Joe Gibbs Racing began the 10-race NASCAR Cup Series playoff stretch with three of their four drivers in championship contention. Nine races later, two remain, with the powerhouse organization still vying to win a sixth title on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
While Christopher Bell suffered the same fate in the round of 8 as he did in 2024, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe secured their Championship 4 berths with wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, respectively.
Hamlin is the season wins leader with six while Briscoe has the most top five finishes with 15 and most pole positions with seven, giving the organization a prime opportunity to put an end to a surprise title drought and return to the top of the Cup Series.
Joe Gibbs Racing in search of first title since 2019
You have to go all the way back to Kyle Busch's second championship in 2019 to find Joe Gibbs Racing's most recent title. Since then, Hamlin (2020, 2021), Martin Truex Jr. (2021) and Bell (2022, 2023) have reached the Championship 4. Only once (2021) did the organization have multiple cars in title contention for the finale during that stretch. In 2019, they had three, with Busch, Truex, and Hamlin.
Hendrick Motorsports won the title with Chase Elliott in 2020 and Kyle Larson in 2021, while Team Penske opened up the Next Gen era with three straight, with Joey Logano winning in 2022 and 2024 and Ryan Blaney in 2023.
With Briscoe enjoying a breakout campaign in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, despite getting off to a slow start, and Hamlin arguably being in the best position he has ever been in to win his first title, it may be time for Joe Gibbs Racing to add a name to the list by ending their longest title drought since Busch won their first since Tony Stewart's 2005 title in 2015.
Team Penske may be eliminated from this season's title hunt, but Hendrick Motorsports are still in the fight with William Byron and Larson. After accomplishing a playoff first with his Martinsville win, Byron, the regular season champion and laps led leader, has as much momentum as anyone, and Larson is the only one of the four who has won a Cup title before.
With that said, Joe Gibbs Racing swept the top two in the March race at Phoenix, with Bell outlasting Hamlin ahead of Larson and Byron in third and sixth, respectively. Briscoe crashed out and was scored in 35th, but he picked up his first Cup Series win at the track in 2022 and should be a factor to win his first title on Sunday.
It is a stout Championship 4 no matter how you look at it, but it also presents an excellent opportunity for Joe Gibbs Racing to reign supreme. If the mechanical gremlins from Martinsville and throughout the round of 8 stay away, the surprise title drought could come to an end in the desert.