Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – On a throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, with a move he termed “a throwback to Dale Earnhardt,” Denny Hamlin won his fifth NASCAR XFINITY Series event at the Lady in Black—all from the pole. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota grabbed the lead from Joey Logano after a restart on Lap 147 of 148—one beyond the scheduled distance—and when Logano got inside position on the final circuit and surged ahead into Turn 3, Hamlin responded with aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the regular season continues to wind down, the playoff picture is still very volatile, with three drivers currently in on points, while others on the outside looking in try to win a race and lock themselves in. Heading into Bristol, Matt Kenseth was one of the drivers inside the top-16 as a result of his points position, but the 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion would face his biggest battle in his quest to make the playoffs. The driver that would be hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – No one else had a chance. Other NASCAR XFINITY Series competitors in Saturday night’s 36th Annual Food City 300 might have brought fast race cars—runner-up Daniel Suarez certainly did. But polesitter Kyle Busch had a checkered-flag-seeking missile, and after a restart with eight of 300 laps left, he crossed the finish line 1.181 seconds ahead of Suarez, notching his record 91st victory in the series, his fifth in nine starts this season and his ninth in 25 events at Bristol. The race’s secondRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Kyle Busch’s quest for the weekend three-peat at Bristol just got a little easier. Driving his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch streaked to the pole during the rain-shortened 20-minute qualifying session for Friday night’s Food City 300 with a lap of 15.090 seconds, 127.157 mph, for his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the season in his ninth start. The pole also marks the 63rd time that Busch will start at the top of the board in the Xfinity Series. “It’s just aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor In preparation for tomorrow night’s running of the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers took to the track for their first of two practice sessions on Friday morning, with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch leading the way. It has been an eventful week for Hamlin thus far as he welcomed his second daughter into the world Tuesday before heading to Bristol for the race weekend, where he was victorious inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Michigan twice a year, the battle between the three manufacturers in the series takes on a new life with two of the three being based down the road in Detroit. After Brad Keselowski, a Ford driver, won the pole for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 on Friday evening to give Ford the top three drivers in qualifying, comments were made indicating that he thought Toyota, which has been the dominant manufacturer in recent weeks, was sandbagging atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor As the clock continues to wind down on the regular season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Matt Kenseth desperately needs a win to be able to secure a spot in the playoffs, but at Watkins Glen, Kenseth would fall one spot short. Throughout the season, Kenseth has had opportunities to win races that didn’t pan out for one reason or another and Sunday’s I Love New York 355 was yet another example of the 2003 series champion being close at the end ofRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series made their second trip of the season to Pocono Raceway for Sunday’s Overton’s 400, which led to yet another new winner in 2017. To break down the top storylines of the day, NASCAR editor David Morgan is here with his five takeaways leaving the Tricky Triangle. Kyle Busch Wins…Finally It may have taken 21 races, but Kyle Busch is finally a winner in the Cup Series in 2017 after a dominating day at Pocono. Busch has had a handfulRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LONG POND, Pa. – Barely more than three hours after the Pocono crowd greeted Kyle Busch with a chorus of boos during driver introductions, Kyle Busch made converts of the fans in the grandstands – at least a large portion of them – with a spectacular burnout after his long-awaited victory in the Overton’s 400. Benefitting from a splendid pit call by crew chief Adam Stevens, Busch charged through the field after his final stop and pulled away to beat runner-up Kevin Harvick toRead More

By Rob Gray, NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Preece’s short-lived, but ambitious 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule began three weeks ago at his de facto home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It ended Saturday in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway — as confetti swirled and soared to highlight his first career series triumph in Victory Lane. Preece, held off a hard-charging Kyle Benjamin in a green-white checkered finish that came after the third restart in the race’s final 17 pulse-quickening laps. “I thought this race wouldRead More