend.

Joe Gibbs’ kin is looking beyond the money

Ty Dillon has knocked down hefty rivals in this tournament, but Ty Gibbs has also done the same. While the Kaulig Racing driver hogged the limelight for the million-dollar battle, Gibbs has worked on his consistency. He took down Justin Haley in Atlanta easily but faced a mammoth rival in AJ Allmendinger at the Chicago Street Course – he could do that only with a top-notch runner-up finish. He followed that up with 7th in Sonoma and 5th in Dover, where he faced another formidable rival in Tyler Reddick. But while these wins have bumped up Gibbs’ chances for the million-dollar prize, he remembers his true goal.

In a recent interview with journalist Bob Pockrass, Ty Gibbs divulged his true aim. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a tough 2.5-mile circuit hosting the Brickyard 400, NASCAR’s crown jewel event. And Joe Gibbs’ grandson is giving his all for that: “Our main focus is…that we’re going to win. That’s the main focus. So a win for me is more important. Also, I’m very blessed and excited to be in this situation I’m in. And I’m gonna make the best of it. We’ll see what happens; maybe I’ll come with the million dollars, maybe I don’t, they never know. Indy, as we’ve seen, there’s been a lot of wreck at the end, a lot of people taken out, so I don’t know.”

A win for Ty Gibbs would be monumental for his career. Usually, it takes drivers around 3 years to get their first win in the NASCAR Cup Series. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, in particular, followed this blueprint, but for Gibbs, after having a nightmarish end to 2024 and start to 2025, a win at Indy would silence all the doubters. However, his qualms over the Brickyard 400 ending in chaos come from experience.

The 2024 Brickyard 400 went into double overtime as restarts caused utter chaos. With the inside wall heading into Turn 1 being so narrow, drivers jostling for position can lead to some massive pile-ups. Last year’s race saw 4 wrecks on restarts, with Denny Hamlin having to pay the price after dominating for most of the race. Ty Gibbs ended that race in 23rd in what was his first ever outing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, having only run the Indy Road course before that. The sample size might be too small to predict his performance, but the support he has beside him is vast and experienced.

JGR competition director and former crew chief of Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart, slipped back into his pit road duties in Atlanta, orchestrating race strategy with the No. 54 crew chief, Tyler Allen, for Ty Gibbs. For Indy as well, Joe Gibbs’ competition director is assuming a similar role. Ty Gibbs continued, “I think it’s good for the whole team. I think we have somewhat of a young team, so it’s good to have that. And it’s very, very important for me, and especially Tyler [Allen] to have that. So I’m very excited to see where he’s going. I think we’ve been running really good lately. So I’m happy, doing everything to help the team out, help me out. I’ll just grow and use all our resources.”

Clearly, Ty Gibbs is packing a stronger approach to NASCAR’s In-Season Tournament. The signs are already in place for his much-awaited win.

Gibbs is snuggling with the season leader

We could tell from Ty Gibbs’ comments that his true purpose is the Indianapolis victory. That approach not only snuffs out Ty Dillon’s million-dollar quest but also poses a great challenge to the Cup Series grid’s glittering stars. Since the beginning of 2025, Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has been the epitome of consistency. He is the only driver in the series to have registered top-20 finishes in all events of the season and leads the Cup standings. In fact, the last time that the No. 9 Chevrolet driver finished outside the top 20 was at the 2024 fall race in Las Vegas. Now, however, Chase Elliott has a solid contender.

According to a recent stat published by NASCAR Insights, Elliott has maintained an average running position of 9.31 in the last five Cup races. But Ty Gibbs is close behind, averaging 9.71, even outpacing seasoned series veterans like Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell. This clearly shows the relentless drive of Joe Gibbs’ young star. He is focusing on Chris Gabehart’s professed goal in Atlanta: “It’s taking all your resources that are available to you and trying to get the last car in the playoffs.”

Ty Dillon will need to overcome a mammoth charge in Indy. We can only wait and see which of the Ty’s will prevail, although the signs are pointing at only one.