Ty Gibbs questions 'squirrelly' NASCAR metric that cost him Darlington win

16:14 ET, Mon, Sep 7, 2026

Ty Gibbs bemoaned the NASCAR metric that forced him to start Sunday's race 28th (Image: Getty)

Ty Gibbs did little to hide his frustration with NASCAR’s “squirrelly metric” that determines the starting lineup for a race in the event that qualifying is canceled.

On Sunday, Gibbs roared to a second-place finish in the Cook Out Southern 500, trailing only his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Christopher Bell. Elsewhere on the grid, Denny Hamlin snapped back at a reporter following his disastrous night at Darlington.

Despite his solid performance, Gibbs still fell two spots in the Chase standings after scoring only one point during the first two stages, dropping from fourth place to sixth. The lackluster start can largely be attributed to thunderstorms in the lead-up to the race, which forced NASCAR top brass to cancel practice and qualifying.

In place of the two sessions, NASCAR decided the starting order using a metric that combines the driver’s position in the owner standings (30 percent) with their finishing position in the most recent race (70 percent).

The decision proved especially costly for Gibbs, who had to start 28th after settling for P34 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Aug. 29.

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Gibbs settled for a second-place finish behind Christopher Bell (Image: Getty Images)

When asked what he believed prevented him from overtaking Bell in the final laps of Sunday’s race, Gibbs expressed hope that NASCAR would find a way to “fix” its metric system.

"I think it just goes back to where we started," Gibbs told USA Network. "They had a pretty squirrelly metric they went off of and we started 28th, unfortunately, ranked in the fourth seed. Hopefully, we can fix that for next time. Got Christopher one, happy for him and the 20 team. Appreciate all the effort from everybody on my team."

Gibbs doubled down on his disdain for the metric while speaking to other reporters, insisting he got “hosed” by the generated order. “We needed to start up front and not get hosed on our metric order for qualifying,” the No. 54 Toyota driver said. “Start up front, it would’ve made our whole day easier; we could score points. We had to fight hard, but that’s what we do.”

Gibbs was far from the only driver who voiced their displeasure with NASCAR’s metric.

Ahead of the Cook Out Southern 500, Chris Buescher — who started 35th after being involved in a Daytona crash — shared a photo of himself as Jim Halpert from ‘The Office,’ pointing at himself alongside the caption: “Who has two thumbs and didn’t want to see the lineup set by the metric today. Not off to the start we wanted, but it’s a long one tomorrow. 17 crew will be ready.”

As for whether or not Sunday’s race impacted his confidence going forward in the Chase, Gibbs declared: “I don’t go by confidence. I think that’s what weak people do. So I just go hammer it every week, and drive the c--- out of it. Confidence ain’t gonna win you nothing.”