ALUMNI
A Race to the Finish
An avid and longtime racing fan, Tyler Gibbs ’91 frequents NASCAR competitions as part of his job. The new president of TRD US (Toyota Racing Development), he kept busy last fall with five Toyota cars among the 16 vying for the 2024 NASCAR championship. He splits his time between Costa Mesa, site of TRD headquarters (a subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), Charlotte, N.C., the hub for motorsports, and Daytona Beach, NASCAR’s home. When he’s not traveling, he lives in Irvine with his wife, Kris Oleson Gibbs ’91.
Tyler joined the company in 1996 and served as general manager before overseeing all TRD operations and activities in North America. Working closely with his predecessor, who generously offered him numerous opportunities, has helped Tyler step into the new position. His responsibilities encompass motorsports and racing, the manufacture of components for cars, oversight of emerging technology such as hydrogen fuel generation, and the business’s strategic direction. In addition, he manages all TRD facilities, including those in Costa Mesa and Salisbury and Mooresville in North Carolina.
According to Tyler, he earned promotions at TRD because he understood both operations and finance and learned how to communicate effectively with them. For example, he spent six months as interim CFO before stepping back into operations. “Operations needs to understand how much money we have and how we should spend it, and finance must hear why we need what we need,” Tyler says. He credits his liberal arts education for the ability to build a bridge between these departments.
“When I speak to Westmont students, I tell them they have a seat at the table on the strength of their liberal arts education,” he says.
“When I speak to Westmont students, I tell them they have a seat at the table on the strength of their liberal arts education,” he says. “They’re qualified to be there. I share how they can find space for themselves in a career field.
“I’m a huge advocate for the liberal arts. People with technical skills often lack the ability to explain how a business operates, but I received a broad base in accounting, marketing, communicating and relating to people. Our business and unique environment depends on healthy relationships among business people, drivers, owners, sponsors and team members.”
After majoring in economics and business at Westmont, Tyler worked as a parts picker for Cosworth Engineering. He moved up in the company, becoming an assistant manager for the maker of racing engines, before joining TRD. In 2006, he earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
One of 80 outstanding Westmont alums recognized during the college’s 80th anniversary, Tyler began dating his wife, Kris, a longtime friend, a month before graduating. A political science major, she wrote for the Horizon and participated in Potter’s Clay, and she still keeps in touch with close college friends. Kris has worked with a Christian short-wave radio station in Simi Valley and as an administrative assistant to the president of an international company. Today, she volunteers with the Jessie Rees Foundation, which distributes toy jars for pediatric patients at hospitals. The organization donated their 500,000th jar last summer.
Tyler and Kris have two grown children. Connor ’19 earned a doctorate in social psychology at UC Santa Barbara and will complete a post-doc at Duke University. Their daughter, Ireland, works as a mental health therapist and lives in Charlotte with her husband.
Along with his many responsibilities, Tyler pursues an ongoing goal: winning the first NASCAR championship for Toyota since 2019.
This is a story from the Spring 2025 Westmont Magazine