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Joe Gibbs Racing
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Joe Gibbs Racing is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned and operated by former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991, and J.D. Gibbs, his son. Headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, near Charlotte, the team amassed three Sprint Cup Championships since the year 2000 and participated in other lower-tier NASCAR series for driver development, winning one championship in the East Division of the NASCAR Camping World Series.
Despite past success with General Motors, winning its three championships with Pontiacs and Chevrolets, the team switched to newcomer Toyota in 2008.
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Encyclopedia
Joe Gibbs Racing is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned and operated by former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991, and J.D. Gibbs, his son. Headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, near Charlotte, the team amassed three Sprint Cup Championships since the year 2000 and participated in other lower-tier NASCAR series for driver development, winning one championship in the East Division of the NASCAR Camping World Series.
Despite past success with General Motors, winning its three championships with Pontiacs and Chevrolets, the team switched to newcomer Toyota in 2008. They currently field the #11 FedEx Toyota Camry for Denny Hamlin, the #18 M&M's/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Kyle Busch, and the #20 The Home Depot Toyota Camry for Joey Logano in the Sprint Cup Series, and two teams in the Nationwide Series with primarily its Sprint Cup drivers. JGR also fields the #18 Slim Jim Toyota Camry for African-American development driver Marc Davis in the Camping World East Series.
Sprint Cup
Car #02 History
JGR occasionally fields a fourth car for R&D purposes. In 2007, Aric Almirola made his NEXTEL Cup debut in the #80 car at Las Vegas. He was scheduled to drive at the all-star race and Coca-Cola 600, but he suffered a practice crash and the car was withdrawn from both races.
In 2008, Joey Logano drove this car, renumbered as 02, with The Home Depot sponsorship and a reverse scheme of teammate Tony Stewart's. He was to make his Sprint Cup debut at Richmond International Raceway, but qualifying was rained out by Tropical Storm Hanna and at Atlanta qualifying was rained out so he could not race. This car will return in 2009 with sponsorship from Farm Bureau Insurance, who has been banned from the Nationwide Series due to the Viceroy Rule. This car will most likely be driven by JGR development driver Marc Davis.
Car #11 History
Previously JGR's research and development car, what is now the #11 car debuted at the 2003 Pepsi 400 as #80, driven by Mike Bliss and sponsored by Advair and finishing 26th. The car remained idle until the 2004 Tropicana 400, when Bliss finished 31st in the ConAgra/Slim Jim machine. After a fourth place finish in the fall race at Richmond International Raceway, The team switched to #11, and Ricky Craven finished 30th at Talladega, and J. J. Yeley running two races in the car. The car went full-time in 2005, receiving sponsorship from FedEx and Jason Leffler driving. Leffler was released after struggling in 19 starts and Yeley, Terry Labonte, and Denny Hamlin finished out the season. Hamlin had the most starts (7) and finished in the top 10 three times. He was awarded the #11 FedEx Express full-time ride in 2006 in addition to his full-time Busch schedule in the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. By the end of July 2006, Hamlin had three poles and three victories (the Budweiser Shootout and both Pocono Raceway races) to give the rookie a berth in the Chase for the Cup, where he would finish 3rd in points. In 2007, Hamlin won the first of two races at New Hampshire International Speedway in 2007, and finished 12th in points.
Car #18 History
Joe Gibbs Racing debuted at the 1992 Daytona 500 with Dale Jarrett driving the car to a 36th place finish after a crash. The team improved dramatically the next year, when Jarrett won the Daytona 500, and finished a then career-high 4th in points.
After Jarrett slipped to 16th in points in 1994, Bobby Labonte took over, and drove the car until the end of 2005. Labonte won 21 races in the car, and won the then Winston Cup championship in 2000. Since then, Labonte had slipped, as his best finish in the points since then is 6th in 2001, and has not won since 2003 season finale at Homestead. The team was progressing in 2004 until the team made a midseason firing of crew chief Michael McSwain, and Brandon Thomas took over for the rest of the season. Steve Addington, a Gibbs Busch Series crew chief, was named new crew chief for the 2005 season, but a rash of troubles, some caused by mechanical problems, continued to daunt the team, including a loss in the final turn at the Coca-Cola 600, and a poor finish in the 2005 season led to a split between Labonte and JGR after 11 seasons.
After Labonte's departure, Gibbs announced that Busch Series driver J. J. Yeley would replace Labonte in the #18 for 2006 and 2007. Yeley raced two seasons for Gibbs, and after failing to finish higher than 21st in points, he moved to Hall of Fame Racing. On August 14, 2007, Kyle Busch signed a contract to drive the number 18 with Joe Gibbs Racing through 2010. M&Ms will sponsor the Gibbs #18 car in 2008, with Interstate Batteries dropping down to sponsor the team's #18 Nationwide Series car.
Kyle Busch gave Toyota its first Cup win on March 9, 2008. Busch led a race-high 173 laps to win the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In his first year in the 18, Busch had brought the car back to its former glory, winning 6 other races at Talladega, Darlington, Dover, Infineon, Daytona, Chicagoland,and Watkins Glen all after only the first 23 races.
Car #20 History
Tony Stewart trotted out the #20 Home Depot car at the 1999 Daytona 500, qualifying on the outside pole. He won three races as well as the NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Since then, the car has seen very few changes, as Stewart has won 33 races as well as the 2002 championship. He won his second championship in 2005. Home Depot has been the primary sponsor of the car since its debut.
Tony Stewart picked the #20 for this car, as a way to honor a former car owner in sprint car action, Glen Neibel, whose yellow #20 sprint cars were known for having six-cylinder engines instead of eight-cylinder engines in order to run a lighter car.
On June 9th, 2008, Tony Stewart was granted a release from his final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing and will move to Haas CNC Racing, renamed Stewart-Haas Racing due to Stewart's 50% ownership. On August 25th, 2008, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Joey Logano would replace Stewart as the driver of the #20 car for the 2009 season in the NSCS.
Nationwide Series
Car #18 History
The current 18 car came under Gibbs control when he purchased the #44 Shell Oil Pontiac from Labonte, who had been operating the team under his control. The team made its debut under the Gibbs banner at the 1998 NAPA Auto Parts 300 with Stewart driving, he qualified 9th but finished 31st after a crash. At the next week at Rockingham Speedway, Stewart qualified on the pole, led 60 laps and finished 2nd. Stewart ran a total of 22 races that year, with five top-five finishes and winning two pole positions. Labonte ran five races that year in that car in 1998, winning the Diamond Hill Plywood 200. The team switched to #18 with sponsorship from MBNA for 1999, but Labonte ran only one race before he suffered shoulder injuries in a qualifying crash at Darlington. Late in the year, Jason Leffler ran four races in the car that year, his best finish being a 20th at Memphis Motorsports Park.
Leffler ran the car full-time in 2000, winning a pole at Texas Motor Speedway, and posting three top-ten finishes. After that season, he left for Chip Ganassi Racing, and Jeff Purvis took his place. Purvis started off strong and was seventh in points but was released after the GNC Live Well 200 because of sponsorship issues. Mike McLaughlin took his place, and finished seventh in points that season. Despite not winning again in 2002, he moved up to fourth place in points. However, Gibbs wanted his son Coy a ride in the car, and forced McLaughlin out. In his rookie season, Gibbs had two top-ten finishes and finished runner-up to David Stremme for Rookie of the Year. Despite new sponsorship from Vigoro and The Home Depot, the team decided to run a part-time schedule in 2004, with Labonte returning for two races and J. J. Yeley running seventeen races, garnering four top-ten finishes. Yeley ran the car full-time in 2005, finishing in the top-ten twelve times and finishing 11th in points. Yeley continued to run full-time in 2006, finishing 5th in the points standings with 3 poles, 9 top 5's, 22 top 10's and 27 top 15's. Yeley announced in Daytona that he would be driving in the #1 Miccosukee Gaming and Resorts Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series.
In late November, former Brewco Motorsports development driver Brad Coleman signed a contract to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing. Coleman ran 17 of the 35 NASCAR Nationwide Series races during the 2007 season, sharing the #18 Chevy with Tony Stewart, Aric Almirola, and Kevin Conway. Carino’s Italian Grill sponsored Coleman, while Z-Line Designs sponsored Conway and Goody's/ConAgra Foods sponsored Almirola and Tony Stewart. Almirola put the car on the pole at the season opener at Daytona, while Coleman earned his first career Busch Series pole at Talladega.
In 2008 Brad Coleman returned to Brewco Motorsports and the #18 was piloted by the team of Hamlin and Busch with sponsorship coming from Southern Farm Bureau, Interstate Batteries, and Z-Line Designs. Despite running a partial schedule, Busch won ten races in 2008, eight in the #18, while Hamlin won once at Dover. Busch would finish seventh in points. For 2009 Kyle will drive the #18 full time with sponsorship from Z-Line Designs
Car #19 history
The 19 car debuted at the CarQuest Auto Parts 300 in the 2005 season, driven by Labonte and sponsored by Banquet Foods. Labonte ran seven races that year, with three top-tens. With Labonte moving to Petty Enterprises, JGR development driver Aric Almirola ran the car in seven races in 2006. Tony Stewart also drove the car at select races in 2006, using his NEXTEL Cup crew when he raced.
Car #20 history
After JGR purchased the team from Gary Bechtel in 2000, the team got sponsorship from Porter-Cable. Despite missing three races, driver Jeff Purvis had eleven top-tens and one pole, finishing 11th in points. The team switched to #20 for 2001, and Mike McLaughlin was named the driver. Without a major sponsor, McLaughlin was able to win the NASCAR Subway 300 and was sixth in points when Gibbs decided to shut down his team because of sponsorship problems. He moved to the 18, and finished seventh in points that year. Coy Gibbs ran five races in the #20 in 2002, with sponsorship from ConAgra Foods. His best finish was a 14th at Kentucky Speedway.
After he moved to the 18, Gibbs was replaced by Mike Bliss and Rockwell Automation came aboard as sponsor. Bliss had fourteen top-tens and finished tenth in points. In 2004, he pulled off a win at Lowe's Motor Speedway and had three poles. In 2005, Denny Hamlin came aboard, and posted eleven top-ten's and finished fifth points, the third-place finisher in rookie points. He ran the full schedule in the #20 in 2006, winning twice and finishing 4th in points.
Denny Hamlin and Aric Almirola drove the 20 in 2007 with Tony Stewart also piloting the #20 at Atlanta. Hamlin took the car to victory lane four times including Darlington, Milwaukee, Michigan, and Dover with Milwaukee being credited to Almirola for starting the race. The #20 finished 2nd in the owners points behind RCR's #29.
The #20 was shared by Hamlin, Busch and Stewart for 9 races before defending NASCAR Camping World East Series champion Joey Logano was named the driver of the 20 for the rest of the season's races except for Loudon (which Stewart won in the #20), Daytona (which Hamlin won in the #20), and Chicago (which Busch won in the #18). All four drivers of the #20 have won races driving it in 2008.
Through the race at Chicagoland Speedway, JGR has won 14 of the 22 Nationwide races in '08 and its drivers have won 15 races overall (Busch won the Dollar General 300 driving for Braun Racing).
On August 17, 2008 both Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide cars (18,20) were found to have illegal magnets attached to the pedals, which were used so that the pedal couldn't be pushed all the way down, so the car would give a false horsepower reading when attached to a dyno machine. Three weeks earlier, all Toyota Camrys in the Nationwide Series, were ordered by NASCAR to reduce Horsepower by to make the Camrys more equal in power to the Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge race cars. It is alleged that JGR members attached the magnets to the pedals to give the dyno (horsepower tester) a false reading. Joe Gibbs and son, J.D Gibbs, were outraged about the incident, citing that an internal investigation within JGR will take place to find out who was involved and said that punishment will be handed out to anyone involved. NASCAR is expected to hand out the penalties to JGR by August 19, 2008.
In 2009, Brad Coleman will return to Joe Gibbs Racing and the #20 will be piloted by the team of Hamlin, Logano, and Coleman.
Controversy
Following the August 16, 2008 race at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR tested a number of cars on their chassis dyno at the track to get a new reading on power following a regulation change which mandated all Toyotas to run a smaller restrictor to cut an estimated 15 to from their engines.
Officials found that the throttle pedal on the two Joe Gibbs Racing cars that finished third and seventh, driven by Tony Stewart and Joey Logano, had been manipulated before the test to prevent them from being wide-open, thus giving a lower power reading on the dyno.
"In our post-race inspection, our inspectors discovered some shims that were placed on the gas-pedal stop. They were magnets that were about a quarter-inch thick that prevented the accelerator from going 100 percent wide-open," Pemberton said. Team owner Joe Gibbs took full responsibility for the incident, which could compromise what has thus far been an amazing campaign in NASCAR's second-tier series, where they have won fourteen out of twenty-five races.
"We will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us," Joe Gibbs said. "We will also investigate internally how this incident took place and who was involved and make whatever decisions are necessary to ensure that this kind of situation never happens again.
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