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With the Sprint Unlimited – a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series non-points paying event – just days away at Daytona International Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing could be picking up where they left off when Kyle Busch won his first Sprint Cup title last season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
When Kyle Busch returned to racing after missing 11 races, because of injuries he sustained at Daytona in the XFINITY Series, JGR had won two Sprint Cup races at Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. But upon’s Busch’s return at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Carl Edwards started a string of 11 more JGR victory celebrations. By the end of the season, JGR had 13 wins for the season, including the first two Chase races and the finale at Homestead.
JGR drivers have reason for optimism in this weekend’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona on Saturday, February 13th. JGR has won the last two events and three of the last four. Matt Kenseth won last year’s Sprint Unlimited and has two Daytona 500 wins under his belt. Busch won the event in 2012, with a 2008 Coke Zero 400 victory in the summer Daytona race. Denny Hamlin won the Sprint Unlimited in 2014, but only has a best finish of second in the 2014 Daytona 500. Hamlin has six top-ten finishes with five of those in the top-five at Daytona. All three JGR drivers have two Can-Am Duel at Daytona wins – qualifying races for the Daytona 500 – to their credit.
Edwards is the lone JGR driver without a single Daytona victory; although he does have eight top-ten finishes with four of those in the top-five. The closest Edwards has come to winning a Daytona race was second twice – the 2008 Coke Zero 400, and the 2011 Daytona 500, which Trevor Bayne won. With Edwards making his second season start at JGR, he is hoping to pick up where they left off at the end of 2015. Even with a shift in crew chiefs and their executive staff, Joe Gibbs sounds optimistic about the start of the season with the Sprint Unlimited.
Fans are watching this weekend’s Sprint Unlimited to see if Kenseth will be able to bounce back after the Joey Logano incident in Martinsville, which cost him two races late last season. 2016 is however a fresh start for Kenseth, and another championship at JGR would be a breath of new energy.
A Sprint Unlimited win for JGR would help the entire organization gain new momentum in 2016. Fans, NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway better be ready for a JGR Sprint Unlimited repeat.