Ty Gibbs got up to second in the closing laps of Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington but didn’t have enough to chase down his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell, for the win.
Gibbs, who entered Sunday’s postseason-opening race as the No. 4 seed in the Chase, leaves Darlington sixth in the standings, 39 points back of leader Denny Hamlin. But he was more frustrated with where he started the race than where he finished it.
Ty Gibbs not happy with NASCAR’s starting metric
Gibbs took the green flag in 28th after practice and qualifying were canceled Saturday due to inclement weather. NASCAR’s rulebook uses a metric, which combines a driver’s finishing position in the previous race and their points position, to determine the qualifying order and the starting lineup for a race if qualifying is canceled. Gibbs’ 34th-place finish at Daytona on Aug. 29 did the No. 54 team no favors.
“I think it just goes back to where we started,” Gibbs told USA Network. “They had a pretty squirrelly metric they went off of and we started 28th, unfortunately, ranked in the fourth seed. Hopefully we can fix that for next time. Got Christopher one, happy for him and the 20 team. Appreciate all the effort from everybody on my team.”
Gibbs is still in a solid points position going into the Sept. 13 race at Gateway, but he clearly thinks a win could’ve been on the table on Sunday had he started closer to the front of the field.
