Emotional Season Ends with Championship for Joe Gibbs Racing

HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 17: Team owner Joe Gibbs of Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, celebrates after winning the championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019, in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – It was Kyle Busch’s championship evening at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday, but it also had a distinctive feel of being a J.D. Gibbs’ kind of achievement.

Team owner Joe Gibbs’ oldest son J.D. was president of the Joe Gibbs Racing team and an omnipresent positive vibe in the NASCAR garage for more than a decade. Typically smiling and joking, but also ultra-competitive, the team won four previous Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships under his leadership and won hearts because of his enduring positive spirit.

J.D. Gibbs passed away on January 11 at the age of 49 after a valiant and lengthy fight against degenerative neurological disease. His passing and its effect on the 2019 season has been simultaneously heart-breaking and heart-strengthening.

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Emotional Statement Win for Denny Hamlin Brings him Back to Glory Days

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin wasn’t exactly NASCAR’s Babe Ruth this month – he didn’t formally “call” his victory in Sunday’s Daytona 500, but if you listened to him in the days leading up the race, there was an unmistakable sense of hope and confidence.

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Denny Hamlin’s Second Daytona 500 Win Celebration Follows Gibbs Team Tradition

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin was still grinning Monday morning at Daytona International Speedway, 12 hours after hoisting his second Daytona 500 trophy in victory lane. He met with the media, signed special pieces of speedway memorabilia and received the traditional Daytona 500 winner’s leather jacket during the annual champion’s breakfast.

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Denny Hamlin Wins Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 17: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, crosses the finish line winduring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season was officially back yesterday with the Daytona 500. With the Clash and Duel races this past week, fans saw unusual racing at Daytona. Drivers were filing in along the top of the track and racing single file. The question was left to be as answered as to how Sunday ’s premiere race was to be run.

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Denny Hamlin Gets Emotional Second Daytona 500 Victory

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 17: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Five weeks after the death of Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs, the driver he discovered won the Daytona 500 for the second time.

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