Joe Gibbs Racing Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – With the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title now in Erik Jones’ rear-view mirror, the immediate question becomes “What’s next for the 19-year-old prodigy?” With a relatively nondescript, problem-free sixth-place finish in Friday night’s Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jones secured the series driver’s championship, as well as the owner’s title for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Discovered by Busch when he beat his future car owner as a 16-year-old in the Snowball Derby for Super Late Models, Jones delivered theRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Denny Hamlin stole the thunder from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ four Championship Round drivers, winning the pole for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET on NBC). Outrunning Joey Logano and championship-eligible teammate Kyle Busch for the top starting spot, Hamlin toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 30.568 seconds (176.655 mph) in the third and final round of Friday’s knockout time trials. Logano (176.263 mph) will start beside Hamlin in the season finale, followed by Busch, the highest qualifier amongRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Though the line that separates acceptable racing practices from on-track over-the-line aggression may not be defined in bold paint like the line that marks the start and finish of a race, NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France contends that drivers know exactly where it is. “Do you know how many drivers have come to see (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director) Richard Buck in the last two weeks, three weeks, four weeks?,” France asked rhetorically during his annual “State of the Sport”Read More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service Homestead, Fla. – When you’re a single-car team, competing for NASCAR’s biggest prize, you have to work smart and do things a bit differently. That’s where Furniture Row’s Cole Pearn comes in. The first Canadian NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Waterloo (Ontario). A former late model driver and three-time Canadian go-kart champion, his preferred participation sport is beer league hockey. It meshes perfectly with the Rocky Mountain lifestyle of his Denver-based race team.Read More

By Seth Livingstone, NASCAR Wire Service HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – There’s no telling where a younger, less mature Kyle Busch might have been this week. For all his talent, he probably wouldn’t have been at Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day session in preparation for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBC) and his shot at a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. Team owner Joe Gibbs sees the difference in his driver, who has overcome extreme adversity to put himself in position to battle defending champion Kevin Harvick, four-time champRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Joe Gibbs Racing announced that it has finalized a multi-year extension with Mars, Inc. to remain as the primary sponsor on the No. 18 Toyota driven by Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Several Mars brands, such as Snickers, Skittles, Double Mint, Pedigree and M&M will be featured on Busch’s Toyota. The combination of JGR and Mars have grabbed 29 wins, 142 top 10’s and 15 poles since the two began its relationship in 2008. “Representing Mars, Inc’s family of brands on the No.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief After being announced as the replacement driver for a suspended Matt Kenseth, rookie Erik Jones finished 12th at Texas, but eyes the ultimate upset with a win in the desert as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix. Jones, currently the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship leader, has sat on the front row in both NCWTS starts (second in 2013, pole in 2014) and grabbed victory in each. Phoenix was the site of his first Truck Series victory and it came in just hisRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor FORT WORTH, Texas – Shortly before today’s ongoing AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR officials confiscated the front splitters from the No. 11, No. 18 and No. 19 of Joe Gibb’s Racing machines. It is believed that the crews altered the splitters by using bondo to create aerodynamic ‘concaves’ in them to create a small but meaningful aerodynamic advantage. The confiscated pieces will be taken to NASCAR’S R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further examination. It will then be decided if the teamsRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has decided to uphold the two race suspension levied by NASCAR to Matt Kenseth following a hearing earlier today. The first appeal panel consisted of Ken Clapp, Bill Mullis and Dale Pinilis, heard the testimony but came to the following decisions: The Appellant violated the rules set forth in the Penalty notice; The Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty levied by NASCAR. The second and final appeal was heard by National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss and came toRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief A day after NASCAR announced the suspension of Matt Kenseth for two races following his collision with Joey Logano at Martinsville, I’m left wondering if Brian France and company made the right call. The decision to suspend the former NASCAR Sprint Cup champion has sent a message to fans and drivers alike, but also created division on the severity of the punishment. Many look to the Kevin Harvick incident during the green-white-checkered finish at Talladega as intentional and point to the fact that the sanctioning bodyRead More