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| Coach Joe Gibbs addresses the media while son, JD Gibbs, looks on |
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| Denny Hamlin takes questions from the media |
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| NASCAR Media Week at JGR |
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| New Crew Chief for the #11 Fed Ex Toyota and Denny Hamlin, Darian Grubb, takes questions from the Media |
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| 2012 NASCAR Media Week at JGR |
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| Denny Hamlin |
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| JGR's stable Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin |
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| JD Gibbs fields media questions while Dad, Joe Gibbs, looks on |
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer 
Team owner Joe Gibbs has accepted full responsibility for Kyle and his actions and is showing the class act that he is. I have long admired Coach Joe, his son JD and the entire JGR organization. They have shown the racing world what true sportsmanship and class are. That doesn't mean their drivers aren't human and they don't make mistakes, it simply means they hold themselves to a higher standard, correct a problem as soon as it arises and don't make excuses for bad behavior. They admit their failures, apologize and do their best going forward to ensure it doesn't happen again. And if it does, then they go back to the drawing board for a different solution. That is why I will always be a fan of Joe Gibbs Racing.Of course, the Gibbs team has been here before. The outfit placed three drivers in last year's championship Chase, led by Busch, who entered the playoff having won a series-best eight races and led the points for 17 consecutive weeks. But once there, he never had a chance. Neither did Hamlin or Tony Stewart, Logano's predecessor. Parts failures, crashes, cut tires, missed setups, speeding penalties -- they all combined to make for a miserable final 10 weeks for members of the Gibbs trio, none of whom finished any higher than eighth.
For a team with three championships, it was an unacceptable result. So in early December, the team began a series of organization-wide meetings that reviewed everything from people to processes to equipment. The reliability of car parts, the fuel efficiency of engines, the structure of how the engineering department supports the race teams -- nothing was overlooked. People were moved, policies were altered, focus was sharpened. The goal was to ensure that if Gibbs drivers make this year's Chase, they'll have the means to finish the job and claim the team's first title since 2005.
"You put a plan in place, until you see that plan come to fruition and work, you don't know," said Jimmy Makar, the team's vice president of racing operations. "But I think we're going to be able to certainly answer questions faster and take care of problems quicker."
Anything would be an improvement from last year. Busch entered the Chase as the clear favorite to win the title, but was derailed by a broken suspension piece, a blown engine and a fuel-pressure problem in the first three races. Hamlin entered in seventh, and was doomed by a drive shaft failure at Dover, a blown tire at Talladega, and a missed setup at Texas. Stewart entered 10th, and suffered a tire problem at Martinsville and crashes at Kansas, Texas and Phoenix. The Gibbs drivers wound up as the final three to qualify for places at the season-ending banquet in New York, a fact Hamlin even noted in his speech. "Yeah, eighth, ninth, 10th -- that's about the way our year's gone," he said on stage
Much of what happened to the Gibbs drivers last year -- tire problems and crashes, most notably -- wasn't necessarily anyone's fault. But then there were the equipment problems. And a few pit-road speeding penalties. And other issues that rapidly turned the Chase into a morass that swallowed the team's championship hopes.
"Some of that is beyond your control. That's life," team president J.D. Gibbs said. "Some of it is, how do you do a better job being prepared? We had a few issues during the year, and the fact that they all hit at the end was discouraging. Part of that was just chance, and part of that was I think that we just weren't prepared properly. You go back, and I think we did as good a job as anybody preparing our cars and our guys for the race. but there are a few things you can learn. I think we learned a few things -- hey, cross your t's and dot your i's a little better next time."
The meetings to address the root of Gibbs' Chase crash began shortly after last year's awards banquet, and those who were there say they weren't for the meek. "I think it was a lot of people who had to swallow their pride, you could say," Hamlin said. The disappointment was heightened by the knowledge that Busch had been the class of the field for two-thirds of the season, only to wind up 10th through no real fault of his own. Many opinions were voiced. Busch provided insight as to how some things were done at Hendrick Motorsports, his employer the previous season and winner of the past three championships. There clearly was an urgency, Makar said, to get things figured out.
"We all want to be better," said crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who worked with Stewart last year and now oversees Logano's program. "Whether you're willing to make the effort, speak your mind, maybe put yourself out there by yourself because other people may not agree with you or whatever, that's the important part. I think us as crew chiefs did that, I think our engineering group did that, I think our owners kind of held us accountable for how we ran in the Chase and wanted to know what we needed to do differently to be better. If we are in that situation again, we want to be able to capitalize on it, or at last feel we had more of a shot at it. We just didn't do a good job."
Team owner Joe Gibbs said five specific areas were addressed. Although he wouldn't name the areas, reliability was clearly at the top of the list. Nothing hampered the 2008 Gibbs Chase effort more than parts failures, specifically the three consecutive weeks of mechanical trouble that turned Busch from championship favorite into also-ran.
"Our No. 1 focus this year is more reliability than it is speed," Hamlin said. "If we were to be just average, we'd have been better off. This past year was the worst average finish I've had in my career. But yet, we ran the best during the [Chase] races. That's backward. Just backward. We've got to get back to the reliability we had two years ago."
J.D. Gibbs said the parts problems the team suffered during last year's Chase were all in-house issues. This year the organization is operating under revised standards as to how far a piece of equipment can be pushed.
"Obviously it's something we haven't had a lot of problems with traditionally, but for whatever reason, we got snake-bit toward the end of the season," Makar said. "And even during the season, there were some oddball things that happened to us. We were pushing parts and pieces a little harder than we ever had in the past technology-wise and in the way we use them or abuse them. I think it made everybody realize that we had to stay aware of where we were when we were on that threshold of pushing parts farther than they needed to be pushed. I think they felt good that we addressed it and had a plan put together to go forward."
“This past year was the worst average finish I've had in my career. But yet, we ran the best during the [Chase] races. That's backward. Just backward.”
DENNY HAMLIN
Another issue was fuel mileage. Series runner-up Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing was often able to stretch his fuel runs to his advantage, and the Gibbs team simply couldn't keep up. One reason why, Makar surmised, is that Gibbs was in its first season with Toyota, and still probing the limits of what the manufacturer's engine could do. Still, he said engineers tackled the problem in-depth during the winter.
"We've been in positions where we're very good with that stuff, but obviously going with Toyota [last] year, we didn't have the experience that we had with our GM stuff," Makar said. "It's a whole new learning curve, and we found some issues we needed to work on. It's not an excuse, it's new. We had to figure out how to make that better."
There also was some reorganization of personnel, specifically to assemble what Makar calls a "competition group" that aids the race team on location during event weekends. At the request of crew chiefs, some engineers were moved from the shop to the road in order to provide the race programs with dedicated help. The result is better information on which to make decisions. "The race teams felt like they needed a little more direct support for what their needs were, so we organized some stuff inside engineering, took some people out of the shop, and structured that to what we felt was best for us," Makar said.
Although Busch appears to have picked up right where he left off this past September, and Hamlin has shown flashes of title-contender strength, the true impact of the changes the Gibbs team has implemented won't be evident until the organization returns to the Chase. Even so, Busch said, sometimes a 5-cent part breaks no matter how much preparation and research goes into it. There's no defense against bad luck.
"The last 10 races weren't fun at all," Busch said, referring to his 2008 campaign. "The beginning and the middle part of the year, sometimes those wins were just too easy. It was like wow, that wasn't as hard as it should have been. You look at it, and you look at why, and it's because a lot of things fell your way. The luck was there. Then you start running out of luck a little bit, and you're like, we're losing it here. It's going away. And then the Chase started, and it's gone. We had none. There is a certain amount of luck you have to have in this game, and no matter what you do to try to change it, you can't just all of the sudden get it back."
But the Gibbs team is trying to control what it can, attempting to squeeze better reliability out of its parts, better fuel-efficiency out of its engines, and better use out of its people. The lessons of the past fall were humbling ones for an organization that was once the best in NASCAR. No one has forgotten them.
"I think sometimes when you get knocked around at the end of the year, it kind of sets your jaw," Joe Gibbs said. "Nobody here is confident or cocky."
Two Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide Series crew chiefs suspended last year for tampering with a NASCAR test are back on the job and hoping to put their troubles behind them.
rom Joe Gibbs Racing is quite sad, the idea of him owning his own team is quite a good thing for the sport. For once, a driver was thinking past his own career and took control of his destiny. Stewart nabbed fellow Hoosier Ryan Newman away from Penske Racing, returned to his Chevy roots and adopted his former boss’s work ethic and practices. While I question his decision to join forces with Gene Haas, I do commend Stewart for his vision and wish him the very best of luck with his new venture.
ationwide Series this season, NASCAR’s resident bad boy donated $100,000 towards helping the ailing Ard to aid in making his every day life a bit easier. The moment left me in tears. For all the criticism Busch has drawn from fans, competitors and the media, this moment shows that Rowdy is very human and has a good heart. To Kyle it was nothing major, but to Sam Ard and his wife it was priceless. Racking up 21 victories falls short to the act of kindness that Kyle Busch showed to one of the sport’s finest. Say what you want about the Candy Man, you can’t deny that he is a selfless, caring man who deserves fewer boos and more applause.
n will be seen for the true talent that he is. At Ganassi Racing, he was the poster boy for wasted talent. His true abilities have never been realized and he has been overlooked since his 2006 Rookie season. He has been the third in line for equipment, personnel and time, but now that he is joining Gillette Evernham Motorsports, Sorenson will finally get first class equipment and the finest crew members and the attention he deserves. Sometimes drivers get what is due them and Reed Sorenson certainly deserves his chance in the spotlight. I can’t wait to see him shine.
ext best racecar driver. When Logano turned 18 on May 24th, he was finally old enough to enter the big leagues and what he did in his debut season was nothing short of spectacular. He won his first pole award in just his second start in the series and captured his first victory in just his third start. He has taken NASCAR by storm and the heir apparent to the two-time championship winning Home Depot #20 Toyota only promises to get better. For making NASCAR exciting and lighting it up with his angelic smile, a giant Thank You to Joey Logano. Welcome to NASCAR Sliced Bread. We’ve been waiting for you.
ed Kevin Harvick’s finish that was clearly Carl Edward’s fault, Harvick retaliated in the media by calling Edwards a pansy. Apparently the well muscled Edwards didn’t appreciate being thrown under the bus, so he left a note on Harvick’s plane to accentuate the point. The fight that followed in the garage area was spectacular. There was no clear winner but seeing Harvick in a choke hold will forever be one of my favorite moments of 2008. Note to self: Don’t call Carl Edwards a pansy unless you want to find yourself in a death grip.
sh Jr Assists Ryan Newman Back To Pit Road - After spinning out and struggling to get restarted, Ryan Newman was stranded on the race track. Then came teammate Sam Hornish Jr, who thinking not of himself but of his fellow driver, got behind Newman and pushed him to pit lane. It was the ultimate act of selflessness and sportsmanship and simply left me humbled. If only more men took a page from his book perhaps this sport would be quite different. Sam Hornish Jr, a gentleman and a total class act.
dt Jr’s early demise from a race, Busch drew the ire of every member of Junior Nation. From then on, when he won a race, and that was often, he did his now signature bow to the crowd just to infuriate them further. For his guts and class, I salute Kyle Busch. It takes a real man to stand up to the sport’s most popular driver and his legion of followers. Kyle Busch, my hero.
lowski drove up underneath Hamlin and raised his wheels up off the track. Hamlin then retaliated by hitting the #88 car in the left front fender, causing slight damage. This infuriated team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr, who took it upon himself to retaliate and hit Hamlin from behind. But it was the action after the checkered flag waved that makes this my favorite moment of 2008. Keselowski’s entire crew swarmed Hamlin the second he climbed out of the car and the brawl was classic. When interviewed, Hamlin said that he would have preferred to talk to Brad face to face instead of dealing with the crew. Instead of coming off like a hero, the NAVY driver looked more like a princess afraid to face the dragon alone. Then came the best quote ever. “If you throw a rock I’m going to throw a concrete block back” Thank you Denny Hamlin for making 2008 the BEST season EVER!
ga Crash - Undoubtedly the scariest moment in a Denny Hamlin fan’s season, seeing the Fed Ex Toyota driver grimacing while being put onto a stretcher, and then hearing of his overnight stay in an Alabama hospital is one moment I hope to never repeat again. Thank God for the COT car, safety equipment, safer barriers, and safety workers. Good riddance to crashes, equipment failures and all the like for Denny Hamlin and the JGR Fed Ex team.
eries Banquet Broadcast on ESPN Classic - For some reason NASCAR felt it best to broadcast the much anticipated Sprint Cup series banquet on ESPN Classic and then replay it on ESPN2. In my town, no one even has ESPN Classic and the only way to get it is to subscribe to the highest tier of programming. I love my NASCAR but my love has a limit and it also has a price tag. NASCAR needs its fans and they need them to be happy. Put the banquet, which is after all for me, on a channel that I can easily get.
extraordinary crew chiefs Dave Rogers and Jason Radcliff were caught cheating following a test of the horse power of the Toyota engines. Due to near-dominance of the Nationwide season, NASCAR held a test and both crew chiefs were caught with magnets on the gas pedals of their cars. The two were then suspended indefinitely. It was an incident that did not slow down the JGR drivers as they went on to further success with interim crew chiefs on top of the pit boxes.
For thirty-six excitement filled weeks I have watched Denny Hamlin qualify for the pole at short tracks, intermediate courses, superspeedways and road courses. I have watched an estimated 18,000 miles of left hand turns and a few hair pin road course turns cheering him on to the checkered flag. There have been exciting finishes and heartbreaking disappointments. Engine failures, accidents and penalties that cost a coveted win that left me reeling and scratching my head. I've seen an ambulance take my hero away on a stretcher and witnessed the grimmace of pain on his face instead of the smile that lights up my entire world. 
In the above picture you see the amazing TEAM of Joe Gibbs Racing that is responsible for winning Joe Gibbs Racing the 2008 Owner's Championship for the No. 20 Toyota. JGR Teammates Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were selected to drive the season dominating car for the races they were best suited to and did it ever pay off. Big time.
The Joe Gibbs Racing Qualifying Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
