Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer SPARTA, Ky. – Matt Tifft was originally scheduled to compete in over thirty races this season between the NASCAR Camping World Truck and XFINITY Series and the ARCA Racing Series. That planned changed in June when the 20-year-old driver went in for an MRI as a result of a back condition. Doctors discovered a low-grade glioma in his brain that would require surgery and keep Tifft out of competition as he recovered. After almost three months of rehabilitation, Tifft returned to competition last weekend atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. – Kyle Busch opened the door, and that was all the invitation Erik Jones needed. When Busch, the polesitter for Saturday’s The Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, spun with a tire down while leading on Lap 182 of 200, Jones took full advantage of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate’s misfortune. The driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota restarted sixth on Lap 187 after Busch brought out the eighth caution of the afternoon and quickly closed the gap on ElliottRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – With one ferociously fast pit stop, Kyle Busch erased a lackluster qualifying effort and cruised to victory in Friday night’s Virginia529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. A master at getting on and off pit road in minimal time, Busch entered the pits in fourth place under the first caution of the race after a tap from J.J. Yeley sent Justin Marks spinning into the frontstretch grass on Lap 48. Busch was first off pit road—decisively—and at that point itRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway was postponed to Sunday afternoon because of heavy rains, Kyle Busch found himself in the race lead and picked right up where he left off when the race resumed, but unfortunately for Busch, he would not be able to collect his sixth Bristol win after his race ended prematurely. Busch was the dominant car of the race, leading 256 laps, but a mechanical failure sent Busch and his No. 18 car forRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service After surgery to remove a slow-growing, non-malignant tumor from his brain, NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Matt Tifft has been cleared to return to the race track, a process he will begin with a late model stock test on Sunday at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Tifft hasn’t competed in a NASCAR race since May 21, when he drove for Red Horse Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. All told, Tifft ran three races for Red Horse and six XFINITY events for Joe GibbsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin owns a new track record, but Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards won the round that counted in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards sped around the .533-mile high-banked concrete short track in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) to claim the top starting spot for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA night Race (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN), edging Hamlin (131.200 mph) by .023 seconds. Remarkably, Edwards earned his fifth Coors Light Pole Award of the season, hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LOUDON, N.H. – In a race that saw many of the usual suspects go into hiding in the closing laps, Matt Kenseth battled to the front of the field from the 18th starting position and pulled away after a late restart to win Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Winning for the second time this season and for the third time at the Magic Mile, Kenseth crossed the finish line 1.982 seconds ahead of Tony Stewart, who solidified his position inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After a barn burner of a finish last weekend at Sonoma, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads back to where it all began in Daytona for Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero 400. With Tony Stewart returning to victory lane at Sonoma before rolling into Daytona, we’ll throw it back to the last time this happened with the running of the 2005 Pepsi 400 and Stewart finally scoring his first win at the famed superspeedway. Throughout his career, a victory at Daytona had eludedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – Since when is finishing last a good omen? It could be for Kyle Busch, who finished 43rd at Michigan last year before scoring the breakthrough victory at Sonoma that propelled him into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and ultimately to the series championship. A year later, Busch comes to Sonoma fresh from another last-place run at Michigan—40th this time because of the smaller Sprint Cup starting grid under the Charter system instituted this season. Last year, Busch missed theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After kicking off the first half of the season with three wins, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 team have been having a summer to forget, with finishes of 30th or worse in the three races prior to Sunday’s race at Michigan. Unfortunately for Busch, the summer slump would continue in the FireKeepers Casino 400. Starting ninth, Busch started having handling issues and made note that something was going on with his engine almost immediately. As Busch started dropping back just prior to lap 53,Read More