Joe Gibbs Racing Adds Championship-Winning Car Chief to Ty Gibbs' Team

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

To say it's been a disappointing start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team would be a massive understatement.

The 22-year-old racer, who looked on the verge of his first NASCAR Cup Series win at points a season ago, has registered just a single top-15 finish (a 13th-place run this past weekend in the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville) through the opening seven races of the 36-race schedule.

Heading into this weekend's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, Joe Gibbs Racing acquired championship-winning car chief Robert "Cheddar" Smith in an effort to bolster the performance of the No. 54 team moving forward. Chris Gabehart the Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director confirmed the change in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday.

🗣️ "It's a great opportunity to get someone with that level of experience, know-how, tenure and demeanor."

Chris Gabehart (@CG1751) speaks on the addition of championship winning car chief Robert "Cheddar" Smith to the No. 54 team starting this weekend at Darlington. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/tACtqdpPAb

— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 2, 2025

"You know, it's a great opportunity to get someone with that level of experience, know-how, tenure, and demeanor," Gabehart explained. "I mean, from afar, never shoulder-to-shoulder, but I think Cheddar's leadership goes without saying. I think it's going to add a ton of depth to the team and help [Crew Chief] Tyler [Allen], and the other mechanics and engineers to sort of find their way, and have a great presence at the window net so to speak for Ty, which I think is very important. So, that's definitely something I'm looking forward to."

Smith, who was the car cheif for Kevin Harvick during his 2014 NASCAR Cup Series championship season at Stewart-Haas Racing, had been serving as the car chief of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports team until this week.

In his 2023 NASCAR Cup Series rookie campaign, Gibbs notched four top-five finishes, and 10 top-10s on his path to an 18th-place finish in the championship standings. Last season, the grandson of Coach Joe Gibbs secured his first-career berth into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. After a season, where he picked up eight top-five finishes, 12 top-10s, and two poles, Gibbs finished 15th in the championship battle.

Through the seventh race of the 2024 season, Gibbs ranked fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. After last Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville, Gibbs sits a head-scratching 31st in the championship standings and is in desperate need of a turnaround. Perhaps the addition of Smith to the team will be just what Gibbs and the No. 54 team need to spark a change.