NASCAR Joe Gibbs Racing

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In Championship 4, Joe Gibbs Racing Must Deal with Unprecedented Success

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Photo - Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images

The crowning achievement of Joe Gibbs Racing’s 2016 season may also be its biggest problem.

But it’s a problem the organization is happy to have.

When defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch earned a return trip to the Championship 4 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a second-place finish at Phoenix, JGR became the first organization in the three-year history of the Chase’s elimination format to put more than one driver in the final race with a chance to win the title. Continue reading →

The Bottom Line in the Championship 4? There’s No Clear Favorite

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News
Photos - Getty Images
Photos – Getty Images

A week before they were to race for the NASCAR Sprint Series championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch sat side-by-side at the daïs in the Phoenix International Raceway media center and began the bickering that invariably accompanies the battle for the series title.

“I think my stats at Homestead show that I’m the favorite, right?” Johnson said facetiously.

“I think my results from last year show that I’m the favorite, right?” Busch retorted.

Busch goes to Homestead as the defending champion, having overcome a broken leg and foot that caused him to miss the first 11 races of the 2015 season. With the elimination of Kevin Harvick in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix, Busch is the only Championship 4 contender who has won a title under the 16-driver Chase format introduced by NASCAR in 2014. Continue reading →

Joey Logano Advances to Championship 4 with Hard-Fought Win at Phoenix

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News

Joey Logano earned a return trip to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway after a year’s absence.

Kyle Busch will head to the South Florida track to try to defend his 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.

And Kevin Harvick won’t be competing for the title for the first time since NASCAR debuted its elimination Chase format in 2014. Needing a victory to advance, as it turned out, Harvick finished fourth in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Continue reading →

Carl Edwards Resurrects Title Chances with Win in Rain-Shortened Texas Race

NASCAR NASCAR Wire Service Sprint Cup Series Track News

Back from the dead.

With a Lazarus act that was delayed and then shortened by rain, Carl Edwards revived his moribund championship hopes the only way he could—with a victory in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Last in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings after a hard crash and a 36th-place finish last week at Martinsville, Edwards took the lead under caution on lap 257 when his crew dashed off an 11-second pit stop.

Edwards beat Martin Truex Jr. out of the pits, and that proved the difference, as the No. 19 Joe Gibbs racing Toyota held the top spot the rest of the way until a rain shower halted the proceedings after 293 of a planned 334 laps. Continue reading →