Whether it’s the switch back to the spoiler, or something else, it’s clear the Joe Gibbs Racing is the dominant team in NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing.
JGR’s senior driver, Denny Hamlin, destroyed the competition at Michigan International Speedway leading 123 laps including the final 22 in his Toyota; but that would be a small part of the story.
“It was not as easy as it looked today,” said Denny Hamlin who celebrated his third win in five races and fifth win this year (a career best). He added “it's a great accomplishment to win on so many different racetracks for us. To be able to unload and know you're going to be competitive for a race win week in and week out gives you a lot of confidence. For the first time really in my career, I feel like we're at this place (championship material).
In fact in the last ten races Joe Gibbs Racing has won the last seven. After four years of Hendrick Motorsports dominance the NASCAR garage has noticed the power shift to JGR.
“When things go your way like they have for us over the last 10 races, you know, the confidence level is just huge, whether it be in the middle of the race, at the beginning,” Hamlin said.
Kasey Kahne, who finished second, despite some overheating issues resulting from picking up debris on his radiator in a Ford, noted, “yeah, they have been like that for a couple of months now, so I wasn’t surprised they were really strong. We made a huge gain and were way better than we have been. I don’t like watching him drive away from me, but I wasn’t surprised when he did. I thought we had a really good car and really good effort by our whole team but the 11(Hamlin) was just a touch better.”
Finishing third was polesitter, Kurt Busch said “those Gibbs guys are doing it right now with their horsepower, their aerodynamics. They've sorted out the spoiler it seems like.
I wouldn't say we're very far behind in any of the categories, it's just that balance that you find. It's that little itty bit of speed that translates into a 10th of a second. Those guys have definitely found it.
I mean, Gibbs is running strong. Jeff Gordon said out there today that Hendrick is not the top team. It's like, Come on, Jeff, it's going to be all right, buddy, you finished fourth. Right now everybody is in this game. Nobody is going to separate themselves anytime soon. I see the competition right now the most equal it's been in years.”
Kevin Harvick, who finished19th, holds a slim 22-point lead over Denny Hamlin’s teammate Kyle Busch. Denny Hamlin maintained 3rd place, but, as a result of his five wins would have a 50 point bonus when the Chase starts in 11 races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 7th and is now in 14th place -– 79 points out of the final Chase position.
JGR’s senior driver, Denny Hamlin, destroyed the competition at Michigan International Speedway leading 123 laps including the final 22 in his Toyota; but that would be a small part of the story.
“It was not as easy as it looked today,” said Denny Hamlin who celebrated his third win in five races and fifth win this year (a career best). He added “it's a great accomplishment to win on so many different racetracks for us. To be able to unload and know you're going to be competitive for a race win week in and week out gives you a lot of confidence. For the first time really in my career, I feel like we're at this place (championship material).
In fact in the last ten races Joe Gibbs Racing has won the last seven. After four years of Hendrick Motorsports dominance the NASCAR garage has noticed the power shift to JGR.
“When things go your way like they have for us over the last 10 races, you know, the confidence level is just huge, whether it be in the middle of the race, at the beginning,” Hamlin said.
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| Fifth win in past 10 races - image nascar.com |
Kasey Kahne, who finished second, despite some overheating issues resulting from picking up debris on his radiator in a Ford, noted, “yeah, they have been like that for a couple of months now, so I wasn’t surprised they were really strong. We made a huge gain and were way better than we have been. I don’t like watching him drive away from me, but I wasn’t surprised when he did. I thought we had a really good car and really good effort by our whole team but the 11(Hamlin) was just a touch better.”
Finishing third was polesitter, Kurt Busch said “those Gibbs guys are doing it right now with their horsepower, their aerodynamics. They've sorted out the spoiler it seems like.
I wouldn't say we're very far behind in any of the categories, it's just that balance that you find. It's that little itty bit of speed that translates into a 10th of a second. Those guys have definitely found it.
I mean, Gibbs is running strong. Jeff Gordon said out there today that Hendrick is not the top team. It's like, Come on, Jeff, it's going to be all right, buddy, you finished fourth. Right now everybody is in this game. Nobody is going to separate themselves anytime soon. I see the competition right now the most equal it's been in years.”
Kevin Harvick, who finished19th, holds a slim 22-point lead over Denny Hamlin’s teammate Kyle Busch. Denny Hamlin maintained 3rd place, but, as a result of his five wins would have a 50 point bonus when the Chase starts in 11 races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 7th and is now in 14th place -– 79 points out of the final Chase position.