Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A complete afterthought in last week’s Daytona 500, Martin Truex, Jr. showed up to race with a strong, but disgruntling runner-up effort during Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 4 of 325 laps. The thought of scoring his first top-five at Joe Gibbs Racing was irrelevant to Truex, who voiced his displeasure about lapped cars, specifically Ricky Stenhouse, Jr, who he felt that by running the preferred bottom line, it cost him from beating Brad Keselowski, who went on to becomeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – To hear Christopher Bell describe his race in Victory Lane, you’d never know that he had just won it. “I felt pretty sloppy there as a driver sometimes,” Bell said after leading 143 of 163 laps in winning Saturday’s Rinnai 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Running the yellow line (at the bottom of the track) is so hard. “I don’t know, I would just struggle on the longer runs there.” Struggling, of course, is a relative thing. AfterRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been great brother duos to race in NASCAR over the years, but one of the best was the combination of Bobby and Terry Labonte. Back in November 1996, the two got to showcase their talents in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Terry entered the race with a slim 47-point advantage over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon after finishing third at Phoenix the week prior. He had done so while nursing a broken left hand that was injured in a practice crash. WhenRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – “It’s the most emotional and the biggest win I’ve ever had in my life, in anything,” Joe Gibbs said after the 61st running of the Daytona 500. Less than a month after the loss of J.D Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing came into the 2019 season with a motto: “Do It for J.D.” And they executed that almost to perfection Sunday, with Denny Hamlin capturing his second victory in the Great American Race, followed by Kyle Busch and Erik Jones securing a podiumRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kyle Busch’s 14th attempt to capture the Harley J. Earl Trophy will have to wait another year after going from leading in the closing stages to finishing second in Sunday’s Daytona 500, leading 34 of 207 laps. On Lap 199, Hamlin ended Busch’s time out in front just as the field was wrecking behind him in Turn 3, collecting seven cars. The plan for Hamlin was to race and staying out, which Busch followed suit. Two restarts later, it was about to goRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Halfway through last season, Matt DiBenedetto made the choice to bet on himself if he was going to have any future in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The Grass Valley, Calif. native announced he was leaving Go Fas Racing, the team he had been with for the two seasons prior, without a place to land for the 2019 season. That gamble could pay off in spades if this season goes to plan. Not long after he made the decision to lookRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s 61st annual running of the Daytona 500. Age: 38 Years in Cup: 15 Career Wins: 19 Biggest Accomplishment: 2017 Cup Series Champion A novel couldn’t told quite the tale that Martin Truex, Jr.’s fascinating NASCAR career has gone through his entire career. This past season, Truex came into 2018 with an all-time high in confidence and poised for a strong title defense. While that remained true,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 33 Years in Cup: 16 Career Wins: 51 Biggest Accomplishment: 2015 Cup Series Championship A part of the “Big Three” in 2018, Busch seemed destined to add a second Cup title to his resume after scoring eight wins on the season, but ultimately fell short of that goal in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Editor’s note: Motorsports Tribune will be previewing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season for the full-time drivers in the series leading into February’s running of the Daytona 500. Age: 27 Years in Cup: Two Career Wins: Zero Cup Wins, Three Xfinity Series Wins, One Truck Series Win Biggest Accomplishment: 2016 Xfinity Championship Joe Gibbs Racing has served as the base of operations for Daniel Suarez since he first entered NASCAR national series competition full-time back in 2015 and it’s been a wild ride for theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Co-founder of Joe Gibbs Racing and former NASCAR driver Jason Dean “J.D.” Gibbs, 49, passed away Friday evening from complications after a long battle with a degenerative neurological disease. The oldest son of Joe Gibbs became an instrumental force of propelling JGR as one of NASCAR’s elite team, kickstarting the career of Denny Hamlin and bringing Kyle Busch to the team. Before making his mark in the sport, J.D. played both defensive back and quarterback at William & Mary from 1987-90, looking to follow his dad’sRead More