COLUMN: Ty Gibbs, “Help Me, Help You!”

By Cole Cusumano

Ty Gibbs turned heads for numerous reasons with his victory at Iowa Speedway. On one hand, the driver of the No. 54 pulled off an impressive statement win, vaulting him to second in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with three races remaining until The Chase.

Make no mistake: The grandson of NFL Hall of Famer, Joe Gibbs, has emphatically inserted himself into the 2026 title conversation. However, instead of largely being celebrated as a legitimate championship contender, his success has been overshadowed by the divisive criticism he’s received from many regarding his post-race press conference.

Truthfully, I unintentionally stoked the coals in taking to X, sharing the runtime and voicing my observations from Gibbs’ brief appearance on the dais.

From when Gibbs was introduced by the moderator to when he sped off the stage, it was a total of 7 minutes and 35 seconds. While that typically runs on the lower side for pressers, it’s not like it’s never happened. The issue here is the severe lack of substance.

Bear with me here as I break it down. There were 16 questions asked with the average response being about 12 seconds each. The longest answer was given at the end of the availability and ran 35 seconds, only four went longer than 20 seconds and half the rebuttals were under 10 seconds.

Altogether, Gibbs spent just under 3.5 minutes answering questions following a pretty significant victory.

While that’s astonishing in itself, I could overlook the usual quick and corporate answers supplied by Gibbs. What I found to be the most unpleasant were his actions and body language.

Gibbs begins his availability by taking a seat with an audible sigh and looking at his watch. Throughout the presser, the 23-year-old is visibly agitated, disassociating and even cutting off numerous questions from reporters to deliver a speedy response before jetting off the stage.

Let me be clear: I’m not a bitter reporter who was credentialed and didn’t get a question in. I was working on pre-show content for SpeedFreaks, watching the race winning presser for potential clips. Just viewing this on my laptop made me so painfully uncomfortable, and yeah, it did frustrate me.

These reporters weren’t asking controversial questions or trying to pry after a tough race. Remember: Gibbs just made a statement with his second career win and jumped to second in the standings.

While many were quick to attribute the outcome to the heavily criticized Gen-7 car, I was the first to credit Gibbs and the No. 54 team with that hard earned win, live on Fox Sports 2. I felt it was a complete team effort, from Tyler Allen’s two-tire call, to the pit crew’s execution and how he was able to maneuver lapped traffic like a veteran to hold off Christopher Bell on fresher tires for 20 laps.

I find that to be really impressive, but how do you sell and expand upon that when you’re given 3.5 minutes of half-assed and short responses?

Why this frustrates me is because I became a journalist with the only goal being to bring new eyes to NASCAR by sharing the incredible stories and personalities of our sport.

I realize my observations came across as Gibbs slander, but the reality is I want to continue seeing him succeed and I think he’s essential to NASCAR’s future. You’re talking about a wildly impressive talent who has the chance to carry on the legacy of one of the most respected names across sports for over four decades.

It may have taken some time to come together at the Cup level, but Gibbs has always been an elite developmental talent. Sure, the resources help. But you don’t win 12 NASCAR O’Reilly Series races (seven in one season) and a championship without also having great racecraft.

Again, I’ve always been a huge believer in the talent and I genuinely feel Gibbs is crucial to NASCAR’s future. With that last name, coupled with the talent and the fact he has one of the biggest sponsors in the sport with Monster Energy, this should be a driver that’s featured and embraced. But the media has been given nothing to work with since the start of his career in 2019, and he’s been nearly impossible to market.

Would a Gibbs championship in 2026 be an incredible story regardless? In my opinion, absolutely. Whether it would be appreciated by the masses or not remains to be seen.

I think back to the 1996 film “Jerry Maguire.” Tom Cruise’s character tries to break through to Cuba Gooding Jr. as Rod Tidwell, a football player seeking a lucrative NFL contract, that if he trusts him, he’ll eventually land what he’s seeking.

The iconic line used is, “Help me, help you.” That couldn’t be more relevant to this situation.

I know my post ruffled some feathers, but I at least hope this enlightened people that the media is just trying to sell both the driver and NASCAR. There needs to be some effort or compromise.

Ty Gibbs: Help (the media), help you!