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NASCAR Review: Joe Gibbs Racing Suffers Consecutive Engine Failures Amidst Dismal Sonoma Showing

Rahul Ahluwalia
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Nov 4, 2022; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Cup Series team owner Joe Gibbs during qualifying for the NASCAR championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The 16th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season was one event Joe Gibbs Racing as an organization would like to forget. Only one out of its four cars managed to finish during the 110-lap-long event on Sunday. The first JGR domino that fell was Denny Hamlin as the #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver’s engine gave way during the early part of the race. This marked a second consecutive weekend with engine troubles for JGR as Christopher Bell suffered from a loss of power last Sunday at Gateway.

Despite being spun out during an early restart, Martin Truex Jr. was on course for a top 5 finish at Sonoma Raceway when his #19 Toyota Camry XSE ran out of fuel 100 meters short of the start-finish line. The winningest active driver at Sonoma Raceway crawled to a P27 finish as a result.

 

The #54 Toyota driven by Ty Gibbs looked like a solid top 10 finisher before the young driver managed to clip turn 11’s inside wall which had just been installed at the venue. As a result of the damage sustained by the contact, Gibbs was seen crashing into turn 12 of the track, ending the 21-year-old driver’s race.

Where did Christopher Bell finish during Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR race day troubles?

The sole entrant from Joe Gibbs Racing’s team to have finished without major issues during the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway was Christopher Bell. The #20 Toyota driver came home in P9 on a day when Coach Gibbs’ racing outfit could not catch a lucky break whatsoever.

It remains to be seen how well the racing outfit can bounce back with 10 races to go in the 2024 regular season. Drivers and teams will now begin to amp up their aggression levels on and off the track as the postseason inches closer. Drivers such as Kyle Busch will start to scramble for results going forward in a bid to get a playoff berth.

NASCAR returns to Iowa Speedway next weekend for the Iowa Corn 350 Powered By Ethanol. The race is expected to go live on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at 7:00 pm ET.

About the author

Rahul Ahluwalia

Rahul Ahluwalia

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Rahul Ahluwalia is a NASCAR Content Strategist and Journalist at The SportsRush. Hailing from a Journalism and Mass Communication background, Rahul's love for automobiles transformed into his passion for all things racing. With over 1200+ articles under his belt covering a mixture of NASCAR and F1, he has realized his calling in the world of motorsports with actual first hand experience behind the wheel to back it up. He has competed in several autocross events as well as rallycross-style competitions to hone his skills behind the wheel and better understand the mindset of a racecar driver, allowing him to further improve his writing as well. He also has an editorial background with respect to racing and has eye for stories which otherwise go unnoticed. Rahul is also an avid sim racer indulging in various disciplines such as rallying and oval racing during his free time. Having begun his motorsports journey at the start of 2020, he turned his passion into his work allowing him to delve deeper into the ever evolving and world of cars and motorsports. Apart from racing, Rahul also has sound technical knowledge of the automotive industry and automobiles in general. Having grown up playing video games such as Need for Speed, Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo, it is easy to see where the love for racing and machines inculcated in the first place.

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