Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A contender for a possible win, misfortune struck Matt Kenseth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Following a restart on lap 224 of Sunday’s Kobalt 400, heavy winds and aggressive racing took shape as the field jockeyed for position. Kenseth was running on the inside of Martin Truex Jr.’s when the backend of his No. 20 began to spin around in Turn 1. As a result, rookie Chase Elliott collided with Kenseth. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch made contact as well, but the damage was too severeRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – When Kyle Busch finally broke his home-court jinx at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he did it in style. Leading 199 of 200 laps, Busch won Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series at the 1.5-mile track, pacing a 1-2-3 finish by Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. The Las Vegas native ended an 0-for-11 drought at his home track, beating teammate Daniel Suárez to the finish line by .817 seconds, with Erik Jones rolling across the stripe in third. The victory was Busch’sRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS – Kyle Busch is the only driver to have won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the pole position, a feat he accomplished in 2009. But Busch won’t have that opportunity in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at the 1.5-mile race track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX). Busch was 24th in the first round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session, barely advancing to Round 2. Ultimately, he qualified 23rd at 192.795 mph, considerably slower than brother Kurt Busch’s pole-winningRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer Ahead of Sunday’s Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the debut of the low downforce package at the track, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers took to the track for two test sessions on Thursday. The first test session went incident free, with Jimmie Johnson laying down the fastest lap at 192.981 mph (27.982 seconds), followed by Daytona 500 winner, Denny Hamlin, just .020 seconds behind in second. Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, and Danica Patrick rounded out the top-five in the first sessionRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Scratch another race track off Kyle Busch’s checklist. In what evolved into a two-man battle against Kyle Larson on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion continued his mastery in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, beating Kyle Larson to the finish line to win the Heads Up Georgia 250. The victory was Busch’s first at the 1.54-mile track and the 77th of his career, extending his own series record. But the outcome was far from a foregoneRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – One of the most outspoken advocates for removing downforce from the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars, Carl Edwards expects the sanctioning body’s move in that direction with the 2016 rules package to have a profound effect in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET on FOX). The combination of low downforce and a bumpy, abrasive racing surface should be a recipe for exciting, strategic racing in the first open-motor event featuring the 2016 rules. “I thinkRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Kurt Busch fell just short of beating brother Kyle Busch on the track during Friday’s time trials at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch covered the 1.54-mile distance in 28.925 seconds 191.668 mph) in the money round of knockout qualifying for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET on FOX), beating his older brother by .013 seconds. But the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection, and his time was disallowed. ThatRead More

SHOW #399 – Daytona 500 Audio BONANZA! – We recap everything D500, Lots of Stewart-Haas Racing news, Fantasy Racing, and a full Atlanta Preview. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie. ( Roughly 48:00 mins) DOWNLOAD HERE   CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERE SUBSCRIBE FROM iTUNES: Take us with you! Subscribe to our audio shows from iTunes, and they will automatically show up on your computer as soon as we post freshRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 58th annual Daytona 500 is in the books and with it a new champion crowned in Denny Hamlin. With ‘The Great American Race’ now over, it’s time to revisit some of the big takeaways from the Sprint Cup season opener. 1) Hendrick Motorsports fell flat Our NASCAR Editor, Toby Christie, pointed out that this was the first time since 2009 that a driver from Hendrick Motorsports has failed to grab a top 10 finish – see that story here. With that said, the performance, orRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service If he had to do it over again, Matt Kenseth might have stayed in line in front of Martin Truex Jr., rather than moving up the track to try to block Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin. But Kenseth had to make a split-second decision, and he moved into the outside lane in the final corner of Sunday’s Daytona 500. But Hamlin dived to the inside, and Kenseth nearly wrecked before regaining control of his car. Hamlin went on to win the race, andRead More