The team put up a video to solve a question that a fan posed about the procedure a driver follows in the event of a blown tire which narrated, “Small punctures can cause heavy damages. A lot of times it can destroy the wheel.” It continued to explain that wheels are typically reused unless they are bent out of use by the tire. “When you blow a tire you’re going for a spin. Hopefully, you come to pit road with no damage that can’t be fixed.”

If the car’s spin causes it to be damaged beyond immediate repair, its day is deemed over. Tire temperatures and pressures are crucial aspects of keeping the tires in a healthy condition. The tire temperatures can extend up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and excessive heat can lead to blowups. Paradoxically, the high heat is required for the cars to maintain traction and balance at high speeds making it a tricky game of balance for crews.

The financial setback caused by blown tires in NASCAR

Each tire used on a stock car in the Cup Series can cost up to $600. Teams rent the tires from Goodyear, NASCAR’s official partner for racing and testing. A full set of tires can thus cost around the $2,400 mark depending on the track type. The average number of pit stops in a race ranges between 3 and 5. This means a team can be set back by around $10,000 in every race.

Matt Faulkner from Joe Gibbs Racing says of the life of tires, “These loads will cause the pressure in the tire to increase by 20 or 25 PSI and the temperatures will increase to the mid or high 200 degree range. This makes the life of the tire on a NASCAR car extremely short.” Compared to the regular street car on which tires can last for years, those on a stock car can go for about 20 minutes.

Despite the high number of tires that each race consumes none of the source material goes to waste. Once they’re worn out of use, the tires are sent back to Goodyear’s facilities where they’re recycled for other purposes.

The post NASCAR Tire: What Happens if a Driver Blows a Tire During a Race? appeared first on The SportsRush.

In a recent conversation with WTVR’s Lane Casadonte, he revealed that his 2023 schedule barely allowed him the liberty of not punching in to work once a week. But going ahead he wants to be free of responsibility more frequently. “I’m going to try and shift a little bit more time for myself,” he said.

Noting the reasons for his time stress last year, he emphasized that he should stop micromanaging his folks at 23XI Racing. He continued, “I certainly want to peel back a bit more time for myself because I think what I did last year is going to be really, really hard to maintain in the long run. I think there’s a balance there.”

What Hamlin would exactly do with the added free time, he hasn’t decided yet. Regardless of whether he spends it with his family or friends, he certainly is looking to carry some weight off his back.

What keeps Denny Hamlin on the race track despite his age?

Hamlin has enough motivation and drive to continue his roles as a team owner and a driver well beyond 2024. In the first end, he is shouldered by the sporting icon Michael Jordan and his will to transform 23XI Racing into a championship-contending outfit. On the other end is Hamlin’s yet-to-accomplish goal in the Cup Series.

For 18 years he has tried to capture the championship title and failed. But that’s not the bullseye that he is aiming for at 43. For him, 60 wins in the top tier is a more attractive prize. He said to Casadonte, “My personal goal is to get to 60 wins. If I can get to 61 then I could be ahead of Harvick which puts you in the top 10 of all time.”

He continued, “We can talk about championships but there have been champions with 12 wins total, right? And so I just would rather get in the upper echelon of race winners.” With this goal being fired by his undying skill behind the wheel, Hamlin’s age might not get to him as quickly as a section of fans believes.

The post Driving for JGR vs Ownership at 23XI Racing: Why Denny Hamlin Feels He Needs to Take a Decision appeared first on The SportsRush.

It must be a lot. Surely, the entire season consists of 38 races, which range from 37 miles to 600 miles in distance. For a bigshot team like Joe Gibbs Racing, this adds up to over 13,000 miles per season for one car. In a Joe Gibbs Racing video, the team revealed, “We have four cars in each race. This adds up to 52,000 miles per season. There’s many variables to fuel mileage but we assume five miles per gallon. That’s 10,400 gallons of fuel. This doesn’t include fuel used in practice or qualifying.”

Now, let’s look at how expensive the green E15 actually is. According to reports, the basic fuel price in America is somewhere between $3.6 to $3.10 per gallon. Whereas, the fuel that the NASCAR teams obtain from the Sonoco stations at the track costs about 16 to 17 dollars per gallon, which is almost 6 times the usual price of fuel in the States. But here’s where things get even wilder.

As a conclusion to the video, the team admitted, “Fortunately, we get our fuel for free. So we actually spend zero dollars a year on race fuel.” Thanks to NASCAR, the teams are waived an extra burden of about $175,000 per year just for the main events.

Here’s how NASCAR is different from F1 in terms of fuel allowance per race

To level up the field for all the cars, Formula 1 has set a limit to the amount of fuel that the cars can use per race. Since 2019, that limit is 110 kilograms of fuel per race and they aren’t allowed to refuel mid race. However, team’s don’t often fill that much fuel in the cars. After all, the more fuel in the cars, the worse its performance during the early stages of the race. Instead they opt for other fuel saving measures during the race such as the lift-and-coast tactic or strategic fuel modes.

This is where NASCAR differs. The teams are allowed to fill as much fuel as they want in their cars before the race starts. Additionally, they can also refuel their cars during pit stops. The fuel tanks of the next-gen stock car hold roughly 18 US gallons of fuel.

But again, the NASCAR teams too, attempt to put in just the correct amount of fuel needed to run the laps before coming back to the pit lane for a refuel, so that the teams don’t lose lap time. With so much control given to the teams to refuel their cars whenever they need to, there isn’t really a way to determine the total fuel usage of a NASCAR car in a race.

The post How Much Does a NASCAR Team Spend on Fuel in a Season? appeared first on The SportsRush.

Alpern explained that, unlike other sports, the regular season that NASCAR has is nine months long. Hence, the employees at Joe Gibbs Racing do not get a lot of time away from work, which is true even during the offseason. “Unlike some places that may have huge lag times there’s always work to be done and during the short offseason that we have, most everybody is preparing for the next season,” he added.

Nevertheless, he did mention that there are a handful of part-time positions in Coach Gibbs’ garage, but none of them are seasonal. He stated, “Most of our folks are full-time and not seasonal.”

Joe Gibbs Racing releases summer internship opportunities for 2024

Even though JGR doesn’t have seasonal jobs, they do offer internships to the candidates who are interested in working with them. The team recently launched its 2024 summer internship program that will accommodate interested individuals from the beginning of June till mid-August. Meant only for college or university students, these internships will also fetch them credits through their respective institutions.

Although most of the training sessions will be conducted at the Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters in Huntersville, NC, certain positions will need the interns to travel to NASCAR racing events. A huge plus for young motorsport enthusiasts indeed!

The internships that JGR is currently offering are in the fields of social/digital media, aerodynamics engineering, human performance, vehicle production & vehicle metrology, licensing/retail, and sponsorship sales department. In order to apply, resumes need to be sent to careers@joegibbsracing.com with the subject being the title of the internship that one seeks.

The post Do NASCAR Teams Like Joe Gibbs Racing Have Seasonal/Part-Time Employees? appeared first on The SportsRush.

In a recent Joe Gibbs Racing video, the fans got a glimpse at what these drivers do in a week. One might assume that the hauler drivers get to just relax and watch the races, but this video busted completely the myth. From cooking to cleaning, they have everything on their plate.

On a Tuesday, the drivers head to the track and park in the infield with the swap-out haulers. The video said, “Our swap-out hauler is loaded with four fresh race cars. It has extra parts and even spare engines. It’ll hit the road and drive all the way out to Las Vegas. There, it’ll meet our other four haulers.”

“The used cars are loaded in the swap-out hauler and the four new cars are loaded into the team haulers. The swap-out hauler heads on home meanwhile, the hauler drivers are getting everything ready for the next race.”

Till the next race weekend, which is Friday, they are responsible for getting gas cans filled, doing all the grocery shopping, checking the radios, ensuring that the firesuits are fresh, and even cooking for the team.

Veteran Stewart-Haas Racing hauler driver spilled the most ironic aspect of his profession

It’s funny how the hauler drivers do so much for the team and yet, most of the time, they don’t even get to watch the race. Bill “Stump” Lewis, the then-hauler driver for ex-NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer’s #14 car, said, “Sometimes I don’t even know who won the race.” However, that didn’t seem to matter to Lewis, who has always loved doing his job.

But why is this job of such grave importance? The answer is simple. Each hauler holds equipment worth $1.5 million. Take the cars and everything else in the haulers, and one might be looking at an entire fortune that could feed multiple families for several years.

Moreover, the drivers always need to be on time. They’re typically the first to arrive at a racetrack and the last to leave. Needless to say, the entire race depends on these drivers in the sense that, if by chance these gigantic haulers get stuck in the traffic, the race for that team is ruined. After all, NASCAR wouldn’t postpone or cancel a race just because a team’s hauler hasn’t arrived on time.

The post What Is the Job of a NASCAR Hauler? appeared first on The SportsRush.

Gibbs mentioned, “I grew up born here in North Carolina and spent my first 15 years here I had nothing to do with cars. It was all football, basketball and baseball. Loved it I went from one to the other playing them. But I moved to California when I was 16 and everybody in the southern California late 50s and early 60s it was hot rods and drag racing.” 

“And man I had every kind of hot rod you can think of, none of them expensive obviously. I think the most I ever paid for one was 800 bucks… But I was into hot rods and that was the culture. Then I got into drag racing… So thats where I fell into the fact that I love cars, I loved working on em.”

He then explained how both of his children became obsessed with motor racing. It was only after his elder son graduated college that asked Gibbs if they could do something as a family to get into racing. Gibbs said that they had nothing, adding, “Put a dream on a sheet of paper we had nothing. We had no cars no drivers nothing. Wound up on Norm Miller’s doorstep at Interstate batteries and he said let’s do this and it 30 years later.”

Before moving into NASCAR Joe Gibbs had found success as an NFL Coach

There is a reason why people fondly call the JGR bossman Coach Gibbs. That is because before he founded his five-time Cup Series title-winning race team, Gibbs used to be the head coach of the Washington Redskins.

Throughout his two stints in that position between, 1981-1992 and 2004-2007, Gibbs managed to get the team into nine playoff appearances, three Super Bowl championship wins, and four NFC championship title victories. Additionally, he also won NFL Coach of the Year twice in a row for the 1982 and 1983 seasons.

It was only after all of that, did Coach Gibbs decide to take the risk and make the jump to NASCAR as a team owner. Now fast forward to three decades since, he has managed to bring the same winning spirit and continues to push his winning team towards achieving more and more championships with future seasons.

The post How Did Joe Gibbs Get Into Racing? Early Interest in Racing and Eventual Start appeared first on The SportsRush.

Whenever Toyota does a national ad to promote its brand, it naturally uses one of the cars that it sponsors. Joe Gibbs Racing President Dave Alpern stated that whenever that happens, the other brands that are on the car’s body get a free commercial ride.

“So whether it’s Bass Pro Shops or Stanley, or maybe it’s FedEx or Monster,” said Alpern, “when Toyota does a commercial and includes those race cars, those brands get a free ride with their partner Toyota.”

The same happens when a particular sponsor signs up for an advertisement with its driver. “It happens when Coca-Cola might do an ad with Denny Hamlin, the brands that are on Denny’s uniform get a free ride as a part of that,” Alpern explained.

Needless to say, sponsorships are a must in the competitive arena of NASCAR. A team might own several charters and yet run out of business if it fails to acquire sponsorships from reliable companies. But why are they so crucial for a NASCAR team?

This is why NASCAR teams are so reliant on sponsorships

In an interview, Alpern stated that while having sponsorships is a good-to-have in other sports, in NASCAR, it is a must-have. Running a car full-time in NASCAR requires millions. Clearly, the team owner alone cannot bear that expense.

On that note, Alpern admitted that to compete and win races, they have to have corporate sponsorships. Moreover, a lion-share of the team’s revenues comes from these sponsorships.

Additionally, the brand that sponsors a driver ultimately becomes the identity of the team as a whole. Whenever one Googles Denny Hamlin, they see a picture of the veteran racer in a FedEx suit. Whenever one searches for Martin Truex Jr on the internet, they see a picture of the 2017 Cup champion in a Bass Pro Shops firesuit.

Lastly, funding a NASCAR team benefits the companies as well. Alpern stated that NASCAR has the second-largest number of audience (the first being the NFL). Hence, the companies have a very long season throughout the year to promote their brand through every race and TV commercials.

The post Joe Gibbs Racing Reveals Massive Benefit for Sponsors of NASCAR Teams appeared first on The SportsRush.

The social media team of Joe Gibbs Racing has given us the answer. Through a recent post, the team detailed the chain through which every car of theirs goes through after a wreck suffered during a high-octane race.

According to the video, the cars that can’t make it to the finish line are the first ones that get looked at. Their body panels are removed and sorted based on their reusability capacities. The panels that can’t be used again are worked on and sold at the JGR gift shop or online.

The chassis undergoes thorough checks too to evaluate any potential damages. It is also mentioned that the engine is reused but only after they are shipped to the Toyota R&D center for servicing.

It is certainly interesting to see that racing, despite being known for its extravagance in hurting the environment, is completely stringent when it comes to discarding things as rubbish. Apart from being good for the planet this character also makes sense from a business perspective considering the cost that it takes to make these cars.

Reasons for the love for recycling in NASCAR

Reusing car parts is a common method of approach that every team in NASCAR employs. Chad Knaus, the Vice President of Competition at Hendrick Motorsports, said a few years ago, “We don’t get rid of a lot of cars. A car has to be pretty bad if we say it’s a ‘do not resuscitate.’ We send everything out to be recycled. You won’t find anything in the garbage can.”

Teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have their damaged cars sold to teams in the lower tiers or worn them down for recycling the parts. A common sight is teams very willing to combine the undamaged halves of two cars to make one working vehicle.

Moves like these not only help on the financial front but also prevent patented technology from being available in the wrong or competitor hands. Thanks to recycling, the race cars never die.

The post What Happens to a NASCAR Car After the Race? appeared first on The SportsRush.

Recently, Joe Gibbs Racing posted a video explaining what they end up doing in a scenario like this. The narration explains that there are three different options if say the car is so mangled that it doesn’t even fit in the hauler.

He says, “The first is NASCAR takes the car back to the R&D center to evaluate the damage. This could happen when the damage is really bad. In this scenario, we don’t even have to worry about getting the car into the hauler.”

“Scenario two, we get to cutting, parts are sawed off to help the car fit. Option three is when the race is close enough to the shop we can use one of our flatbed trucks.”

What is the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned place where NASCAR cars go to die?

Former NASCAR Cup Series driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. owns a property called Dirty Mo Acres in rural North Carolina, which is often known as a NASCAR graveyard. The reason behind its haunting name is because of the amount of former wrecked NASCAR race cars that are strewn across the land.

Several notable cars have claimed this as their final resting place and Junior has even built a website where all of these cars and their history are listed for the public to see.

Some of the noteworthy rides at this property belong to the likes of Mark Martin, AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Gordon, Danica Patrick, and several more. Each wrecked car has a lot of history and interesting stories attached to it and now they have a resting place amongst the woods to spend the rest of its time.

The post What Do NASCAR Teams Do With Cars Damaged Beyond Repair? appeared first on The SportsRush.

Well, according to a recent social media video shared by Joe Gibbs Racing, that isn’t the case.

“Not all the drivers at JGR wear the same brand of fire suit. Each get a say in which is more comfortable to them and then its made with their exact measurements and preferences,” the video claimed.

“PR and branding take care of the communications so that the fire suit company knows what needs to be on the fire suit and then it gets sent off to the driver and the sponsor for approval.”

It’s good to see that the drivers get to choose which brand they prefer to wear and take care of their safety and that it is not the teams deciding on this matter by themselves.

The insane demonstration tactic by the man behind NASCAR’s fire suit

The man behind the fire suits used in the NASCAR Cup Series, Bill Simpson, once decided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product in a pretty extreme fashion. Simpson set himself ablaze while wearing his Nomex suit in a bid to demonstrate the efficacy of wearing one of these during the races, where being engulfed in fire is a constant threat.

The material used in the fire suits is called Nomex, a type of fabric that is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material. It was originally developed by DuPont back in the early 1960s.

Bill Simpson proved the effectiveness of his firesuit by lighting himself on fire. That’s Chip Ganassi lighting the match (1986) pic.twitter.com/neRLR0mxwg

— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) December 22, 2023

The clip from 1986 shows Simpson seated while being poured over with Gasoline. Thereafter Chip Ganassi shows up and lights the match, which ignites the flames.

Simpson just casually sits there until he is ultimately extinguished without harm, delivering his point in a pretty spectacular way.

The post How Do NASCAR Drivers Select Their Firesuits? appeared first on The SportsRush.