Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Not even halfway through the opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and two drivers contending for the championship will leave Las Vegas with Lady Luck not on their side. On lap 147 in Sunday’s South Point 400, Kevin Harvick, who entered the day as the co-points leader suffered a blown tire in Turn 1 sending him hard into the outside wall and collecting fellow playoff driver Erik Jones in the process. The crash would relegate Harvick and Jones to 37th and 38th,Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Before Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Erik Jones considered himself a sleeper entering the first race of the Playoffs. That was before the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota announced his presence by winning the pole for Sunday’s opening postseason race, the South Point 400. Jones toured the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in 28.705 seconds (188.121 mph) to earn his first Busch Pole Award of the season and the secondRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the second time in the last four starts, Ryan Preece has failed to finish after crashing into the Turn 2 tire barriers in the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Monday, resulting in a red flag. On the 80th lap, Preece restarted alongside Tyler Reddick in row three, but the inside lane got the push, and he couldn’t challenge Reddick. Therefore, his challenger became John Hunter Nemechek at the South Short Chute. Preece was able to get an advantage over Nemechek and was runningRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer After becoming an early season favorite for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship, Christopher Bell’s regular season championship hopes took a hit at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Although the Joe Gibbs Racing driver earned another top-10 finish, his championship rival, and points leader, Justin Allgaier took the victory, extending his points lead. After the final restart of the Lilly Diabetes 250, Bell attempted to use the restricted aero package to his advantage, as he attempted to sling-shot past Allgaier but ran out of momentum in his No.Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin started his Bojangles’ Southern 500 title defense in the best possible way, grabbing the pole position in the final round of Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at Darlington Raceway. Hustling his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the 1.366-mile track in 28.332 seconds (173.571 mph) in the money round, Hamlin edged Kyle Larson (173.411 mph) by .026 seconds to claim the top starting spot for Sunday’s race (6 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXMRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It’s been a fittingly sentimental kind of week for Denny Hamlin leading into Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at the historic Darlington Raceway. Hamlin is the defending race winner and statistically brings the highest driver rating to the 1.3-mile track known for being so difficult it’s nicknamed “Too Tough To Tame.” In fact, last year Hamlin, 37, swept the nostalgic NASCAR weekend – also hoisting his fifth Xfinity Series race trophy as well. All five victories came from the pole position, too. And in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer James Davison came to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, setting his eyes on capturing a win after a crash last year, where he lead 11 of the first 20 laps, took him out of the running. This time around, Davison scored a track-best eighth in Saturday’s Johnsonville 180, but not the way he wanted his result to be due to late circumstances. Davison, who turns 32 on Tuesday, put on a valiant effort throughout the 45-lap contest, but he didn’t lead until the 38thRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  For this week’s edition of Climbing the Ladder, Seth Eggert sat down with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Riley Herbst at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 19-year-old is the driver of the No. 18 NOS / ORCA Coolers / Advance Auto Parts Toyota Camry in the ARCA Racing Series. Herbst won the 2017 Scott Rookie of the Year Award in ARCA. Herbst is currently third in ARCA’s Championship Points Standings, 410-Points behind Sheldon Creed. The Las Vegas, NV native has also competed with DGR – Crosley Group and KyleRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Three former starters of the Indianapolis 500 will compete in the Johnsonville 180 as James Davison will pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Davison joins Conor Daly and Katherine Legge as road course ringers trading their tradition IndyCar or IMSA rides for a NASCAR Xfinity Series stockcar. Davison will have Tilson Forest Hearing Cruz and Jonathon Byrd’s Hospitality and Restaurant Group as the primary sponsors of his Toyota Camry. The Melbourne, Australia native competed in 2018 Indianapolis 500 in the No.Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer BRISTOL, Tenn. – Several hours prior to the Food City 300, the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers ran qualification laps to determine the starting grid. With 40 cars attempting the race and 40 cars available, all drivers will compete tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch earned his 65th career pole in his final Xfinity start of the year with a lap of 124.686 mph. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, and Xfinity Championship Points Leader, Christopher Bell qualified on the outsideRead More