Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, Tenn.) – Ty Gibbs doesn’t just return to Bristol Motor Speedway with memories of his first career Cup race win again in April.
He comes in a car bearing the memory of Kyle Buschtwo-time NASCAR Cup champion who died suddenly in May. A long time driver for M&Ms at Joe Gibbs Racing, Ty Gibbs will carry an M&Ms tribute scheme at Busch for Saturday night’s race.
“(The team) came to me wanting to run it and the family wanted to run it too, and so did (M&Ms parent company) Mars. There were a lot of people who wanted to do it and I was the one to do it,” Gibbs told me a few weeks ago.
So no added pressure?
“No,” Gibbs told me, then paused and said, “Maybe a little… What’s pressure? I’ve never heard of it before.”
That sounded like something Busch might say.
Bristol was one of the places where Busch had some of his greatest achievements, including two triple sweeps on the weekend. Busch won nine Cup races at the track (including one of the dirt races), nine O’Reilly (formerly Xfinity) races and five truck races.
“Bristol was always a special place to Kyle and M&Ms was such a big part of his life and career, so to see everyone come together again to honor him means more to our family than words can say,” Busch’s widow, Samantha Busch, said in a news release.
“Kyle loved the energy of the fans at Bristol, especially under the lights.”
Ty Gibbs knows it will be a fantastic time to pull off this scheme.
Ty Gibbs (R) will honor the late Kyle Busch (L) this weekend at Bristol.
“Coming back with the M&Ms tribute is really cool for Kyle Busch,” Gibbs told me. “Obviously, I think we’ll have a good shot at winning it.
Gibbs sits down sixth in the ranking51 points behind leader Denny Hamlin. He has been winning since that victory after taking the checkered flag in Iowa.
“One win doesn’t change me at all as a person or as a race car driver,” said Gibbs.
The 23-year-old Gibbs said he doesn’t look back on the highlights of that first win.
“I’ve probably seen some things where we’ve seen the team think I can do better,” Gibber said. “But not too much. I don’t sit there and fantasize about winning.
“Next time. I want to win next weekend.”