Ty Gibbs will compete in his first full-time ARCA Menards Series season in 2021. Gibbs will also compete for the Sioux Chief Showdown Series championship after finishing second in the standings last year to Sam Mayer. Mark McFarland will return to the crew chief role for Gibbs in 2021 after a successful 2020 campaign.
“I’m pumped to run the full season in the ARCA Menards Series,” said Ty Gibbs. “Mark (McFarland, Crew Chief) has put together an amazing team that gives me a chance to be successful every week.
“We want to build on the success that our team had last season,” said McFarland. “Ty works extremely hard to prepare each week and it’s exciting to have him behind the wheel for every race and the opportunity to go after our goal of winning that championship.”
In 27 ARCA Menards Series starts, Gibbs has tallied eight wins, 19 top-five, and 23 top-10 finishes. During the 2020 season, Gibbs earned the Valvoline Lap Leader Award by leading the most laps in the season at 969. He also racked up the General Tire Victory Bonus, General Tire Pole Award, and the ARCA Menards Series East Bounty Rookie of the Year. Gibbs will be a threat to earn Joe Gibbs Racing their first ARCA Menards Series championship in 2021.
JGR also announced the 18-year-old will run in a select handful of NASCAR Xfinity Series races starting at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. His schedule is being finalized, but he will share the No. 54 with NASCAR Cup Series stars Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr. who will all run at least one race during the season.
“I’m also really excited to have the opportunity to work with (crew chief) Chris Gayle to make my debut in the Xfinity Series,” Gibbs said. “I can’t imagine a better situation for me to learn and be able to compare notes, not only with my Series’ teammates like Brandon (Jones), Harrison (Burton), and Daniel (Hemric), but also veterans like Kyle (Busch), Denny (Hamlin) and Martin (Truex Jr) who I will share the car with.”
After serving as the crew chief for Erik Jones since 2017, Chris Gayle will move to the NASCAR Xfinity Series to crew chief the No. 54 entry. It will be Gayle’s return to the Xfinity Series returning for the first time since Homestead 2016. Gayle has 132 Xfinity Series starts as a crew chief with 20 victories, 52 top-five, and 91 top-10 finishes.
“I’m looking forward to the upcoming season,” said Gayle. “Ty has already shown a great deal of talent with each step he has taken in his career and I think the opportunity to also learn from his veteran teammates will be a huge benefit to his development.”