The struggling Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team is about to receive a significant figurative shot in the arm in the form of a new car chief.
Robert ‘Cheddar’ Smith has moved to JGR, where he will work alongside crew chief Tyler Allen and driver Ty Gibbs, a team that is looking to turn its season around after a slow start. Gibbs is 31st in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings and has just one top-15, a 13th place finish that came on Sunday At Martinsville, despite driving for a team that has produced four wins in seven races.
Smith was long the right-hand man to Rodney Childers at the championship winning Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 team with Kevin Harvick for a decade and then Josh Berry last year. Childers and Smith started the season together at Spire Motorsports working with Justin Haley.
Now, Smith will move over to JGR in a move lauded by competition director Chris Gabehart on Wednesday during a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio spot.
“You know, it’s a great opportunity to get someone with that level of experience, know-how, tenure, and demeanor,” Gabehart said. “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.”
Gibbs, 22, has shown flashes of stardom with his 2022 Xfinity Series championship and a rookie season in 2023 that produced four top-5s and 10 top-10s and a 18th-place championship result. Last year, Gibbs made the playoffs with eight top-5s, 12 top-10s and two poles en route to 15th in the standings.
Smith is a major addition to increase the performance of the No. 54 team.
More About:NASCAR