Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

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

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr. were the class of the field through the first half of last Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, but after the two crashed while battling for the lead on a restart at lap 112, tensions flared between the Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing pit crews. In a video first seen on Fox Sports 1’s NASCAR Race Hub, Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens was walking back to the garage when a member of Truex’s pit crew sarcastically clapped atRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Sunday’s Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was full of storylines as the regular season draws one race nearer to its conclusion, but what were the top storylines of the day? NASCAR Editor David Morgan is here to break it all down. Joe Gibbs Racing Finally Gets Their First Win of the Season If anyone would have said prior to the season that Joe Gibbs Racing wouldn’t have their first win of the year until mid-July, you would have called them crazy. Well, 19Read More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – The relief was palpable. In a thrilling finish fraught with suspense, and in a backup car after a Friday crash in practice, Denny Hamlin held off a charging Kyle Larson to win the Overton’s 301 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Before the race, Hamlin and the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization was in desperation mode, but when Hamlin took the checkered flag .509 seconds ahead of Larson, the picture changed dramatically. Hamlin secured aRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With his future in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series up in the air for next season and still looking for his first win of the 2017 season, Matt Kenseth and his No. 20 team found themselves in a prime position to check that box off the list in Sunday’s Overton’s 301 at New Hampshire, but a late race gamble on tires didn’t quite go his way and he would have to settle for a fourth-place finish instead. Kenseth would start the day in thirdRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch’s celebratory burnout produced a cloud of smoke over the frontstretch at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but Ryan Preece’s first run in top-of-the-line equipment made an even bigger impression in Saturday’s Overton’s 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race. After a major snafu on pit road took a potential win away from Brad Keselowski, who had arguably the fastest car at the Magic Mile, Busch cruised to a 10.425-second victory, collecting his third win in six starts this season, his sixth at NHMSRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer In his first of just two scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Ryan Preece finishes second in the Overton’s 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Preece impressed in both qualifying and the race, starting up front and finishing up front. In fact, he was one of only six to finish on the lead lap. Preece ran up front all day long in the No. 20 Mohawk Northeast Toyota Camry. He even challenging his teammate, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Kyle Busch, as well as CupRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor In news that had been expected since Matt Kenseth announced he would not be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing last week, the organization announced on Tuesday that Erik Jones would be returning in 2018 to take over the No. 20 Toyota that Kenseth currently drives. “Matt (Kenseth) has been a tremendous asset to our organization over the past five seasons both on and off the track,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “He’s been a great teammate and a great ambassador for ourRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SPARTA, Ky. – As Kyle Busch spun his No. 18 Toyota wildly during his celebratory burnout at Kentucky Speedway, the right rear tire exploded with an audible pop after it hit the drain below the apron. It was an astute call by crew chief Eric Phillips that enabled Busch’s tires to survive long enough to win Saturday afternoon’s rain-delayed Alsco 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the 1.5-mile track. In effect, Phillips was the architect of Busch’s second victory this season, his fourth at KentuckyRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Still without a win halfway through the 2017 season, Matt Kenseth now has other things to worry about as the second half of the year plays out, like where he might be driving next season and beyond. During a Friday morning media session at Kentucky Speedway, Kenseth was asked about his plans for 2018 as his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires at season’s end and the 2003 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion was quick to mention that he didn’t think that he’d beRead More