Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: joe gibbs racing

  • Cole Pearn announces departure from Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR

    Cole Pearn announces departure from Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR

    On Monday, Joe Gibbs Racing announced on Facebook that Cole Pearn, Crew Chief for the No. 19 Toyota NASCAR Cup team, will be stepping away not only from the JGR organization but from NASCAR as well. The decision was effective immediately.

    “This was an incredibly difficult decision,” Pearn said. “At the end of the day, I really want to spend time with my family and actually see my kids grow up. Being on the road, you are away from home so much and miss a lot of time with your family. I don’t want to miss that time anymore.”

    “I want to be there for all the things that my kids are going to experience while they are still young. I love racing and there isn’t a better place to be than Joe Gibbs Racing, but I don’t want to look back in 20 years and think about everything I missed with my wife and kids while I was gone. They are what is most important to me.

    Following a brief career in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series where he made 27 starts in four years, Pearn worked for Richard Childress Racing from 2007 to 2009 as an engineer for Kevin Harvick’s team before going to Furniture Row Racing in 2010. He spent 2011 with JTG-Daugherty Racing before returning to FRR, where following the 2014 season he was promoted to Crew Chief for Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 team. The pair earned 24 wins together and the 2017 Cup Series championship.

    “I cannot say enough good things about Cole and what he has meant for my career,” said Truex. “I appreciate his hard work and dedication to our race team over the past six years going back to when he was my engineer at Furniture Row. Our friendship is what matters most to me and I’m happy that he is doing what’s best for him and his family.”

    JGR will announce a Crew Chief for the No. 19 at a later date.

  • Kyle Busch to compete in 2020 Rolex 24

    Kyle Busch to compete in 2020 Rolex 24

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com

    Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 2019 Monster Energy Series championship hopeful Kyle Busch will compete in the 2020 Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.

    The 2015 Cup Series champion will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut for AIM Vasser Sullivan, driving a Lexus RC F GT3 car in the Jan. 25-26 race.

    “I’d like to thank everyone at Lexus Motorsports and AIM Vasser Sullivan and Toyota for this opportunity,” Busch said Monday at a Toyota plant in Texas, according to NBC. “To have the chance to run in such an iconic race as the Rolex 24 is certainly something I’ve thought about and wanted to do. My partnership with Toyota and the history we’ve had together has been incredible. I would love to continue that history and maybe get my Daytona Rolex to add to my trophy collection.”

    Busch is the latest NASCAR driver to compete in the prestigious event, joining the likes of Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and more. Gordon is the most recent driver with NASCAR ties to win the event, teaming with Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli in 2017.

    IMSA indicated that Busch will prepare for the event in the Roar Before the Rolex 24 on Jan. 3-5, 2020.

    Busch has a sport-car start at Daytona to his credit, pairing with Scott Speed to finish 10th in a Lexus Daytona Prototype owned by Chip Ganassi.

  • Burton sees seventh-place run at Texas as more momentum leading into 2020 XFINITY Series campaign

    Burton sees seventh-place run at Texas as more momentum leading into 2020 XFINITY Series campaign

    Although Harrison Burton wasn’t able to turn a front-row start in Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 into a top-five or even a win, he still views it as a momentum builder heading into his rookie XFINITY Series campaign in 2020, where he is set to take over the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 as Christopher Bell moves into the Cup Series.

    “It helps a lot,” said Burton of his run. “It’s not exactly the run I think we wanted. I wanted to run better. I wanted to get a top-five, top-three, contend for the win, which was my goal. We didn’t quite get there tonight due to some adversity.”

    “We control our own destiny so we got to get a little bit less sloppy and could do a better job. I mean I’m part of that for sure so it’s not only on pit road but on the race track as well. I made a couple of mistakes that cost us some positions. When you lose spots here [at Texas], it’s just so big. But it was a challenge tonight and I learned a lot, so that’s what it’s all about.”

    The seventh-place was Burton’s fourth top-10 this season, which includes a season-best fourth-place finish at Iowa in his second start of 2019. But despite only scoring top-10s in half of his starts driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, his finishes in the other four races haven’t been indicative of his runs this season.

    Despite running near the front at Loudon, Burton’s No. 18 Toyota tangled with Paul Menard’s Ford, which sent Burton into the wall and out of the race with suspension issues. A 13th-place at the Charlotte Roval was actually a respectable result considering the Roval’s nature, especially since Burton started the race in 22nd. His first-lap crash at Dover negated the fact that he started the race in fifth.

    Yet although Burton will be taking over No. 20 that Bell has driven to eight victories this season, he won’t be with Bell’s Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff, who’ll be following Bell into the Cup Series. Burton’s 2020 Crew Chief hasn’t been announced yet, however, considering he’s posted some good runs in the No. 18 with Ben Beshore, there’s reason to believe Beshore could take up that mantle.

    Burton and Beshore have put together a solid limited campaign in 2019. Considering the entire reason for the campaign is to prepare Burton for the 2020 season and to help him better learn how the cars handle, he’s performed as expected given his experience and the equipment he’s been put in.

    Burton should expect to put together some strong runs in the 2020 campaign and could very well be the front-runner in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year race. Given that the JGR Toyotas are virtually untouchable in the XFINITY Series, expect Burton to visit Victory Lane at least a couple of times on his way to a Playoff appearance.

  • Christopher Bell wins O’Reilly 300, Chastain takes second at Texas

    Christopher Bell wins O’Reilly 300, Chastain takes second at Texas

    FORT WORTH, Texas — Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, punching his ticket to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks. Bell started third and took the checkered by 5.561-seconds over Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain.

    “I can’t wait to go to Phoenix,” said Bell. “I love that race track. Now we get to go there and focus on one thing and that’s winning the race.”

    “I don’t know if Jason [Ratcliff, Crew Chief] was thinking points tonight, but we’re definitely not going to have to think about points next week.”

    Runner-up Chastain used pit strategy to lead 29 laps before spinning his tires on a restart late in the race.

    “It was an up-and-down race,” said Chastain of his final start with Kaulig in 2019. “Up at the start, we ran fifth in that first stage. Then we got caught in that dirty air and couldn’t pass anybody, but then we got track position again and took control of the race for a little while.”

    “The car was incredible. I made one pretty big mistake on that final restart and spun my tires, and from there we just had to run hard to finish second.”

    Austin Cindric, Brandon Jones, and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top-five while Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton, Cole Custer, Jeb Burton, and Ryan Sieg rounded out the top-10.

    Cindric also had a strong run on the night, leading 38 laps on the way to his third-place finish.

    “Yeah, we’re in a must-win situation as far as points go, and when you’re leading in the third stage and a caution comes out your heart kind of sinks a little bit,” said Cindric. “But I thought we had a Discount Tire Mustang good enough to win in clean air.”

    “We had 50 or 60 people from Discount Tire come out today and was hoping we could get them in Victory Lane and get in the Final Four. But we got next week in Phoenix. It’s a bummer when you’re pissed at finishing third, but I guess that’s the sign of a good night, being able to execute on some of those restarts.”

    The biggest incident of the night occurred on Lap 162 when contact between Playoff drivers Chase Briscoe and polesitter Tyler Reddick sent Reddick’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet hard into the backstretch wall.

    Despite hitting the wall, Reddick still holds a 36-point edge over Briscoe heading into Phoenix. Meanwhile, fellow Playoff driver Noah Gragson scored his first DNF of 2019 following an incident on the frontstretch. Gragson finished 30th and is 57 points below the cutline heading into Phoenix.

    There were nine cautions for 51 laps, with nine lead changes among four drivers.

    The series makes its next appearance at ISM Speedway on Nov. 9 for the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino 200.

  • Opinion: Suspension of crew member involved in Hamlin/Logano scuffle correct move on NASCAR’s part

    Opinion: Suspension of crew member involved in Hamlin/Logano scuffle correct move on NASCAR’s part

    A week after several crew members jumped into the Kansas scuffle between Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick, another scuffle involving crew members has taken center stage again. As a result, NASCAR has suspended a Team Penske crew member for collaring Denny Hamlin and throwing him to the ground following his scuffle with Penske driver Joey Logano.

    Following Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville, Logano and Hamlin first exchanged words, then shoves before crews stepped in to pull the drivers apart. But while other crew members appeared to be working to pull the drivers apart, Dave Nichols Jr., a tire technician for the No. 22 team, appeared to collar Hamlin and pull him to the ground before Hamlin’s crew converged on Nichols.

    That move is what led to NASCAR suspending Nichols for the next race, as he was found in violation of Section 12.8.1.C, which addresses member-to-member confrontations with physical violence.

    An argument can be made that the crews are doing nothing more than protecting their driver’s honor or respect. In some sense, that may be honorable. But unless the crews are working to break up a quarrel between drivers, their actions may only go to further escalate a situation into something it didn’t need to turn into.

    Last week I brought up how some of those in the NASCAR community were talking about how the sport needs to implement a third-man rule much like the NHL. Let those drivers who were involved settle their dispute, be it with words or fists, and unless a crew member is working to de-escalate the situation they stay out of it or they risk a fine and/or a suspension.

    There was no reason for Nichols to play the hero and collar Hamlin. His responsibility at that point was to help de-escalate the situation and make sure his driver didn’t get into too much trouble. His actions were over-the-top and unnecessary and made the No. 22 crew look bad.

    The issue is between the drivers, not the crew. The drivers are the ones in control of what happens on the track; they’re the ones that know what truly goes down when it goes down. They are also the ones the fans have come to see and if there’s an issue, the fans want to see them handle the issue one-on-one.

    Hopefully, the suspension of Nichols is actually seen as a deterrent to the other members on all the teams to not try anything unnecessary during a scuffle between drivers. Let them hash out their beef and be done with it.

    Meanwhile, the crew’s job is to act in the best interests of their driver, team, and organization. Collaring a driver and throwing him to the ground is non-conducive to that. The call to suspend Nichols was a good call on NASCAR’s part, so the only thing left to do is to hope it’s enough of a deterrent lest the sanctioning body moves to harsher reprimands.

  • Denny Hamlin rebounds to finish fifth at Kentucky after penalty

    Denny Hamlin rebounds to finish fifth at Kentucky after penalty

    Coming into Kentucky Speedway, Denny Hamlin had finishes of 15th at Chicago and 26th at Daytona. After being involved in a big wreck last weekend at Daytona, Hamlin and his No. 11 crew were hoping to rebound at the 1.5-mile track.

    Hamlin finished fourth in Stage 1 but received a penalty for an uncontrolled tire in Stage 2 leaving him with a 22nd place finish in the second stage. He worked hard all night, even leading for five laps before Hamlin had to make his final pit stop of the night. The late race caution gave the No. 11 team another shot at the win. Unfortunately, Hamlin would have to wait until New Hampshire for a shot at the win, as he wound up fifth at Kentucky.

    Still, Hamlin was somewhat satisfied with his top five finish.

    “We definitely had a fast car, a car that was fast enough to run up there with those guys,” Hamlin said in his interview with PRN. “Obviously, being back in the pack there with 80 to go was detrimental to try and win the race. We had to make the call with no tires there, we didn’t gain any track position, and we had worse tires than anyone around us. Still was able to get up to fifth, so pretty happy with that effort.”

    “We have fast cars every week, as long as we have a clean race, we have chances to win and we just can’t have the penalties or the wrecks we have. You know, it’s just a combination of things and we’re really close.”

    The fifth-place finish was Hamlin’s eighth top-five of the year. He is looking forward to New Hampshire this coming weekend, where he won in 2017.

  • Erik Jones places third at Kentucky

    Erik Jones places third at Kentucky

    Erik Jones and his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Craftsman Tools Toyota came home in the third position at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night after a late race restart.

    During the race, Jones was battling and dealing with track position trying to get his team up front for a shot at the win. At one point, Jones pitted after Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer in an attempt to come out in front of them once the stops cycled through. However, Jones would still be stuck in the back as race leader and teammate Kyle Busch would stay in the lead after the last round of pit stops.

    The Michigan native caught a break with six laps to go when a caution came out for a spin in Turn 1, which set up a NASCAR overtime giving the field two additional laps.

    Jones was right there behind his teammate Kyle Busch and even make a dive bomb move to try and race with Kurt Busch to take the lead. But, the Busch Brothers would go around Jones and battle it out for the win. When the race leaders were leaning on each other and bending fenders, Jones was in the hot seat in case the two would wreck each other.

    Unfortunately, Jones watched the thrilling finish right in front of him and had to settle for a third-place finish.

    “Just track position, qualified where we didn’t want to and had to work back from that,” Jones said to PRN in his post-race interview. “But you know, right from the start, the Craftsman Camry was pretty good. I felt comfortable in practice and how we were in race trim. Just had to work back from it, took us in the whole second stage to get up there. We finally were in position and got some good restarts, good pit stops, which helped us get up there on the last restart. You can’t ask for much more, you want to be there and have a shot, and we did that but didn’t have quite enough car or circumstances. A great day overall.”

    With the third place finish, it would be Jones fifth top five of the season and his first since Pocono in June. He is currently 16th, occupying the last spot in the playoff standings.

  • Kyle Busch is victorious on the Tricky Triangle in the Pocono 400

    Kyle Busch is victorious on the Tricky Triangle in the Pocono 400

    Despite the field seeking out more speed and track position with various pit strategies, Kyle Busch led 79 laps to win his 55th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in the Pocono 500, tying Rusty Wallace on the all-time win list.

    “I just can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “Everybody that works there works so hard to build these awesome Camrys. We’ve had an amazing roll this year here so far. We’ve been doing well.

    “We feel like we’ve kind of given away a couple of wins that we thought we had a shot for, but overall, it’s been awesome to get back to Victory Lane here. Pocono’s been a struggle, but it’s a lot better now.”

    Busch’s fourth win of the season came after beating Brad Keselowski by 2.224 seconds. He led a few laps during pit cycles, but was able to fight his way up after the final restart to get close to Busch. His No. 2 Penske Ford wasn’t quite as strong.

    “We didn’t have speed enough to pass guys, but we could run with them,” Keselowski said. “We wanted a little bit more to be able to pass everybody, but you had to be so much faster that you just try to execute the best you can and hope things fall the right way. “They fell decent, just not good enough to win today.”

    Erik Jones finished in the third position, followed by Talladega winner Chase Elliott. Clint Bowyer completed the top five.

    “I feel like if Kyle [Busch] and I had been on four tires, we would’ve been pretty even,” Jones said with a positive outlook with his third place effort after a dead last finish in last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. “Good day overall, it would have had to really be a perfect scenario for us to win today, but we had a good car. The Dewalt Camry was fast, and it was fast all weekend.”

    “We’ve been good, but not great,” Elliott shared with FOX Sports after the race when evaluating their current overall situation.

    Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, pole winner William Byron and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 10.

    Three front runners had struggles in the race. First, Kevin Harvick was in contention for the win, but a late race pit-road penalty changed their outcome. On Lap 124, they were caught with an uncontrolled tire and were forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Harvick dropped off the lead lap and finished his day at Pocono in the 22nd spot.

    Last week’s winner Martin Truex Jr. was victorious in three of the last five points-paying races. However, his attempt for his fourth win of the season fell short after 91 laps into the race when his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota went behind the wall with an engine issue. His team finished 35th for the day.

    The third driver who was a strong contender early in the race was Kyle Larson. The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet driver led 35 laps and won the race’s first two stages. On a late race restart, Larson slapped the outside wall after contact with Clint Bowyer. He was forced to pit with damage to the right rear and at risk of blowing a tire. He finished one lap down in the 26th position.

    The weekend was a rough start for Erik Jones and Chris Buescher as they failed pre-qualifying inspection on Saturday. Since cars were impounded after Busch Pole Qualifying, the inspection also served as pre-race inspection. This resulted in the car chief for both teams being ejected for the race weekend, Jason Overstreet (No. 20) and Doug Powers (No. 37). Both drivers have been coming from strong recent finishes, with Jones finishing in the top-six in two of the last three races and Buescher with two consecutive top-10 results.

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races next weekend at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 9.

    Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 14
    Race Results for the 38th Annual Pocono 400 – Sunday, June 2, 2019
    Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA – 2.5 – Mile Paved
    Total Race Length – 160 Laps – 400. Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos Pts Status
    1 2 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota 160 0 0 40 Running
    2 5 2 Brad Keselowski Wabash National Ford 160 3 4 50 Running
    3 4 20 Erik Jones DeWalt Toyota 160 0 0 34 Running
    4 12 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 160 0 0 33 Running
    5 3 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation Ford 160 0 0 32 Running
    6 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 160 0 0 31 Running
    7 16 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 160 8 2 42 Running
    8 9 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Demo Days Ford 160 7 10 34 Running
    9 1 24 William Byron Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet 160 2 3 45 Running
    10 13 10 Aric Almirola Valley Technical Academy Ford 160 5 0 33 Running
    11 21 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 160 0 6 31 Running
    12 17 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Libman Ford 160 6 0 30 Running
    13 23 8 Daniel Hemric # Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Chevrolet 160 0 9 26 Running
    14 24 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Thrill of the Grill Chevrolet 160 0 8 26 Running
    15 15 88 Alex Bowman Axalta Chevrolet 160 0 0 22 Running
    16 19 6 Ryan Newman Wyndham Rewards Ford 160 0 5 27 Running
    17 22 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota 160 0 0 20 Running
    18 14 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 160 10 0 20 Running
    19 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 160 0 0 18 Running
    20 28 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 160 0 0 17 Running
    21 26 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 160 0 7 20 Running
    22 11 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Father’s Day Ford 159 4 0 22 Running
    23 29 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 159 0 0 14 Running
    24 32 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Center Chevrolet 159 0 0 0 Running
    25 34 51 Bayley Currey(i) Jacob Companies P-40 Warhawk Ford 159 0 0 0 Running
    26 7 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 159 1 1 31 Running
    27 25 13 Ty Dillon GEICO Chevrolet 158 0 0 10 Running
    28 35 27 * Reed Sorenson VIPRacingExperience.com Chevrolet 157 0 0 9 Running
    29 36 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 157 0 0 8 Running
    30 27 38 David Ragan ExploriaResorts.com Ford 156 0 0 7 Running
    31 31 0 Landon Cassill(i) Madison Group Chevrolet 154 0 0 0 Running
    32 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 146 0 0 5 Accident
    33 30 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen Ford 128 0 0 4 Running
    34 37 52 JJ Yeley Steakhouse Elite Chevrolet 110 0 0 3 Running
    35 20 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 91 9 0 4 Engine
    36 33 32 Corey LaJoie VisoneRV Ford 68 0 0 1 Accident
    37 10 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet 28 0 0 1 Accident
  • Harrison Burton joins Joe Gibbs Racing for eight Nascar Xfinity Series races in 2019

    Harrison Burton joins Joe Gibbs Racing for eight Nascar Xfinity Series races in 2019

    Will Pilot No. 18 Dex Toyota Supra Starting at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 6

    HUNTERSVILLE, N.C (April 1, 2019) – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) announces today that Harrison Burton will drive the No. 18 Dex Toyota Supra in eight NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2019.

    Burton, 19, will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 6, and is scheduled to compete at Iowa Speedway (June 16), New Hampshire Speedway (July 20), Richmond International Raceway (September 20), Charlotte Motor Speedway (September 28), Dover International Speedway (October 5), Kansas Speedway (October 19), and Texas Motor Speedway (November 2).

    “I am very excited to have the opportunity to make my Xfinity Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing,” said Harrison Burton. “Dex has been so supportive of me from the very beginning, and I’m honored that they will be on board with me as I start this new chapter. I am so pumped to be going to a team that has had so many accomplishments, and great drivers to look up to as I continue to grow in my racing career. I am really grateful for this opportunity.”

    Burton is currently running fulltime in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series (NGOTS) for Kyle Busch Motorsports where he has earned one top-five and two top-10 finishes in five starts so far this season. He has 20 career starts in the NGOTS with five career top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Burton has also made 33-career starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East putting together an impressive 2017 season in which he earned five wins, 12 top-five finishes and was in the top 10 for each of the season’s 14 races.

    “Harrison continues to impress at each level of his racing career,” said Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development for Joe Gibbs Racing. “Ben (Beshore, Crew Chief) has the No. 18 team off to strong start this season and we believe Harrison will continue that momentum for us starting at Bristol.”

  • Owner’s Perspective of Championship 4 at Homestead

    Owner’s Perspective of Championship 4 at Homestead

    HOMESTEAD, FL – All the talk during the weekend is on how the Championship 4 drivers feel about their chances of winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship. But  Friday morning NASCAR held a press conference to share a different perspective from the owners and top executives on their championship journey.

    It was an odd moment for Furniture Row Racing president Joe Garone as he was in the press conference as a finalist for the Cup championship and also to speak about the last race for the entire race team. Sunday will be the final race for Furniture Row Racing after announcing earlier this year that they will cease operations at the end of the 2018 season.

    It has been a tough ending for the team even with the opportunity to take home a championship on Sunday afternoon.

    “It’s been brutal at the end here. But in the beginning, it was just so much fun – every weekend – for Furniture Row, it was such a linear uphill climb starting from scratch,” Garone said.

    The end is near for the team based in Denver, Colorado but there is some positivity to look forward to during Championship Weekend.

    For the other three teams, their operations will continue as normal going into next season. They all want to take home the Cup championship trophy but only one will.

    Tony Stewart who co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing is looking at a different scenario. As a former driver and champion, he knows what it feels like behind the wheel. As an owner, it’s been a long ride for him, going from a two-car team to a four-car team.

    “Technology is so great and changes so fast in our sport, you can never predict where everything is going to end up. You have to do the work. You have to have the right people in place, and the rest of it has to work itself out,” Stewart said.

    Each team has taken a unique path to arrive where they are today. Sponsorship remains one of the key factors.

    Walter Czarnecki, the executive vice president of Penske Racing, sees sponsorship as a major part of the sport, saying, “We have 40 different companies that work with us as sponsor partners, business partners, strategic partners on many different levels. I think it’s indicative of the strength of the sport.”

    Joe Gibbs who owns Joe Gibbs Racing also feels that sponsors have brought his program a long way.

    “We’re racing 11 cars in four different series, and the Lord has blessed us. We’ve got some of the biggest and best partners, and in the last year and a half, we’ve added nine new partner situations for us,” Gibbs said.

    The business side of the sport is one that some fans never see. NASCAR having this press conference gave everyone a unique look at what executives can expect from their teams and performances. The Championship 4 executives have their hands full just like the drivers but arguably in a more complicated way.