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Joe Gibbs Racing still considering potential to expand to four Sprint Cup teams in 2010
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs (center) talks with driver Denny Hamlin (left) and crew chief Mike Ford earlier this season.
David Griffin
NASCAR Scene
SONOMA, Calif. – Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs is still open to the idea of four Sprint Cup teams if the sponsorship can be found for 2010 by the end of the summer.
“We can still plug in a fourth team,” Gibbs said Sunday at Infineon Raceway. “The problem is from an economy standpoint. You can probably get a few [sponsors] to mix and match, but we don’t have a full fourth ready to go from a sponsor standpoint.
“We’re in no hurry. If we have to wait a year, that’s fine. You have got to have the right driver, the right core group and the right sponsor. But if that happened, we could do it pretty quick. I wouldn’t cross it off for next year but at the same time we’re not going to force it.”
When asked if that fourth car could be Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick, Gibbs laughed. JGR uses IMG to help it find sponsors and Danica is represented by IMG.
“I don’t know what she wants to do,” Gibbs said. “Does she want to still run what she’s running and dip her toe in the water, does she want to do the whole thing? … I think it would be great for the sport wherever she goes.
“I don’t think she would want to be part of a [new] fourth team [here].”
In addition to a fourth team, JGR also could become a vendor for other teams. JGR did not have a successful affiliate/vendor program with Hall of Fame Racing from 2006-2008, and Gibbs said if JGR did it in the future, it would be a closer relationship.
“We did cars for them, we did motors for them, we did chassis for them, we helped them technically, but there were some areas that we said, ‘Our guys are going to work on our stuff and you guys need to work on our own stuff,’” Gibbs said. “Looking back, we tried to do it by the letter of the law but we weren’t really sure what was the letter of the law as far as separation. We learned from that.”
Gibbs said the team management would have to decide whether such an arrangement would be simply for profit or help the organization run better. He also thinks that adding a fourth team would be more of a priority.
As far as his organization, Kyle Busch has three Cup wins but sits ninth in the series standings, just 11 points ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin. Busch has only a 53-point cushion on 13th-place David Reutimann and a spot in the Chase.
“We’ve just got to do a better job finishing,” Gibbs said. “If we finished where we were running in a lot of the races and capitalize on some of the wins we could have gotten, we would be in pretty good shape.
“We’re not in horrible shape. … The other thing is we have to consistently make gains in the garage to keep up with the other guys.”
Mentioned Drivers: Denny Hamlin
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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7 responses to "Joe Gibbs Racing still considering potential to expand to four Sprint Cup teams in 2010". Post a Comment.
benflorance said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 4:34 PMif they do go to four full time teams they could possibly have harvick in that car if rcr cuts to 2 teams if sheel doesnt come back, could be jamie mac, maybe truex
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmotorsportsphotography said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 5:28 PMI could see Kevin departing RCR at the end of this year. Ok, all the wise guys in one stable.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportncjay08 said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 6:13 PMIf JGR can swing it (I think they can), they really need to go ahead and expand to four teams now and get the growing pains out of the way ASAP. The economy won't help, but those guys at JGR are smart enough to figure out how to make it work. I just wonder how many drivers want to be Kyle Busch's teammate. It sure puts a ton of pressure on when your teammate wins races and leads laps and you can't. Denny Hamlin is experiencing that.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJRSMOKEFAN said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 7:55 PMI would think that if Harvick left RCR he would end up driving a bow-tie for his buddy Tony before Gibbs or even one for Jr.
Report as AbuseWhy would anybody want Jamie Mc?? Sure he llooks good, but looks don't mean naything when you can't win races. Truex will be driving the 55 one way or another.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJJ48 said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 8:25 PMI don't think they will expand simply because there won't be a top notch driver for them to get. Truex is a lock for the 55 next year. I agree with #4 about Harvick, and Jamie Mac will be in a Yates car. So there really aren't any drivers that have won a race before that will be looking to change teams.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJGRFan4Life said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 9:13 PMI would love JGR to expand to four teams. I've been calling for it for at least a year.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPhoenix987 said:
Jun 22, 2009 at 11:02 PMJGR has been mulling expanding to four teams ever since they expanded to three. Unfortunately, they aren't exactly being given a great reason to expand beyond that 3rd car. Of all the 4-car teams, which one has all 4 cars doing well? HMS- nope. RCR- nope. RPM- nope. DEI last year? nope. Not a single 4-car team has all 4 cars running well, and Gibbs knows that. I can see their 4th team expanding to more than a couple races (say a 12-18 race schedule) to help start the growth, but I don't see a full 4th team. It would be nice to see Marc Davis get a chance to redeem himself with JGR having cut him once.
Report as AbuseOf all the potential openings (Harvick, Truex, McMurray, maybe even Kahne) I can't really see any of those drivers taking the risk of going to a new 4th team. Plus, the team wouldn't be locked into races, and Gibbs has no past champion in their stable. Unless they brought Terry Labonte or Bill Elliott to them to help build up the team (or maybe even Bobby Labonte?) they'd have to qualify on speed- and anything can (and will) happen at the Daytona 500.
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