After a sluggish opening seven races to the NASCAR Cup Series season, Joe Gibbs Racing has made a change to Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 team beginning with this weekend’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Robert “Cheddar” Smith, a championship-winning car chief, will move into the role of car chief for Gibbs and the No. 54 group.
Chris Gabehart, the competition director for Joe Gibbs Racing, confirmed the addition of Smith to the team in an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday.
?? "It's a great opportunity to get someone with that level of experience, know-how, tenure and demeanor."
Chris Gabehart (@CG1751) speaks on the addition of championship winning car chief Robert "Cheddar" Smith to the No. 54 team starting this weekend at Darlington. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/tACtqdpPAb
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) April 2, 2025
“You know, it’s a great opportunity to get someone with that level of experience, know-how, tenure, and demeanor,” Gabehart explained. “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.”
Smith, 41, was the car chief for the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team in the NASCAR Cup Series during Kevin Harvick’s championship-winning season in 2014. Smith remained with Stewart-Haas Racing through the team’s closure at the conclusion of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
As Rodney Childers moved to Spire Motorsports to take on the role of crew chief for Justin Haley and the No. 7 team, Smith joined his longtime crew chief with the Spire organization. Smith had been serving as the car chief for Justin Haley’s No. 7 team up until he was hired by Joe Gibbs Racing this week.
The Joe Gibbs Racing team hopes the addition of Smith as car chief can turn around what has been a frustrating start to the 2025 campaign for the 22-year-old Gibbs, who sits 31st in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings after seven races.
At this very point a season ago, Gibbs ranked 27 spots higher in the championship standings as he sat fourth in the point standings, and was on everyone’s list of expected upcoming first-time NASCAR Cup Series race winners.
Going into the season’s eighth race, Gibbs has a season-best finish of 13th, which he achieved in last weekend’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.
