Insights & Analysis – Page 5 – Syndication Server

INSIGHT: Ty Gibbs loves being a rookie

The main Joe Gibbs Racing shop in Huntersville, North Carolina is home to many different departments – most importantly: its four NASCAR Cup Series teams. Ty Gibbs grew up in the family’s race shop and has explored it from corner to corner. He and …

The main Joe Gibbs Racing shop in Huntersville, North Carolina is home to many different departments — most importantly: its four NASCAR Cup Series teams.

Ty Gibbs grew up in the family’s race shop and has explored it from corner to corner. He and his friends, brothers and cousins used to take stools and roll up and down the shop floor.

“It’s huge in there,” Gibbs said.

His time at the shop changed as he got older and his racing career began. While training in the gym, Gibbs can look out to the Cup shop floor, but not until this season has he been able to walk out on the floor and see his name on a JGR race car.

“Having a car in there is a different world,” Gibbs said. “I work out in the gym all the time with my team, and looking out and seeing my name on the back of the cars — that’s really special.”

The first time Gibbs saw a Cup Series Toyota Camry TRD with his name on it was about a week before the Busch Light Clash. It really hit home when he saw the car on the setup plate ready to go for the Daytona 500. Rusty Jarrett/Motorsport Images

Gibbs, of course, has driven for his family team before 2023, but his race cars — whether ARCA Menards or Xfinity Series cars — were housed further down the road in a smaller race shop.

The change of scenery is just another reminder Gibbs is no longer a big fish in a small pond. He drove a car envied by many in the garage last season in the Xfinity Series, going on to win seven races and the championship — the main focus even as he put 15 races on his Cup Series resume as the 23XI Racing substitute driver.

“I think being a rookie is something you don’t take for granted. I enjoy being a rookie,” he admitted. “Being in the Xfinity Series in 2021 as a rookie was really cool. Being an ARCA rookie was awesome. It’s a cool experience.

“It’s fun because people around you don’t think you’re going to do well and I like proving them wrong. Even though I’m not out here to prove people wrong, I’m out here because I enjoy racing cars. It’s the cool part about being a rookie — you only get to do it one time. It’s my third and last chance before I go do something different.”

There’s no back-and-forth between teams anymore, though.

Pulling double duty did have its upside. Gibbs loved the seat time and felt it made him enjoy racing even more, but he’s glad to really be able to dig into the Next Gen car.

“I enjoyed all my Xfinity starts and hope to do more, but (it’s) definitely peaceful,” he said of only focusing on one ride. “I did it for 14 weeks straight — the duty double — and that’s a lot of time, a lot of meetings, a lot of work, a lot of grinding time. But I enjoyed the journey and the process. That was really special to me.”

Gibbs says adapting to the new car’s driving style is like going from an Apple phone to an Android.

“It’s completely different, but in a good way,” he explained. “I really enjoy the Cup car, and I’m happy to be in the Cup Series. The Xfinity Series car I enjoyed as well, and it’s always fun racing in that series. So there are just differences that are hard to get used to because the car is the opposite. It’s not like back in the day when the Cup and Xfinity Series cars had the same rear-end housings and stuff like that. This is completely different.

“We’re learning that it’s really hard for the rookies, but if you work really hard and put your time into it, it’s going to speed that process up. And the style you drive it is completely different as well. It’s almost a road course car, so not having (any skew in the rear end), you have to learn to drive differently. That’s the fun part. I enjoy learning new things and getting better at that.”

Results have been slow to come for Gibbs and crew chief Chris Gayle so far in 2023, but not for lack of trying. John K. Harrelson/Motorsport Images

The first few weeks have been up and down for the No. 54 team. Both Gibbs and his crew chief, Chris Gayle, have been pleased with their speed, but the execution is a work in progress. A 16th-place finish at Fontana is their best result in three races and they sit 20th in the championship standings.

The two are confident things will get better as they go. Gayle is learning the Next Gen car for the first time and Gibbs continues getting more experience. There is a big difference in the depth of competition from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series, and while it’s something Gibbs is working on getting acclimated to, he’s already picked up a few pointers.

“The style of racing in the Cup Series is, of course, different from the Xfinity Series, but it’s almost a little bit more laid back, in my opinion,” Gibbs said. “The guys are very talented and very good, but in running up on somebody, you’re way faster than some of these guys (and they) just let you by. In the Xfinity Series, they’ll race you as hard as they possibly can.

“Guys here still race very hard for stage wins and they’re very good, but they are very tactical and can understand the moves a lot more.”

Watching how calculated drivers race around him reinforces the need to think about the bigger picture, especially in races that are much longer than ones he’s used to.

“I’m going to be here for a while, hopefully, so looking bigger picture,” Gibbs said. “One race is not going to control your destiny, and one decision might not help at all.”

INSIGHT: Corvette’s new FIA WEC Pro-Am home

Corvette Racing, in its 25th anniversary season, has plenty to look forward to. In 2023 it will be fighting on two fronts in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, competing in two very different GT classes, with C8.Rs in two different specifications, with two sets of drivers, run out of two different headquarters.

While its GTD Pro effort in IMSA has a familiar feel to it, running a GTE C8.R modified to compete against GT3 machinery with a full pro driver lineup, its FIA WEC program in GTE Am poses a new challenge for Pratt & Miller. In what will be the final campaign for the GTE spec C8.R in both series, ahead of the launch of the new Z06 GT3.R in 2024, Corvette Racing, for the first time as a factory, is competing in a Pro-Am class.

With the WEC’s GTE Pro class no more after Ferrari and Porsche opted to step up to Hypercar for this season, Corvette has been forced to switch to GTE Am in order to continue competing on the world stage.

It is something that Corvette will need to get used to if it plans to continue making its annual pilgrimage to the Le Mans 24 Hours as a GT manufacturer each year. This is because the WEC and Le Mans as an event will only accept GT3 cars with pro-am lineups once the GTE Am category is removed from the structure in 2024.

With the Hypercar category attracting an abundance of factory teams and GT3 budgets at an all-time high, the new world order in global sports car racing has arrived. Cadillac is already representing GM at the head of the field in GTP and Hypercar, so Corvette, realistically, has nowhere else to turn.

This isn’t bad news, though. Behind the scenes there is a real interest from customer teams, with orders already placed and the potential for programs from left field to emerge in the coming months. At present, RACER understands that a two-car effort in IMSA’s GTD Pro will be joined by up to two customer cars in the first season with the FIA WEC also targeted as a priority program, most likely with a new customer team or teams.

Supporting multiple customer teams around the world going forward, in particular with expansion in sales and support structures expected after 2024, makes both sporting and business sense. It ensures Corvette can continue to have a presence and remain a significant player in the ever-evolving GT racing marketplace, at a time when interest in IMSA and the FIA WEC is at an all-time high.

For this season in the WEC, Corvette Racing has assembled a trio of Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone. They will drive its single No. 33 C8.R in GTE Am, which is being prepped at Larbre Competition’s base in France by Pratt & Miller staff. Interestingly, RACER was told by Corvette that the car is a brand-new chassis and not the Pro car from 2022. Clearly, a lot of resource is being poured into this.

Despite this group having no prior experience competing together, and Varrone and Keating’s time behind the wheel of the C8.R having been limited so far, this group should be considered as potential title contenders.

Keating is the reigning LMGTE Am world champion and Le Mans class winner, who has made the switch to Corvette from British Aston Martin customer TF Sport. The Texan is arguably the most accomplished and talented Bronze driver currently competing in GT racing. He’s driven a slew of GTs and prototypes over the years and the C8.R will be the sixth different GTE car he’s campaigned at Le Mans.

“It’s significantly different than all the others,” Keating explains. “It’s taken a little bit to get used to. I’ve been in a turbo car for the last couple of years, and the big V8 has a lot more torque instantly at low RPMs than having to wait for that big turbo to wind up, so you don’t have that lag — which takes a little while to get used to. The year before, I was in the Porsche RSR and again it doesn’t have the same level of torque that a big V8 has. They all have slightly different handling characteristics.”

To have him joined by Catsburg, another driver with a wealth of experience in different cars — and, crucially, with Corvette in recent seasons as a third driver in its Pro efforts — is key. Varrone is the only question mark here, but he has impressed in his GT racing career to this point. The WEC will be new to him, but if he can adapt quickly, as he is expected to, this will be a crew that won’t be underestimated by anyone in the Am paddock.

“Last year, I raced in the ELMS and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, so I have experience,” Varrone explains. “I didn’t do a full season in WEC but doing races in both championships helped me quite a lot. I don’t think it will be a big change for me. I feel ready for the challenge.”

Sebring has been a happy hunting ground for Corvette over this years, with 13 wins over the years, but getting up to speed quick enough to challenge for victory in the season opener will be no easy feat in this company

In amongst the 14-car field, Corvette will have to get the better of entries from an old rival in Aston Martin Racing, Keating’s former team TF Sport (returning with Aston), Ferraris from AF Corse and Kessel Racing and Porsche run by Team Project 1 and future Hypercar outfits in Proton Competition and Iron Lynx.

It would surprise nobody to see a Corvette factory effort win on its GTE Am debut, but you’d do well to find many weak links in the class. The Prologue test this weekend is therefore crucial because Keating and Varrone’s time behind the wheel has been so limited to this point, having only tested in Bahrain last year and at Sebring.

Both will have to lean on Catsburg to get the most out of the car in the early part of the season. Being the lead driver is something that the Dutchman will not shy away from, though — it’s actually a challenge that excites him.

“It’s definitely going to be different,” Catsburg admits. “I was always the third driver at Corvett,e so I was filling in for the few endurance races — Daytona, Sebring, Petit Le Mans and Le Mans. So this is the first time I’m doing a full season with Corvette Racing with two new teammates. I’m the one with the most experience in the car, which is a first for me. It’s definitely going to be a change.”

The team members on the pit wall will have plenty to learn too. The strategy and racing itself has a different flavour to the always flat-out, often political GTE Pro class that Corvette was part of last season. Balance of Performance isn’t usually as much of a talking point in Am — that’s not to say that there are zero complaints, but the success ballast system does well at keeping the field close and making it extremely difficult to run away with the title.

Corvette’s WEC program in 2023 may not appear as exciting as a full factory bid in a pro class on the face of it, but this is a serious project and it is being taken very seriously internally. Achieving a Le Mans class win and a world championship title in the final year of GTE racing is the aim. If Corvette Racing can pull this off, it would feel just as sweet as any of its previous achievements over the past two and a half decades and serve as a fitting GTE swan song for the GM brand.

INSIGHT: Why NASCAR appealed to Button after F1

Jenson Button will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at a Circuit of The Americas venue he knows well from his Formula 1 days, but the challenge could not be much more different. The 2009 F1 world champion will race for Rick Ware Racing – with …

Jenson Button will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at a Circuit of The Americas venue he knows well from his Formula 1 days, but the challenge could not be much more different.

The 2009 F1 world champion will race for Rick Ware Racing — with support from Stewart-Haas — in three events this year, adding Chicago’s new street race and the Indianapolis road course to his schedule. All were chosen due to his experience at the F1 venues and the clean slate in Chicago, but in reality he feels there’s very little he can lean on in terms of previous knowledge.

“I’ve raced at COTA quite a few times in an F1 car and everyone was saying a couple of days ago when I tested there in the Garage 56 car, ‘Oh it’s easy for you, you’ve driven here in an F1 car’ but it’s a little different in an F1 car!” Button says. “You basically drive a different circuit.

“For me to get to grips with a big car, a stock car, the test last week did help even though it’s a very different type of car.

“I enjoy the track, it’s flowing — in an F1 car it’s just awesome. You go through Turn 1 and through the Esses, all the way down to Turn 9 it’s just change of direction after change of direction. You put one foot wrong at Turn 3 and that affects you all the way down to Turn 9, and I think we all love that as drivers, it’s very like the Suzuka Esses. There are some really good overtaking opportunities in an F1 car — DRS helps.

“In a stock car it’s very different. It’s obviously a lot slower, and they’re going side-by-side through Turn 3 and Turn 4, which is just crazy, but I look forward to that all that rubbing and tapping and what have you. It’s going to be an exciting experience.

“And the racing in stock cars around COTA has been good as well. I’ve watched last year’s race probably 20 times now just to get an understanding of where they’re putting the car, the different styles of driving, who’s more aggressive than others… So the race last year was really good fun to watch, so I look forward to the action.”

It’s not just a PR line that he’s looking forward to it. This is a venture that Button himself put into action by flagging his interest to Mobil 1, and has been keen to take on the more he’s learned about NASCAR since the movie “Days of Thunder” put the category on his radar as a nine-year-old.

But so few F1 drivers appear willing to take on other challenges that are so different to the world they know. Button himself was admirably committed throughout his grand prix career and then turned to punditry, suggesting that even living in America didn’t appear to break the ties to the European-based scene.

So after coming close to an IndyCar ride around the time of the pandemic, and now tackling Le Mans in NASCAR’s Garage 56 entry alongside Jimmie Johnson and Mike Rockenfeller, what has driven Button to jump in a Cup car and follow in the recent footsteps of fellow F1 champions Kimi Raikkonen and Jacques Villeneuve?

“It felt so far removed from us as youngsters. I don’t want to be negative about Formula 1 because it is an amazing sport and I’m an F1 world champion so I spent most of my life there, but you’re so focused and your family doesn’t come to the races because your teams don’t really want them to be there, because they know your focus is so important,” he reflects.

“It’s very tough because it’s your life — it is everything. Everything you do is for Formula 1. I did it for 17 years and you’re in this world that you forget about everything else. It’s all that matters, is making you a better racing driver and a better Formula 1 driver. So when you step outside that, for me it’s exciting to do other things.

“With NASCAR it’s a much more relaxed atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong — the racing is very serious and these are some of the best drivers in the world, but the atmosphere outside the car, the atmosphere at the track is a lot more relaxed. It’s more of a family-based category, so I think that’s why we like it, because it’s trying something different. We’ve done something the same for so many years, so to try something different is exciting.

“Jacques raced last year, Kimi did a race last year, and everyone seems to enjoy it. And I think it’s also because we love another challenge. It’s trying something different. We’re not just F1 drivers, we’re racing drivers. I also live in the States so it definitely helps with that.”

It’s not just a one-off interest that Button has, either. While he admits it’s his performances that will decide if there’s further opportunities for him to race in the Cup Series beyond the three announced, the 43-year-old is also eyeing up a potential oval transition for events like the Daytona 500, but has a longer path in mind as something he can do without sacrificing family time.

“For me it’s not just driving the racing car. A racing car is a racing car, and it’s very different to what I’m used to but you get to grips with it over time,” he says. “It’s the racing that’s a lot more difficult, having cars all around you, having a spotter telling you who’s where and a lot of the time you’re stuck in the middle and can’t really do much!

“It’s just a very different type of racing, and that’s the bit I think would take a while. I could go and drive on an oval, and I’m sure it would take me time but I’d get to grips with it — especially at a circuit like Daytona where it’s flat (out) the whole way round. But it’s when you put other cars into the equation and the drafting and the pushing, it’s a lot to learn.

“Doing that in the Cup Series probably isn’t the best way for me, jumping in a Cup car in Daytona. I think it might be better to do it in a lower category first and get a bit of experience that way.

“The atmosphere is great, and that’s what I really love about NASCAR. About all the different series in NASCAR but especially Cup Series, it’s the family atmosphere that really got me. I was speaking to Jimmie Johnson and he says, ‘My kids come along and they’re playing with everyone else’s kids!’ It’s that part of it that really adds to the interest for me.”

Whatever the motivation behind it, it’s sure to add to the wider motorsports interest in certain NASCAR events this year, too. That’s a win-win for everyone.