Results tagged “Joe Gibbs Racing” from Haddock in the Paddock

A week after NASCAR levied severe penalties on the Nationwide Series teams for Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch had them back on top at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
Busch won the Nationwide Series race in Fontana on Saturday night after the his No. 18 team and the No. 20 team were penalized for attempting to alter the dyno test data the teams provide to NASCAR.
The Joe Gibbs Racing teams have dominated the Nationwide Series this year. In an effort to make the series more competitive, NASCAR submitted guidelines to the Joe Gibbs Racing teams that were intended to reduce the horsepower in their engines.
Members of the team tried to alter the tests and those crew members, including both team's crew chiefs, received suspensions from NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing.
Busch said after winning the Nationwide Series race that those left on his crew rose to the challenge and gave him a great car.
"These guys are pumped up, they're excited," Busch said. "It doesn't matter if you win a late model race, a Nationwide race, truck race or Cup race - you never know when your last one is going to be so this one means a lot. These crew guys have had a lot of adversity on them in the past few weeks and they don't deserve the bad rap they've got."
Busch is familiar with the NASCAR police. He was put on probation after trying to spin out Carl Edwards after the Cup race at Bristol last weekend. Both drivers are on probation for the next six races, starting with the Cup race at Fontana.
"I don't care about my bad rap but these guys here are the ones that work hard at the shop and do all the hard work so I really have to thank these guys," Busch said.

Everyone knew Joe Gibbs Racing was looking for a new driver for the No. 20 Toyota, soon to be vacated by Tony Stewart, who is forming his own Cup team for the 2009 season.
Joe Gibbs Racing will have a news conference on Monday, apparently announcing a new driver, crew chief and sponsor and what promises to be more.
It's hard to imagine any more the team could add.
All reports point toward Joey Logano, who won the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale last year, to be the next driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
But Home Depot has been a much a part of Joe Gibbs Racing as Stewart. It's hard to imagine anything other than a bright orange No. 20 running around the race track.
Then again, it was hard to imagine anything other that a bright red No. 8 racing around either.

Joey Logano, the heir-apparent to the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing, will be racing at Gateway International Raceway for a Nationwide Series race. He was asked before the race about his chances of moving into the Cup Series as the driver of the No. 20 car.
"Nothing has really changed," said Logano, who won the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale last year. "It's pretty much the same deal. If they offer it to me, I'd take it. It's something that has been talked about but I'm not in a position to say anything. I don't really know what I'm going to do yet. Like I said before, I'm focused on the No. 20 Nationwide car right now and from there that is Joe (Gibbs) and J.D.'s (Gibbs) deal."
Logano did say he is a little surprised his name is in the discussion about driving the No. 20 car at the Cup level.
"I definitely think it's a cool thing to even have your name in the hat on that one," Logano said. "It's a great team and a great car. The car has won two championships with Tony driving it. The whole team has been together for so long and to be driving any car for Joe Gibbs Racing right now would be great. I'm just trying to make the best of my opportunities now. The only thing I've got set in stone right now is this Nationwide car so I'll make the best of it."

Kyle Busch won a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series best seventh race at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday. He has won two straight Cup races and three of the past four.
Here is a look at the races he's won this year:
March 9: Atlanta Motor Speedway (first Cup win for Toyota)
April 27: Talladega Superspeedway
May 10: Darlington Raceway
June 1: Dover International Speedway
June 22: Infineon Raceway (first road course win for Busch)
July 5: Daytona International Speedway
July 12: Chicagoland Speedway
"This is just an unbelievable year and something to be really proud of and really fortunate to be involved with," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "To have a ll these guys on my side with Joe Gibbs and J.D. (Gibbs) and Steve (Addington, crew chief) and everybody, it's just unbelievable. You cherish them when you can get them, and definitely this year is one to cherish."
Denny Hamlin, Busch's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, has one win, giving Toyota eight Cup wins in its second season in the Cup Series.
Hamlin won the race at Martinsville Speedway on March 30.
But Busch has been the story of the year so far.
"This doesn't come along very often -- I never dreamed of this for myself," Busch said. "You always see it happen with somebody else and you feel good about them being able to do that. Now, that that feeling has come upon me, I know you have to stay humble and yet stay hungry, go out there and do what you can in order to survive in these races, and to survive up front and try to win. Somehow, it's paying off and it's working out. I'm just so proud of the effort."

Tony Stewart and Joe Gibbs Racing have agreed to part ways at the end of the 2008 season. Stewart is reportedly headed to Haas/CNC Racing next year and will have an ownership stake in the two-car Sprint Cup Series team.
Stewart has scheduled a news conference Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway to announce his future plans in NASCAR.
He will be in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota for the remainder of the Cup season and will race in two Nationwide Series races for the team. He will be in the No. 20 car for JGR in the Nationwide Series races at this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Illinois and Aug. 16 at Michigan International Speedway.
"I cannot thank Joe and J.D. Gibbs enough for the opportunity they gave me and for the support they've given me throughout my entire NASCAR career," Stewart said. "I've learned so much from them and have a tremendous amount of respect for what they've built."
Stewart won two Cup championships and 32 Cup races racing for Joe Gibbs Racing.
"We've had a lot of success with Tony in our 12 years here at Joe Gibbs Racing," said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR. "While this moment is bittersweet, we're parting on good terms and we know that each of us has benefited greatly from the other."

When the NASCAR Sprint Cup teams were testing at California Speedway last week, they were greeted by thousands of fans over the two days. Tony Stewart said it was a surprising number of fans.
"There were more people at the test than there were at the fall race there," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
It wasn't quite that big of a crowd, but still an impressive turnout to watch what amounts to batting practice or spring football practice.
"I was pretty impressed with how many people showed up at the test," Stewart said. "I was a little disappointed when I found out they had to pay to get in the infield to watch the testing. I guess it didn't bother the fans too much to have to do that."
For the record, the track did not charge fans for access to the infield to watch testing. The track did request, if fans did not buy a ticket for the grandstands, to donate $5 to the NASCAR Foundation to get infield access. The track raised more than $11,000 to donate to charity over the two days.
"It was a nice scenery change actually to see the fans there during a test where it's normally you don't see anybody at all," Stewart said. "Pretty cool seeing the fans there having a good time."

Kyle Busch is gearing up for a busy NASCAR season. He will be driving in the top three NASCAR national series. In addition to racing for Joe Gibbs Racing at the Cup level, he will be in Nationwide Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing and Braun Racing as well as Truck Series races for Billy Ballew Motorsports.
He will also be one of the youngest drivers in all three divisions. But Busch said being the youngest driver on the track is nothing new.
"I've been with that my whole career really," said Busch, driver of the No, 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. "I've raced in legend cars at home, modifieds and late models where there were guys I was racing against who were 45 and 50 years old that had grandkids older than I was."
It's not the age of the driver that matters to Busch. It's the ability of the driver that concerns him.
"There are plenty of them that have talent and are up there in the years," Busch said. "Dale Jarrett sure hasn't given up much, Mark Martin is sure right there and all those guys that sure love doing it."

For what it’s worth, Toyota has looked uncharacteristically fast in preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway this month.
The drivers for Joe Gibbs Racing — Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch — have been particularly fast. Hamlin and Busch had the top two cars in the test sessions at Las Vegas on Monday.
Stewart wasn’t too far behind.
Even Dave Blaney, who drives a Toyota for Bill Davis Racing, and A.J. Allmendinger, one of the Toyota drivers for Red Bull Racing, posted impressive times at Daytona.
Preseason testing continues today and Friday at California Speedway, the first time NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow will be on the Fontana track.
Joe Gibbs Racing made the daring, some might say foolhardy, move from Chevrolet to Toyota engines in the offseason. Stewart and Hamlin made the Chase, the 10-race playoff to determine the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, last year with Chevrolet engines. Busch, who moved from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing in the offseason, made the Chase last year, too.
No Toyota driver qualified for the Chase. Only one Toyota team finished in the top 35 in the crucial owners standings. The top 35 teams in the owners standings earn automatic starting spots in Cup races.
While it’s hard to get too excited about testing times and speeds, Hamlin and Busch said they liked the results so far.
“Yeah, I mean, we definitely didn’t think going into this year that we were going to have growing pains by switching manufacturers,” said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Had we had the old car where we really don’t know the aero advantages, yeah, we definitely would have been a little bit more concerned.”
The change appears to be going smoothly at Joe Gibbs Racing. Other Toyota teams have shown significant signs of improvement, too.
Hamlin said the changes have not been that drastic.
“But we know we’ve got basically the same body as what we had last year,” Hamlin said. “All we’re dealing with is different horsepower. Really there’s going to be no transition for us, going hopefully to be as competitive if not more competitive. The way it’s looking, we’re going to be more competitive than what we were last year.”
That would be an impressive jump for Toyota.
“It's been pretty cool to come out here — as well as the Atlanta and Daytona test — and be fast at all of them,” said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Hopefully we will be able to go to California and do the same thing. We knew the manufacturer wasn’t going to be a hold back, that’s why we made the swap.”
What’s scary is that the teams from Joe Gibbs Racing haven’t showed their full hands yet.
“This is still TRD’s (Toyota Racing Development) motor package in this car — it isn’t a Gibbs motor package,” Busch said, “so I can only presume that we will come back here with more.”

Tony Stewart turned his first laps in his new Toyota-powered car for Joe Gibbs Racing at Daytona International Speedway this week. He said seeing a number of Toyota drivers at the top of the speed charts the past two days was a good sign. At least he assumed it was a good sign.

Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR

"You just don’t know what everybody else is doing so you don’t know if everybody else is showing their hand," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "It makes you feel good when you make a big change like what our organization has gone through this winter and to come to the first test of the first race of the year and see so many Toyotas on top of the chart like that it’s obviously a big plus for us.”
Not only is Stewart driving a Toyota for the first time, he is driving NASCAR's new stock car at Daytona for the first time. Stewart said the car drives like an IROC car at Daytona.
"These cars don’t have near the down force that our cars last year had," Stewart said. "With the limited amount of shock travel in the front you’re hitting bump rubbers where last year we weren’t allowed to have bump rubbers. It doesn’t float around the race track like it used to -- it’s a lot harsher of a ride.”
Stewart was asked by reporters at Daytona if he feels any more pressure because of the Toyota engines and the new car. Stewart said the pressure is the same as it's always been.
"It’s a situation where you know there are so many good quality teams out there that you have to have the right pieces and the right equipment every week," Stewart said. "I feel like we have the right pieces in place and now I just have to go out there and do my job.”

Kyle Busch is used to success. The young driver, the newest member of Joe Gibbs Racing, won his share of races and became a Chase qualifier in his brief time with Hendrick Motorsports.
But repeating that kind of success might be a bit of a challenge at Joe Gibbs Racing.
No doubt the team has a history of winning races and championships, from Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte to Denny Hamlin. But the team made the switch to Toyota engines in the off-season and things didn't go so well for Toyota in 2007.
Toyota teams struggled to qualify for races. Few were among the top-35 in the owners standings, and thus able to earn automatic starting spots in races. Only one finished the year in the top 35.
Busch said he isn't worried about the performance of Toyota teams, especially his at Joe Gibbs Racing.
"I mean, I'm not necessarily going to say that it's the team or myself. I'm confident enough in the Toyota, because we're talking about Toyota here, that they're going to make it to Victory Lane," said Busch, driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. "I feel like the Gibbs organization, and everybody said it, is ultimately going to be the telltale story of how good Toyota's going to be."
Toyota made its debut in Cup last year with three teams: Red Bull Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Bill Davis Racing. In three days of testing at Daytona International Speedway, Toyotas have been surprisingly fast. Busch was among the top 10 fastest drivers in the first two days of testing. Jacques Villeneuve, from Bill Davis Racing, and J.J. Yeley, from Hall of Fame Racing, were among the top drivers in Tuesday's sessions.
"You still have Red Bull, who has been a strong effort," Busch said. "Obviously they came down here prepared and ready to go. They've been pretty fast, as well as Bill Davis, the 27 with Villeneuve, has been good. There's going to be a couple more down here next week. Be curious to see how the rest of them do. It's not a stretch at all to say that Toyota's going to be in Victory Lane, no."

J.D. Gibbs has been the president of Joe Gibbs Racing since 1997 and has been running the three-car NASCAR Cup team since his father, Joe Gibbs, went back to coaching the Washington Redskins in 2004.
But Joe Gibbs has always been the owner of the team and looks like he will be returning in some capacity in the family NASCAR operation now that he has retired from NFL coaching again.
“Obviously, it’ll be great to have him back here on a regular basis," J.D. Gibbs said. "It’s a biased opinion because he’s my dad, but there’s so much that he brings to the table. He has such a gift for leading a team. He’s been coaching for 40 years and a leader of this race team since we formed it in 1992. Having him back will be a huge encouragement to our 430 families and a benefit to all of our corporate partners."
Joe Gibbs will be one of the advisers for Dan Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, and will have some involvement with the race team.
"I know my dad loves the Redskins and thinks the world of Dan Snyder," J.D. Gibbs said. "As a huge Redskins fan myself, I’m thrilled he will remain in partnership with Dan as a consultant, helping the Redskins wherever he can in the years to come."
What role Joe Gibbs will specifically have with the NASCAR team has yet to be revealed. J.D. Gibbs apparently will not relinquish his title as president and looks like he will be handling the day-to-day operations of the team.
“As far as my role with the team goes – nothing changes, just like nothing really changed when he went back to the Redskins in 2004," J.D. Gibbs said. "I guess it’s a good thing I never moved into his office. We’re all working really hard to win races and championships, just like we always have.”
Joe Gibbs Racing has three cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. They are driven by Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. All three drivers made the Chase last year in the Cup series, but Busch was a driver for Hendrick Motorsports last year.

1. Can Toyota win a race?
They better. Toyota made its debut in the Nextel Cup Series in 2007. The Japanese automaker provided engines for three teams: Michael Waltrip Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Team Red Bull. None of the teams had much success. They struggled to qualify for races and there were times when none of the Toyota teams were in the top 35 in owners points. The top-35 teams earned at least provisional starting spots for every Cup race.
But the stakes will be raised in 2008. Toyota is teaming with Joe Gibbs Racing and drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. All three drivers are used to qualifying for the Chase for the Nextel Cup and winning races. Toyota better provide both if it wants to keep Gibbs and his drivers happy.

2. Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. be a championship contender with Hendrick Motorsports?
There’s no reason he shouldn’t. Hendrick Motorsports got three of its four drivers in the Chase this year. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are clearly the class of the team. But Busch, who is moving from Hendrick to Gibbs next year, and his team did just fine in the shadow of Johnson and Gordon. A little more experience and patience and Busch might have been in the middle of the championship chase. Johnson and Gordon are still the stars at Hendrick Motorsports and that might be just what Earnhardt Jr. needs. Perhaps he can slip into Johnson’s and Gordon’s shadow and turn his attention to just winning races.
3. Can Johnson win three Cup championships in a row?
No one’s done it since Cale Yarborough. Not Richard Petty, not Dale Earnhardt, not Jeff Gordon. Still it’s hard to say no to Johnson. He seems to have a knack for putting together his best races at the end of the year. To win a Cup championship these days, that’s exactly what needs to happen. If Johnson can pull off four or five wins in October and November, he will be in the thick of it again.
4. Is it a smart move for Sam Hornish Jr. to move into NASCAR?
No. A worse move is Roger Penske giving the owner’s points he earned from Kurt Busch’s car to Hornish next year. Because of his Cup title in 2004, Busch can fall back on a championship provisional to qualify for races, once or twice or six times. Ask Dale Jarrett how that worked out. Hornish, who had trouble qualifying for Cup races this year on speed, has no such provisional. But he would have guaranteed starting spots with Busch’s points. It just seems like a desperate move from an owner who is used to winning races and championships in the Indy Racing League. NASCAR is a different animal, one that requires patience, resources and money. Penske has the resources and money, but moving Hornish into NASCAR reeks of impatience.
5. Will Chevrolet dominate again?
Absolutely not. Ford drivers, especially at Roush Fenway Racing, made significant strides at the end of the year. Matt Kenseth won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Greg Biffle won the race at Kansas Speedway, although there are those in the Clint Bowyer camp who would still say otherwise. More importantly, Ford won some races with NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow. That trend will only increase next year. Toyota will be better and should win a race or two. Dodge, well ... Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman are the best chances. Juan Pablo Montoya will win another road course race. Outside of that, it will be another long year for Dodge.