NASCAR star Ty Gibbs claims he grew up dreaming of racing in the Tour de France

Ty Gibbs grew up wanting to be a professional cyclist.

NASCAR star Ty Gibbs claims he grew up dreaming of racing in the Tour de France

Tour de France and Ty Gibbs (Via IMAGO)

Joe Gibbs Racing youngster Ty Gibbs is one of the most talented drivers of his generation. The 2022 Xfinity Series Champion is in his sophomore year in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024 and is expected to be his breakout year in the sport’s top tier.

But growing up, becoming a NASCAR racer wasn’t his dream. It wasn’t even becoming a football player like his cousins. Gibbs’s grandfather and the owner of JGR, Joe Gibbs, was a Hall of Fame NFL coach who has won three Super Bowls with Washington Commanders.

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Gibbs, recently talking to Fox Sports, opened up about how he wasn’t the shortest guy in the family and not a good player in football. He grew up racing, not cars as he does now, but bicycles, and dreamed of one day racing in the most prestigious cycling event in the world, the Tour de France.

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That was more like when I played Pop Warner Football when I was younger. And that was more when you're younger, and you're kind of all the same height as kids. There's usually that one super-tall kid. But besides that, I didn't play at all. I actually grew up racing bicycles and that was my dream to go racing in the Tour [de France].
Gibbs told Fox Sports.

Ty Gibbs wishes he was taller

The No:54 Toyota Camry driver is one of the shortest racers on the Cup grid. Not just on the grid but on his family as well. It would have been hard for him to make it as an athlete if he didn’t fall in love with racing because of his height.

Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)
Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO)

When asked if he didn’t ever want to be taller, he admitted he did. Gibbs pointed out that even his younger brother and all his cousins are super big kids, and it didn’t always feel good. He added that though he is short, he isn’t the shortest on the grid, as few drivers are smaller than him.

Yes. I'll tell you why because my brothers and my cousins are all super big kids. Both my younger brothers are bigger than me now, so I guess that means I'm really small, which doesn't help. But I'm not the smallest in the Cup Series. I don't think people know that. There's other smaller guys than me. I always get picked on for being small. But there's some small dudes out there.
Gibbs said.

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