The Downfall of Joe Gibbs Racing: From Title Contenders to Out of the Playoffs, Joe Gibbs and His Team Have a Mediocre Season

At the beginning of this season, only two teams stood above the general pack. Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports clinched a victory every other weekend and acted like it was their arena. JGR’s four drivers were on fire – Denny Hamlin heightened his fans’ expectations for a triumphant 19th season by clinching three victories till Dover. Christopher Bell kept up his winning trend till New Hampshire. Martin Truex Jr and Ty Gibbs came dangerously close to toppling their rivals at times.

Yet all four began to fade away towards the latter half of the season. As the Fords scripted their astonishing rise from the ashes, JGR’s Toyota racers were struggling to maintain their jittery playoff spots. Both Truex and Gibbs were out early, while Bell and Hamlin increasingly lost their luster by the end of the playoffs. NASCAR veterans sit down and discuss this fall of Joe Gibbs’ racers.

From the sky to the ground – Joe Gibbs Racing’s downfall

Well, Denny Hamlin’s situation stands out the most. The No. 11 Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing driver has yet to feel the glimmer of a Bill France trophy and was hoping to finally achieve it. Yet after Dover, his performance began to fall in an 18-race winless streak, as a recent episode of GoPRNLive showed. His team was plagued with sudden engine issues, pit stop mistakes, and unforeseen penalties. He landed a penalty when Toyota admitted to accidentally breaking down a race-winning engine prematurely and rebuilding it before NASCAR had the chance to inspect it. Along with these events, factor in Hamlin’s off-track duties – catering to a historic NASCAR lawsuit with Michael Jordan and Front Row Motorsports. Compared to his 12.4 average finish in 2023, Hamlin finished at 13.9.

The GoPRN co-hosts did not let go of Hamlin’s teammates, either. Christopher Bell, despite being a solid threat to HMS rival William Byron in Martinsville, actually registered a fall in performance. His average finish went from 12.8 last year to 12.9 this year, despite holding 23 top-tens, the maximum among his rivals. Kyle Petty explained Joe Gibbs Racing’s faults this season: “Denny Hamlin’s in a lawsuit with NASCAR – his brain’s totally somewhere else…The 54 of Ty Gibbs, he’s still learning that craft…Christopher Bell probably has a ton of talent, but show me you can close the race.” Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr could not satisfy his last wish before retiring – winning a race.

And both Truex and Gibbs’ misfortunes baffled former driver Kevin Harvick. He expected the two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to be forces to reckon with in the playoffs. Yet the Round of 16 featuring Atlanta, Watkins Glen, and Bristol was dotted with chaos which the two could not escape. “I think that the whole Gibbs thing is very interesting to me,” Harvick explained. “Two of the cars getting eliminated this week, with the No. 54 and the No. 19. I guess we should specifically talk about them, because the No. 54 has had the speed all year to win races, and it comes down to the exact same thing that happened this weekend, a mistake, and speeding penalty on pit road.”

Yet while technical issues plagued Gibbs, a mental block stood in Truex’s path.

Pre-conditioned to perform below the mark

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Martin Truex Jr had been postponing his retirement plan for two years. But when he finally decided to hang up the firesuit this season, the situation changed. Not only was his team owner surprised, but Truex’s good runs screeched to a halt. He gathered most of his 11 top-tens of the year before June. That month, he declared his retirement plan to be official. After that, only three top-tens came in Pocono, Kansas, and Las Vegas. In between, a long and miserable eight-race stretch of 20th or worse plagued him between Indianapolis and Bristol. Harvick claimed this is due to Truex’s confused approach. “I think (crew chief) James [Small] is frustrated with that one foot in, one foot out commitment level from Martin, ‘Do I want to retire, do I want to come back?”

Kyle Petty also opined that the retired Joe Gibbs Racing driver could not get back his mojo. “I said at the beginning of the year that Truex was not going to win a race…Any time a driver says this is my last year, they don’t win. Because that little bit of edge has gone away…You’re not totally in the game even though you tell yourself you are. Even though you try to convince yourself when you stand in front of the mirror…Truex was just not in the game and I will go to my grave saying that.” Harvick caught Truex being open about his Joe Gibbs Racing struggles after bowing out of the playoffs. “Martin kind of said it last week, ‘I’m frustrated. Don’t really like what I’m doing. Happy it’s almost over.'”

Evidently, the Joe Gibbs Racing team did not have a hunky-dory ride in 2024. With one of its veterans gone, the team faces a new kind of future in 2025.