NASCAR Fans Pull No Punches as Joe Gibbs Fails to Do Right by His Xfinity Stars: “Should Have Brought a Chevy”

Joe Gibbs Racing star, Chandler Smith, will have to bow out early from the Loop 110 Xfinity Series race in Chicago due to engine failure. The No. 81 JGR Toyota Camry blew up the engine and barely made it to the pit road, where the car had to be pushed to safety by the crew members. Smith, frustrated with the mechanical issues, made his feelings about the engine issues clear within the JGR camp this weekend. “Three engines in one weekend,” he yelled over the radio. To add credibility to his accusation, John Hunter Nemechek and Sheldon Creed had to start the race on the rear end of the field after similar issues with the engine.

It’s not just a one-off incident; the 2024 season has been a tough one for JGR in terms of keeping their car engines running smoothly. Creed ran into similar issues during the Richmond race, where his No. 18 Toyota Camry started emitting smoke. Furthermore, it’s not just the Xfinity Series drivers; even Cup Series stars such as Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell have run into mechanical troubles. Bell missed out on a potential win at Gateway as he had to step off the gas to preserve and reach the finish line. The next week, Hamlin’s No. 11 Camry just blew up the engine at the start of the race at Pocono.

With the current trend, it seems like there’s a bigger issue that has been kept away from the public eye. Therefore, fans certainly weren’t impressed to see good race car drivers being forced out of the race for something that wasn’t under their control.

Is JGR responsible for the recent engine woes?

We spoke in length about how JGR has been marred by engine issues this season. While most of the fans were critical of the team, this JGR fan couldn’t help but vent out his frustrations, “The engine issues for JGR this year has been terrible”.

Such incidents often open the doors for rival camp fan bases and trolls to mock the misery of a race team. And this is exactly what this race fan tried to do with his comments, “3 engines 1 weekend? Don’t worry Chandler it’s all part of God’s plan”.

Well, the mocking didn’t stop there; another fan even went on to suggest that Smith should’ve brought in a Chevy instead of a Toyota. The car certainly has garnered a bad reputation, and today’s debacle only added to that. “Chandler Smith should have bought a Chevy”.

Chandler Smith was one of the six Xfinity Series drivers already locked into the playoffs, bagging multiple wins so far this season. But thanks to JGR’s rusty engines, he just might miss out on winning the regular-season championship. He slipped down to third place after a DNF finish today. “Absolutely ridiculous, JGR is failing their Xfinity drivers this year. Creed with countless mechanicals and now a regular season title contender with another engine”.

It is indeed hard to recall if any other Toyota teams have been facing the same engine problems. For the time being, it looks like only Joe Gibbs Racing is hit hard with such issues. This prompted a fan to question if TRD or JGR are behind this blunder, “JGR in-house or TRD?”

Joe Gibbs Racing quickly needs to get to the root of this issue and rectify it as soon as possible. The regular season is nearing its end, and they certainly wouldn’t want their stars stranded with stalled cars during the knockouts, where the expectations are ever so high to deliver.