By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In What will be the 28th Daytona 500 appearance by Joe Gibbs Racing on Sunday, many are shocked when they see only two of those ended in the win column.
Winning first in 1993 with Dale Jarrett, it took another 23 years until Denny Hamlin broke the drought for JGR, winning in 2016. With little Victory Lane experience for such a successful powerhouse at Daytona International Speedway, team owner Gibbs is itching to get another win in the Great American Race on Sunday.
“A blind hog finds an acorn every now and then, come on, give me one,” Gibbs joked Friday at Daytona. “We’ve won twice in 27 tries so it’s extremely hard. So much can happen.”
With drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and newbie Martin Truex Jr., Gibbs knows he has enough cars to make it work, but needs it to last until the end.
“We’ve come off [Turn] 4 I don’t know how many times leading, and we haven’t won the race,” he said. “So everybody is excited about it. Everybody realizes that that can happen at the Daytona 500. It’s a thrill to win it for sure, but it’s extremely hard to win.”
More than just a third Daytona 500 win in 28 years, a victory Sunday would stand as arguably the most special for Gibbs, who lost his son J.D. in January following a battle with a degenerative neurological disease. The team is dedicating the weekend to J.D. and his legacy, which would make victory an emotional experience.
“I’ve got to tell you, it’s been a time for our family,” he said. “To see everybody who has stepped up to help us, everybody, Toyota, our friends, there’s been so many people that walk up to me and say, ‘J.D. did the following.’
“There’s so many small stories. J.D., I honestly believe, not just because he’s my son, I think J.D. was living a godly life and was touching so many people, and it’s come back over and over again.”
The Toyota Camrys will carry decals to remember J.D. Additionally, the speedway will honor J.D. on the 11th lap of Sunday’s race.
“J.D. lives on,” he said. “He lives on in us, those four boys, his family, and all those that he’s touched. I don’t want to let J.D. down, and I just really appreciate how many people here prayed. This is a close-knit family in a lot of ways, and so many people have stepped up to help us. I can’t thank you enough.”
“It would mean the world to us [to win]. I think just in a way to highlight J.D.’s life and the fact that J.D. really is living on with so many things, just like this website that we’re talking about, JDGibbslegacy.com. I just think it would obviously be exciting for us.”