Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service This year’s unique NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race format, which requires the first nine, 10 or 11 drivers to start the final 13-lap segment on old tires (with the specific number determined by lot) with cars on new tires behind them, already has drivers thinking about hypothetical scenarios. Drivers in 12th place or worse entering the final segment, where only green-flag laps count, will be guaranteed fresh rubber, and that number is crucial to a lot of calculations. “We have to see how the tiresRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor There’s something to be said about perseverance. It’s like having an ace up your sleeve in a high stakes poker tournament. Perseverance truly is the one intangible trait in Motorsports that can overcome older tires, a weaker car and even a horrible start to a season. What Matt Kenseth showed Sunday, in a dramatic win at Dover, was the epitome of perseverance. Heading into last Sunday, Kenseth had suffered through an abysmal start to the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup campaign. Making matters worse was theRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer After the lug nut rule was changed two weeks ago, teams and drivers all wondered which team would fall victim to the new rule first. On Wednesday, NASCAR gave us our answer. Kyle Busch’s No. 18 team, which won Saturday night’s Go Bowling 400 at Kansas, was penalized by NASCAR for violating the lug nut rule. The specific rules noted by NASCAR in their penalty report were Sections 12:1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 10.11.3.4 (pit road equipment); 12.5.3.4.1 g, o (Parts or systemRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kyle Busch finally overcame his gremlins at Kansas Speedway in a race that left Martin Truex Jr. overcome with frustration. On Saturday night—in stark contrast to many of his prior misadventures at the 1.5-mile track—Busch waited until after the Go Bowling 400 to destroy his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, a feat he accomplished during his celebratory burnout. Busch took the lead for good on Lap 231 of 267 after Truex, who led a race-high 172 laps, brought hisRead More

By NASCAR Wire Service Carl Edwards has long advocated for NASCAR implementing a lower downforce aerodynamics package for it race cars. Lowering the downforce on a car makes it harder to control, which causes more passing and emphasizes driver skill over engineering expertise. His wish was granted this year. Unsurprisingly, Edwards has excelled under NASCAR’s new lower downforce aerodynamics package. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver tops the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings on the strength of two wins, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He’s finished lowerRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After a spectacular afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, it was a Carl Edwards shove to move teammate Kyle Busch out of the way en route to claim his second consecutive victory of the season. Without any further delay, here are my takeaways from Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at the short track oval. 1) Back to Sunday’s a win for NASCAR For the first time in nearly two decades NASCAR returned to a daytime spring race (last year’s race was run on Sunday due to aRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the fourth race in a row, and the fifth time in nine races this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has visited victory lane. This time, it was Carl Edwards who won the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway in a last lap, final corner, bump and run on teammate Kyle Busch. Edwards also won last weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol. Fellow JGR drivers Denny Hamlin, who won the season opening Daytona 500, and Matt Kenseth, theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – The honeymoon at Joe Gibbs Racing may be over. Yes, on Sunday at Richmond International Raceway, Carl Edwards won his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the Toyota Owners 400 and the fourth in a row for JGR, but he did so with a last-lap bump-and-run on teammate Kyle Busch, who was seeking his third victory in four events. “We did everything right – be smart,” Busch was told on his radio, after Edwards moved the No. 18 ToyotaRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. – For the first time this season, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was the driver who was supposed to be behind the wheel. Returning sooner than expected from a burst fracture to his L1 vertebra suffered during an offseason all-terrain vehicle accident, Tony Stewart took to the track during opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice on Friday at Richmond International Raceway, preparing for his first competition of the season in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (1 p.m. ET onRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief No other driver has electrified NASCAR’s top-three touring series recently quite like Erik Jones. The 19-year-old has already conquered the Camping World Truck Series, winning the championship last season. Jones, a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, also impressed last year in select races in relief of an injured Kyle Busch, most notably at Kansas Speedway, where he made his first career start and drove all the way up into the top-five before crashing out midway through. So, it only seems natural that Jones has been appointedRead More