Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Erik Jones’ playoff pressure ended last Saturday, scoring his maiden Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Daytona, locking himself into a playoff berth in just his sophomore season. Jones came into Kentucky Speedway simply looking for even more stellar runs, which he successfully accomplished in the Quaker State 400, finishing seventh. It’s Jones’ fourth straight top-10 effort this season, and certainly a hard fought one after his white No. 20 Freightliner Toyota Camry could’ve failed completing the entire 267-lap contest. Starting alongside pole sitterRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Last Saturday night at Daytona, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. found himself as Public Enemy No. 1 among some in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage area after being involved in a series of crashes throughout the duration of the race. A week later, Stenhouse and his run-ins on the 2.5-mile superspeedway were still front and center in the mind of Kyle Busch, who was involved in one of the multi-car crashes that Stenhouse helped trigger. Busch expected a call from Stenhouse, who owned up to hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer  SPARTA, Ky. – By virtue of his win at Daytona International Speedway, Erik Jones is now locked into the 2018 Playoffs. However, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver will still have to contend with “the big three”: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and defending champion Martin Truex, Jr., all of whom have dominated the season so far. Jones and his No. 20 Freightliner Toyota Camry team have only earned 39 Stage Points this season. He is 16thamong drivers that have earned Stage Points, with hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a wild war of attrition that went to two overtimes, Erik Jones outdueled Martin Truex Jr. on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway to seize the first victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career. In a Coke Zero Sugar 400 that went eight laps beyond its scheduled 160, Jones passed the reigning series champion on the backstretch of the final lap and held on to win by .125 seconds. Jones battled back from damage sustained in a multicarRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Early on in the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 at Daytona, Christopher Bell found himself sitting sideways in his pit box with the entire field passing him by. By the time the checkered flag flew, all of that was in his rearview mirror as he brought home a third-place finish in overtime. Bell started the day in sixth-place and though he finished the first stage outside the top-10, things took a turn when the field hit pit road. To make matters even worse, BellRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Although over two months have passed, Ryan Preece is looking to go back-to-back in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The last time Preece competed in the Xfinity Series, he won at Bristol Motor Speedway, capturing the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus in the process. The Coca-Cola Firecracker 250 will mark Preece’s third trip to Daytona International Speedway. As he did when he won at Bristol, he will drive the No. 18 Rheem Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. In his two previous starts at ‘TheRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill.— Erik Jones recorded his second-best finish of the 2018 season, bringing home a sixth-place result in Sunday’s Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. It was the second straight top-10 result for the 22-year-old driver after finishing seventh at Sonoma Raceway last weekend. With Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. combining to win 13 of the first 17 races of the season, many positions in the Playoffs will go to drivers that haven’t visited victory lane this season. After Chicagoland, only nine racesRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer JOLIET, Ill. — The finish on Sunday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway is exactly the finish that the sport needs in a day and age when declines in ratings and attendance have become a significant concern. The fans that braved the hot, humid and muggy conditions got their money’s worth as Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson put on a fantastic final lap that resulted in beat-up sheet metal and a respectful handshake between two of the best competitors in the sport today. With 20 laps to goRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer MADISON, Ill. — The final results on Friday night at Gateway Motorsports Park credit Riley Herbst with a fifth-place finish in the ARCA Racing Series Papa Nicholas 150. But it wasn’t as good of a night as it looked on paper, as Herbst battled back from two issues during the course of the 120-lap event. “Awful, I don’t know,” a dejected Herbst said on pit road after the checkered flag when asked to describe his day. “We had a good car and finished fifth withRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Sunday didn’t get off to the start that Christopher Bell would have hoped, as his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota didn’t make it through pre-qualifying inspection in time to make a lap in the first round of knockout qualifying at Iowa Speedway. As a result, Bell started the NASCAR XFINITY Series Iowa 250 from the 39th position. It was only a matter of time before Bell would become a factor in the race, cracking the top-10 by Lap 28 and running sixth byRead More