October 24, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

JGR juggernaut has the upper hand in the Round of 8

The road to the Championship 4 Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway will have to go through the current Big 3 at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Over the last three weeks, JGR drivers Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch have taken turns atop the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings. When the points were reset after Kansas Speedway last weekend, Busch once again cycled back to the top of the list, thanks to four race victories, a tour-high 11 stage wins and a whopping 46 Playoff points. 

And with the series returning to Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway, where Hamlin and Busch won, respectively, earlier this year, the competition will have a tough time stopping the JGR juggernaut.

Team owner Joe Gibbs has reached the pinnacle in both the NFL and NASCAR—most recently with Busch in 2015. But this is the best opportunity Coach has had since 2016 to advance three drivers to the Championship 4.

“It is so hard in pro sports to stay up and keep performing,” Gibbs said. “This is the best people in the world, the best teams, drivers in the world that race NASCAR. This is it. So it's hard to stay up there.

“I just think it's kind of about people. I think we got great people. We have great people back at the race shop preparing everything. I just wish a lot of them could be here. Then our drivers, our crew chiefs, their teams--right now we have very good chemistry.”   

The chemistry has enabled JGR to win half of the first 32 races of 2019. Hamlin, 38, picked up his fifth victory on Sunday at Kansas Speedway to match his best season since 2012. His average finish of 9.3 is a career-high. Much of Hamlin’s success can be attributed to Chris Gabehart taking over as crew chief this year.

“Chris has done a great job with Denny,” Gibbs added. “They've really paired up. You can tell they have a lot of confidence.”

No doubt JGR upgraded its team roster with the addition of Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Cole Pearn. Truex brings experience and stability—the latter of which at times has been missing in the driver ranks. Now, with two former Cup champions under the roof—Truex and Busch—there’s a familiarity that exists with the process of pushing through the Round of 8 and on to Homestead-Miami Speedway, where all three JGR drivers have won over the course of their careers. 

Here’s how the Gibbs’ Playoff contenders stack up over the next three races:

Kyle Busch—Busch has two wins and a remarkable average of 2.875 in his last eight starts at Martinsville. He has also led 937 of 4,005 laps over that same period. Busch has won three of the last 12 races at Texas and has 12 top fives and 14 top 10s in 27 starts. In addition to winning the last two races at ISM Raceway, in the last decade Busch has accumulated nine top fives and 14 top 10s there.

Denny Hamlin—Martinsville and Pocono top the tracks where Hamlin has won the most races with five at each place. He has an average qualifying effort of ninth at the .526-mile short track and an average finish of 9.6. He ran second in this race last year. In March, Hamlin scored his third Cup win at Texas and collected his 12th top-five at Phoenix.

Martin Truex Jr.—Unlike his two teammates, Truex has yet to win at any of the tracks in the Round of 8. However, he has improved dramatically since joining forces with crew chief Cole Pearn in 2015. In the last nine starts at both Martinsville and Texas, Truex has posted seven top 10s. He finished third and ninth, respectively, in those races last year. While Truex’s improvements haven’t been nearly as dramatic at ISM Raceway, he finished second to Busch in the spring with the new aero package.