Joe Gibbs (left), owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, speaks with the media during the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour at the Charlotte Convention Center. [Credit: Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images]
Charlotte, NC—In a light hearted and humorous session, the members of Joe Gibbs Racing met with members of the media during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom to detail their outlook on the 2015 season.
Joe Gibbs Racing returns Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series while adding a fourth car for Carl Edwards in 2015. Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones will drive Joe Gibbs Racing entries in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
It was obvious this team likes to have fun as the session began with key members of the Washington Redskins influenced organization needling Green Bay Packers fan Kenseth about his team’s recent defeat in the NFC Championship game to which Kenseth quipped, “at least they play in January.” Next an internal team video was shown of the drivers reading mean tweets about themselves sent by fans which produced quite a few laughs and finally owner Joe Gibbs expressed how he would like to win the All Star race as the closest the team has come was when Hamlin and Busch crashed while battling for the lead a few years back. Hamlin quickly interjected, “I can’t wreck him if I’m leading,” while Busch responded, “It still happened.”
All kidding aside, the team looks to be a major contender for the Sprint Cup in 2015 and Kenseth has already had track time with the 2015 rules package during a Goodyear tire test last week in Las Vegas.
“I’m looking forward to this season,” Kenseth stated, “It was nice to get on the race track last week and we ran through some stuff for Goodyear. We’re ready to get going and get racing to get through Daytona and we’re looking forward to that but we’re really looking forward to the next five or six races after that so we can kind of see where we are stacking up compared to our competition.”
“I thought overall as a team we worked really well last year and we had more challenges than 2013 because we weren’t winning,” Kenseth continued describing the 2014 season, “Everybody really worked hard and it was a test of everybody’s character but they all hung in there and while we didn’t achieve the goals we wanted to achieve I thought we did a good job with the hand that we were dealt so I was proud of my team last year.”
With the recent announcement of 2015 being the final full time season for Jeff Gordon, Kenseth who is close in age was asked about his career and he plans on driving for a while yet.
“ When I started doing this back in Wisconsin I never dreamed in a million years I would be racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series,” Kenseth stated, “That’s something (retirement) that has barely crossed my mind to be honest with you. I feel great and I feel as good or better than I did ten years ago and I don’t feel like the end is in sight for me.” “There are not a lot of us out there who have the luxury to race as long as we want to no matter how we ran. I haven’t thought about that and I just go out and try to make it happen every day and try to keep being successful. I’ve never really felt totally comfortable and I always feel like you are out there racing for your job and for me I think that is good and makes me more competitive.”
Kyle Busch pointed out the difference the ban on testing could make on the upcoming season.
“It will be a little bit strange without the on track testing we are all accustomed to,” Busch said, “Not being able to be in the car at all is different and the first time we get back in is going to be practice at Daytona in a few weeks.”
Busch also addressed the addition of Carl Edwards in a fourth Joe Gibbs racing entry.
“Carl (Edwards) brings a wealth of experience to the team with him being a veteran guy, “Busch stated, “Having Carl come on board I think is going to be great for our team and to have that veteran type leadership that we all have we should be able to communicate right off the bat really well. The biggest thing was the infrastructure and the amount of money that was left to add the extra engineers, body guys, and chassis guys to build more cars and keep up with the demands of a fourth team, I think that was a huge bonus to have a veteran like Carl as opposed to a rookie type guy.”
Hamlin is being paired with crew chief Dave Rogers for 2015 and he expects to have strong results as the season begins.
“I think the driver/crew-chief relationship can start quick,” Hamlin said, “Myself and Darien Grubb won our second race out and me and Mike Ford had almost instant success. I think with Dave Rogers being with the company this will be the first crew chief change I have had coming from within so I would assume success would be fairly early.”
Hamlin also addressed NASCAR’s new pit road enforcement rules being conducted with a new computerized system.
“I think it is going to be a good thing in the long run and I think there will be a lot of penalties early on,” Hamlin stated, “A lot of drivers will try to educate themselves on how it is going to be officiated and I think in late race situations there is probably doing to be a lot of loose wheels (due to a no minimum lug nut rule) but as a driver you’re either going to have to deal with it or tires are going to fall off, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.” “More so though I am interested to see how it plays out with the fans,” Hamlin continued, “It sounds like they’ve got some really good things to really send right to the fan’s phones in the stands that really don’t know why their driver is coming back down for a penalty.”
Edwards is the new kid on the block so to speak at Joe Gibbs Racing and with recent success of other drivers who have changed rides such as Kenseth and Kevin Harvick, expects to find success with his new group in 2015.
“They’ve had this fourth team planned for a long time and were just waiting to implement it and if anyone can do it, JGR can,” Edwards stated. “Their success opened my eyes just to how well you can do just by making a change and I hope we have the same success but either way I do know that you do get better over time as long as you work out all the bugs as long as you keep moving forward. We will only get better and if it takes year than it takes a year but I don’t think it will take that long and I plan on battling for the championship this year.”
Edwards also addressed the influence Kenseth had in making the switch to Joe Gibbs Racing for 2015.
“Matt (Kenseth) has helped me a lot,” Edwards said, “I would say he has made this whole process a lot easier for me and Matt’s kind of a subtle guy and not just in his wit. He’s steered some things so I am talking to the right people and doing the right things. He’s really been kind of selfless in that respect and I’m grateful for that.”
“Our plan is to win early, “Edwards concluded,” So then we can focus on the Chase. I’ve never been so jealous of another driver as I was when Dale Earnhardt Jr. did that last year. That’s what you want to do and that’s what everybody’s plan is. I think you are going to see some interesting strategies out of drivers and teams when they get one or two guys in there will be a lot of planning for that situation.”