ROAD COURSE SPECIALISTS: SAID AND HABUL READY TO BRING ONE HOME FOR JGR

Boris Said

Aug. 7, 2015 – Joe Gibbs Racing is pulling out all the stops this weekend; road course enthusiast Boris Said and Kenny Habul have been brought in to showcase their expertise at turning both left and right in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen.

For the first time in Said’s career, the Carlsbad, Calif., native will be jumping into the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Watkins Glen International with crew chief Chris Gayle. Said’s lone series win came on a road course back in 2010 (Montreal) and the veteran wheelman has made eight series starts at WGI posting one top five and two top 10s.

Said’s JGR teammate this week will be driver Kenny Habul in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with crew chief Michael Wheeler. Over the past three seasons, Habul, from Sydney, Australia, has only run the road course events on the NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule, posting his best NXS career finish at Road America (14th-place) last season in the JGR No. 20 Toyota. Habul has made three series starts at The Glen posting a best finish of 20th in 2012.

KASEY KAHNE IN TROUBLE AFTER POCONO WRECK

Kasey Kahne

Aug. 6, 2015 – Kasey Kahne wrecked on Lap 4 at Pocono and could not get back out on the track, dooming him to a 43rd-place finish. Fifteenth on the Chase Grid prior to the race, 50 points above the cutoff line, Kahne is now 16th, 25 points above the cutoff line.

Although Kahne holds the 16th and final spot right now, he will get bumped if/when Kyle Busch enters the top 30 in points. As it stands now, Kahne would trail Clint Bowyer by 15 points for the final Chase spot.

If the season ended today, the following winless drivers 11th-16th on the Chase Grid would make NASCAR’s playoffs: 11. Jamie McMurray (+97) 12. Jeff Gordon (+83) 13. Paul Menard (+57) 14. Ryan Newman (+50) 15. Bowyer (+40) 16. Kahne (+25). McMurray and Menard would make the Chase for the first time in their careers.

Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing Try To Break Owner Wins Tie At Watkins Glen International
Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have been dominant at Watkins Glen International, with each team earning a record six wins at the track – twice as many as any other owner.

The two organizations will try to snap the tie in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. HMS has won at the 2.45-mile road course with Tim Richmond (1986), Ricky Rudd (1990) and Jeff Gordon (1997-99, 2001). JGR has placed two drivers in Victory Lane: Tony Stewart (2002, 2004-5, 2007) and Kyle Busch (2008, 2013).

CHASE CONTENDERS PULLING DOUBLE DUTY

Kevin Harvick

October 01, 2014 – With all the expectations mounting as the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup approaches, three Chase contenders –  Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch – will take advantage of more seat time this weekend in the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway (Oct. 4 on ESPN2 at 3:30 p.m. ET).

Kenseth, last season’s Kansas winner, is back to defend his crown. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran will be in the No. 20 Toyota with crew chief Kevin Kidd. Kenseth is still looking for his first win this season. In his 15 starts in 2014, Kenseth has posted seven top fives, 11 top 10s and average finish of 8.4.  Kenseth will be quite formidable this weekend at Kansas; he leads the series in pre-race Driver Rating (123.6), Average Finishing Position (3.4), and Percentage of Laps Led (24.9%). He has made a total of seven series starts posting two Coors Light poles, one win (2013), five top fives and six top 10s.

Harvick climbs into the JR Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet, a machine in which he has been almost unstoppable this season. In the last eight series races Harvick has entered, he has won four of them.  Harvick has made nine series starts at Kansas posting one pole, one win (2006), five top fives and six top 10s. His pre-race Driver Rating is 110.6 (fourth-best).

And last but not least, Kyle Busch, not only the all-time series wins leader (68 wins) but also this season’s wins leader with five victories. Busch is having a season that rivals any in his illustrious career (which is saying a lot). He has finished in the top-four in 20 out of his 21 starts this season. He has either finished first (five) or second (six) in 11 of his 21 starts in 2014. His average finish this season is 3.4 – a career-best for Busch. Busch has made nine starts at Kansas posting one win (2007) and an average finish of 10.1

NASCAR Nationwide Series Etc.

Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) and Biagi-DenBenste Racing announced today they will partner to enter Corey LaJoie in four of the final five NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season.  LaJoie will pilot the No. 98 Medallion Financial Ford owned by Biagi-DenBenste Racing in the events at Kansas, Charlotte, Texas and Homestead-Miami. … Two female drivers will attempt to compete this weekend in the NNS, Jennifer Jo Cobb and Milka Duno are entered in the Kansas Lottery 300. This will be Cobb’s season debut in the series; she has made five previous NNS starts at Kansas posting a best finish of 22nd in 2012. Duno returns to the NNS for her third attempt at making her career series debut. She originally tried to qualify at Bristol and Dover but failed to make the field.

 

JOE GIBBS RACING JUMPS INTO CHASE WITH STRONG SHOWING

Kyle Busch

September 19, 2014 – The majority of attention heading into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup was focused on the drivers from Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske. And deservedly so. Drivers from those organizations won 13 of the previous 16 regular season races.

But, coming in under the radar, Joe Gibbs Racing made a statement at Chicagoland Sunday.

Its trio of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth finished sixth, seventh and 10th. It was only the third time that’s happened this season.

The first time: New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

All that’s left for JGR to assert itself into championship contender talk is for one of its drivers to take a stroll through victory lane – a feat it hasn’t accomplished since Denny Hamlin won at Talladega in May.

After posting a career-high seven victories last year in his first season with JGR, Kenseth has no checkered flags to his credit in 2014. Still, he’s been one of the most consistent drivers in the series, finishing sixth in the regular season point standings (his 17 top 10s rank second only to Jeff Gordon’s 18).

Kyle Busch has experienced an up-and-down season. He notched a quick victory at Auto Club in March and owns three runner-up finishes on the season. Simply put: At New Hampshire, he’s due. He’s finished second the last three races there, with his last win coming 2006.

The New Hampshire race also sets up well for Hamlin. He has three top-10 finishes at Loudon in his last five starts, including a victory, a runner-up and an eighth place showing in July.

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JOEY LOGANO’S DOVER DOMINANCE COULD LAND HIM IN RECORD BOOKS

Joey Logano

May 30, 2014 – Much of a driver’s success is attributed to his team, but Joey Logano has been able to find Victory Lane the last four consecutive series races at Dover for two different organizations.

Logano began his winning spree at Dover the spring of 2012 while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He swept both races that season then backed it up last season with Team Penske again sweeping both events. A fifth straight victory on Saturday would tie a record for consecutive wins at a track, currently held by NASCAR Hall of Famers Jack Ingram (South Boston) and Dale Earnhardt (Daytona), and Kyle Busch (Texas).

Supremacy is an understatement when referring to Logano at Dover. He leads the series in pre-race Driver Rating (124.9) and Average Running Position (5.4). In 10 starts he has posted four wins, six top fives, seven top 10s and three Coors Light poles at the one-mile track.

Logano could be the catalyst to close the points deficit between first and second in the owner standings.  Roger Penske’s No. 22 team is currently second in the owner standings, 42 points behind Joe Gibbs’ No. 54 team. But Logano will have work cut out for him; Kyle Busch is slated to drive the No. 54 this week. Busch swept both series races at Dover in 2010.

 

JOE GIBB’S No. 54 IS, WELL, A MONSTER

Kyle Busch

May 21, 2014 –This season’s unrelenting, dominant performance by Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 team has been impressive. Currently in the lead of the owners’ championship standings, Joe Gibb’s No. 54 Toyota hasn’t finished worse than fifth all season. As a result, Gibbs is 43 points ahead of Roger Penske’s No. 22 Ford team (second) in the owner standings.

Kyle Busch piloted the Monster Energy Toyota to two victories in eight starts this season. While Sam Hornish Jr., though not entered this weekend, has made the most of his limited schedule by posting a win at Iowa last weekend.

The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team has the series best average finish in 2014 with a 2.6; followed by the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet team (5.5) and Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford team (5.9).

Busch has made four starts in the No. 54 at Charlotte posting two wins and four top fives.

Gibbs is in search of his fifth owner title in seven years; though he already leads the series in owner championships with four – followed by Richard Childress and William Baumgardner with three each.

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JOE GIBBS RACING GOES FOR UNPRECEDENTED RECORD

Kyle Busch

March 22, 2014 – In Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler have the opportunity to reach double digits – that is, win Joe Gibbs Racing’s 10th consecutive race at ACS.

In February 2008, Tony Stewart, in his final season with Joe Gibbs Racing, gave team owner Joe Gibbs his first victory at the two-mile track in Fontana, Calif.

What happened next was unprecedented and unlike anything else anyone had seen before in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. JGR’s drivers reeled off win after win at the track located about an hour east of Los Angeles. In March 2013, Busch took home the last trophy at Auto Club for JGR’s ninth straight win.

Between Stewart’s 2008 and Busch’s victory last season, Joey Logano captured two checkered flags at the track while Busch claimed the other six. Stewart and Logano have since moved on to other organizations and have been replaced by NASCAR Nationwide title contender Sadler, who is currently fifth in the series standings, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Kenseth.

Since all three JGR drivers in Saturday’s race have at least one national series victory at Auto Club, it is very possible that the streak is extended. Although Sadler has never won a NNS event at the track – his best outcome is a pair of fifth-place finishes – he was victorious in the Sept. 2004 Sprint Cup race.

Kenseth has compiled four victories at the track in the NNS, most recently in February 2004. He has also visited the track’s Victory Lane three times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. All seven of his wins came with Roush Fenway Racing – the team he left to come to JGR prior to the 2013 season.

With 10 total victories among the three national series, Busch reigns supreme in Fontana, especially in Nationwide where he’s racked up six wins. He has two wins apiece in the NASCAR Camping World Truck and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Busch and Kenseth are 1-2 atop the NNS wins list at Auto Club.

 

COULD THIS BE ELLIOTT SADLER’S SEASON?

March 05, 2014 – With high expectations going into 2013, Elliott Sadler fell short of his title hopes, and was not part of the championship conversation for much of the year. After two races this season, however, it seems as though the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has rebounded.

He is currently third in the points standings, just six points behind leader Regan Smith and one behind Trevor Bayne. In the season-opening race at Daytona, Sadler finished fifth after starting fifth. Saturday at Phoenix, he finished sixth, and was the highest-finishing championship contender.

Sadler, who was the runner-up in the 2011 and 2012 standings, has two top-five finishes in seven series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the site of this Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300. In last year’s race, the Virginia native finished fifth.

 

JOE GIBBS GOES FOR FOUR AT PHOENIX

February 27, 2014 – In this era of parity among drivers and teams, it’s hard for either to establish winning streaks of any length. Therefore, Joe Gibbs Racing has a rare opportunity this Saturday to win its fourth consecutive race at the one-mile track.

Kyle Busch, who will once again be piloting the No. 54 JGR Toyota at Phoenix, swept both Phoenix races last year after Joey Logano won the penultimate race of the 2012 season. Logano left JGR during that offseason to drive for Team Penske.

In 24 races, no team has ever captured four victories in a row at Phoenix. Roush Fenway Racing is the only other organization to piece together three straight NNS wins there when Carl Edwards won in November 2008 and Edwards and Greg Biffle won the two Phoenix events the following year.

Busch will be joined this weekend in the starting field by teammates Elliott Sadler (No. 11) and Matt Kenseth (No. 20). The trio of JGR drivers has collected eight series Phoenix wins – Busch (six), Kenseth (one) and Sadler (one).

KYLE BUSCH WINS THE FOOD CITY 250 AT BRISTOL

BRISTOL, Tenn. August 24, 2013 – Friday night’s Food City 250 wasn’t exactly a battle royal, as far as the outcome was concerned.

In fact, when Kyle Busch wins the Coors Light Pole for a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, as he did Friday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, the rest of the field might as well start writing concession speeches.

Pulling away from runner-up Brad Keselowski over a green-flag run that consumed the final 72 laps, Busch won his sixth NNS event at the .533-mile short track. The victory was his ninth of the season and the series-record 60th of his career.

In winning for the 15th time at Bristol across NASCAR’s top three series, Busch led 228 of 250 laps. The pole he won earlier in the day was his sixth of the season. Each time, Busch has gone on to win the race.

The victory set up a try for a second weekend sweep at Bristol for Busch, who started with a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win on Wednesday night. To win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race in the Sprint Cup Series, however, Busch will have to come from the back of the field, having spun during his Cup qualifying attempt Friday afternoon.

“You’ve gotta win two to go for three, and this is ‘two,” Busch exulted in Victory Lane.

Austin Dillon ran third behind Busch and Keselowski. Justin Allgaier was fourth followed by rookie Kyle Larson.

When Busch wrecked during Cup qualifying, many in the crowd cheered loudly. But Busch found perhaps the best revenge — winning, and winning emphatically, scoring his 19th Nationwide Series perfect driver rating of 150.0.

“It comes from preparation, it comes from the shop, it comes from practice here,” Busch said in explaining his dominance. (Crew chief) Adam (Stevens) and I – we work real well together. Those guys work hard. Today – just a great car and great job by these guys putting together such a great Monster Energy Camry.

“It was a lot of fun tonight. It’s cool when you can start up front, lead laps like that, but yet you have some battles with holding off the 22 (Keselowski) and having to pass the 32 (Kyle Larson, who led briefly after a restart on Lap 110) – just a fun day. Whether you’re cheering or booing, don’t matter. We’re here to win races, take trophies home and that’s what we’re going to try to do (Saturday) night, too.”

Austin Dillon ran third behind Busch and Keselowski. Justin Allgaier was fourth followed by rookie Kyle Larson.

Busch frustrated Keselowski’s bid to win his fifth NNS race in his fifth straight start.

“We were close, just not quite good enough,” Keselowski said ruefully. “We just came up a little bit short. Obviously, on the track, I didn’t have quite enough speed to get by Kyle.”

Brian Vickers’ wreck out of Turn 4 on Lap 167 continued a succession of trouble for series championship contenders. By the time Vickers nosed into the inside wall on the frontstretch, Regan Smith already had lost two laps pitting under green because of a loose wheel.

Sam Hornish Jr., the points leader entering the race, also struggled, losing a lap to Busch on the track. Shortly after a restart on Lap 179, Hornish’s Ford slapped the outside wall in Turn 4 and fell back to 13th, one lap down.

Elliott Sadler also went a lap down with an ill-handling car but got it back with a free pass as the highest-scored lapped car after the caution for Vickers’ accident. Sadler finished 10th, two positions ahead of Hornish. Smith was 21st and Vickers 24th.

Hornish retained the series lead by six points over Dillon… In the battle for the owners’ championship, and Busch’s No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Camry cut the lead of Keselowski’s No. 22 Ford from 22 points to 16.

NASCAR Wire Service