Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Note: This is the first in a five-part series of features highlighting the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2020 – Buddy Baker, Joe Gibbs, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Waddell Wilson. The class will be officially enshrined on Jan. 31 at the Charlotte Convention Center, broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The indications were there from that first green flag he took as a little boy growing up in small town Texas. Bobby LabonteRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 25 Years in Cup: Rookie Career Wins: Seven Truck Series wins, 16 Xfinity Series wins Accomplishments: 2017 Truck Series championship Welcome to the big show, Christopher Bell. After working his way through the Toyota driver development pipeline over the past five years, the Norman, Oklahoma native finally gets his shot in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020, taking over theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Just 10 days removed from championship-winning crew chief Cole Pearn exiting both Joe Gibbs Racing and NASCAR, the team announced Thursday that Australian James Small will be calling the shots for Martin Truex, Jr.’s No. 19 team. The 36-year-old has been Truex’s lead engineer the past two seasons at both JGR and the now-defunct Furniture Row Racing. Their collaboration proved to be a massive success this past season as Truex won seven races and finished runner-up in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Small said it’s anRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season begins, the No. 19 team at Joe Gibbs Racing will have a new leader atop the pit box after crew chief Cole Pearn announced Monday he will be stepping down and leaving NASCAR to pursue opportunities outside the sport. In the team release detailing Pearn’s departure, he cited a familiar theme of wanting to spend more time with his family away from the grueling NASCAR schedule as one of the main reasons for his decision. “This was anRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – With the thrill of victory, there is always the agony of defeat and there was plenty of the latter to go around for Martin Truex, Jr., Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As Kyle Busch basked in his second Cup Series championship, the other three championship contenders could do no more than watch Busch’s burnout down the frontstretch and wonder what more they could have done for them to be the ones celebrating instead of the driver ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kyle Busch entered the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a 21-race winless streak to his name and without a win at a 1.5-mile track in 2019, but in the end none of that mattered. Earlier in the week, the 34-year old Las Vegas native lamented the fact that he was behind his own schedule for success in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, believing he should already have multiple championships to his name. After adding a second Monster Energy NASCAR CupRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The preliminary races are over, now it’s time for the main event. Four of the best in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will face off Sunday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a winner take all race. To the victor goes the championship, while it’s better luck next year for the other three. This year, it’s a Joe Gibbs Racing vs Stewart-Haas Racing showdown, with three JGR drivers – Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex, Jr. – taking on the loneRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – The “Big Three” of the NASCAR Xfinity Series – Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Cole Custer – will be heading to the Cup Series in 2020, but before making the leap to the big leagues, the trio made sure their final season in the Xfinity Series was a memorable one. Reddick may have come away with the championship for the second-straight season, but all three were instrumental in shaping the landscape of NASCAR’s second tier series in 2019. The three combined forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Joe Gibbs Racing comes into this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship battle with a 3-to-1 shot at taking home the title and if Saturday’s final practice is any indication, the championship will have to go through them. In a makeshift practice session that took the place of qualifying after rain washed almost everything out on Friday, Kyle Busch led the way at 31.959 seconds, 168.966 mph, with teammates Martin Truex, Jr. and Denny Hamlin in tow. The fourth of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HOMESTEAD, Fla. – One championship down, two to go. The NASCAR Xfinity Series is next up on the docket during Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the final four in NASCAR’s second tier series – Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell, Cole Custer, and Tyler Reddick – will line up for a Saturday afternoon showdown to see which of them will come away with the championship hardware. Bell, Custer, and Reddick are all moving to the Cup Series in 2020, so this will be the lastRead More