The winner at the Food City 500 on Sunday wasn’t just any winner. 

It was filled with meaning and importance. 

It represented Ty Gibbs‘ first NASCAR Cup Series race victory, and a tribute and celebration to the entire Gibbs family. 

“What a moment for the Gibbs family,” Kevin Harvick said on the latest episode of “SPEED with Harvick and Buxton.” 

“Yeah, man, felt like an emotional one, a really meaningful one,” Buxton added. 

That’s because one of the last times Gibbs won a race, his father, and team owner Joe Gibbs’ son, Coy, passed away the following day. Coy’s unexpected passing came following Ty Gibbs’ victory at the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in Phoenix. 

His passing still looms large in the NASCAR community. His presence was certainly felt by that community on Sunday, but especially the Gibbs’ family as Ty’s mom, Heather, was in Bristol, Tenn., to witness her son’s victory.

“For a family that’s put their life into motor racing after Joe’s original career, but had to deal with so much loss, I think for Ty to win his first race, and for his mom to be there, and to know how happy his dad would have been with that win, and how proud he would have been… they know how much that meant to them, and how much that meant to Ty,” Harvick said on “SPEED.” 

It was a fitting victory, and a longtime coming for Ty Gibbs and Joe Gibbs Racing, who struggled throughout the 2025 Cup season. Last year, Gibbs started the season with a DNF. He didn’t finish inside the top 10 until the GOODYEAR 400 on April 6th. The team struggled with car performance and crew chief Tyler Allen’s inexperience showed, Harvick said. 

But as the season continued, they started to find a groove. 

Gibbs, driver of the No. 54 car, finished third at the Food City 500 lin 2025, a harbinger of sorts. He was third at the Firekeepers Casino 400, and second at the Grant Park 165. He finished in the top 10 in the next two races after that. He closed the season with a third-place finish at the Yellawood 500. 

Gibbs carried that momentum into this season, culminating in Sunday’s victory. 

“This win has been in the making for a while,” Harvick said.

It’s a victory that mimics so many others that make NASCAR a special sport. 

“Racing is a family business,” Buxton said. “Nobody gets started without the support of their family, and so often there’s legacies and there’s lineages in racing…. In NASCAR, that’s such a huge part of the championship. There’s so many of these great dynasties, and incredible stories of fathers and sons and racing legacies, and racing names. 

“Watching Ty win, it’s another one of those great stories of racing legacies and family honor.”

CHECK OUT THE FULL EPISODE OF “SPEED”: