With 208 victories in NASCAR’s premier series and 204 in Xfinity, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is one of the bigger sharks in stock car racing. But how does this 31-year-old juggernaut celebrate its NASCAR wins? The team’s president, David Alpern, has given us the answer and unveiled the scenes that transpire at the JGR race shop after a victory lane visit.
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According to Alpern, every Monday after a winning weekend begins with a ‘banner raising ceremony’ where the winning team thanks the rest of the company for their work. This is then followed by a team lunch on Wednesday to once again thank everyone. Alpern also says that the gestures are so that the people who cannot go to the race track can still celebrate the wins and participate.
Alpern has gone from being an unpaid intern at JGR to becoming the head of the 500+ employee organization. During his time at the team since 1992, he has been a part of its front office and served as the Chief Marketing Officer before being promoted to President in 2016. His strategy of team building is perhaps owing to the strong experience that he has in understanding Joe Gibbs Racing’s character.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s cumulative number of wins across all three top tiers in NASCAR trumps the numbers of any other team, including Hendrick Motorsports. The 208 victories in the Cup Series have come from 11 different drivers. With 56 wins for the team, now-departed Kyle Busch leads the list of drivers who have contributed the most to the team. Second to him is Denny Hamlin, with 51 wins.
Going into 2024, the team will be afresh with new faces like Sheldon Creed and Aric Almirola. If anything, the banner-raising ceremonies and team lunches can only be expected to come by more frequently at the JGR shop.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s preparations for the upcoming NASCAR season
JGR took the early days of the offseason to finalize their crew chiefs and drivers for 2024. While the Cup Series grid is to remain the same with Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs, the Xfinity line-up has undergone some heavy changes. Team owner Joe Gibbs has decided to field four full-time Toyota GR Supras with 2 full-time and 2 part-time drivers.
Part of his plans are Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, and Aric Almirola. A list of other drivers, including William Sawalich and Ryan Truex, will also be splitting driving duties among them.
With the added improvements to the Toyotas in both Cup and Xfinity, JGR will prove to be one of the fastest teams on the 2024 field.
