Team dynamics within Joe Gibbs Racing key factor at Talladega

Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t yet laid out its approach to Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway, but in all likelihood that game plan bears resemblance to how the team competed the last time NASCAR contested a restrictor-plate track.

In the season-opening Daytona 500, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, along with quasi-teammate Martin Truex Jr., acted as virtual wingmen for one another, drafting almost exclusively amongst themselves. A strategy so effective the quintet had a stranglehold on the top positions over the closing laps, with Hamlin ultimately passing Matt Kenseth in the final corner and edging by Truex in the closest finish in race history.

It seems a given then, even with Talladega’s unpredictable nature where circumstances are continually fluctuating, that JGR and Truex’s Furniture Row Racing team would align its Toyotas to again function as one collective unit.

“Man, I haven’t thought about that,” Edwards said. “But I can tell you this: Toyota teams, led by Denny, worked well together. It was something like I’ve never been a part of. I don’t know if that same type of thing will work at Talladega, but it’d be hard not to try. We’ve got a really good group that understands what teamwork is.”

Edwards preaching the virtues of team unity carries a bit irony following the events of a week ago at Richmond International Raceway. That was when Edwards, trailing race-leader Busch on the final lap, nudged Busch up the track to snatch away the victory.

Afterward, Busch’s body language and avoidance in answering any questions relating to Edwards’ bump-and-run strongly suggested he took issue with his teammate’s actions.

“It’s racing, I guess,” Busch said.

As part of a mea culpa, Edwards pledged to take his cat to Banfield Pet Hospital (Busch’s sponsor) should the need arise and repeatedly mentioned how Richmond unfolded was rather inconsequential in the grand scheme, since Busch was assured of a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs on the strength of owinng two wins this season.

With Edwards taking part in a Goodyear tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he missed JGR’s weekly competition meeting and, as of Wednesday, had yet to speak with Busch, according to USA Today. That there would be any lingering ramifications is highly doubtful, however, with all involved likely chalking it up to typical short track racing.

“We’re going to Talladega this week and we’re going to work together as a team just like we did at Daytona, and I hope I have to battle my teammates for the win,” Edwards told USA Today.

Nonetheless, the byplay between Edwards and Busch adds a layer of intrigue entering an event where teamwork is often paramount and drivers can be asked to sacrifice their own prosperity for the greater good of someone within the same organization.

And with JGR having won four consecutive races, five of nine on the year, odds favor the organization factoring prominently in the outcome Sunday.

“There are some great drivers that I’m teammates with and I learn a lot from and tracks that I’m pretty good at that they learn from and vice versa,” Hamlin said. “We’re all learning from each other every single week and it’s just raising everyone’s game quite a bit. I think everything is kind of clicking really well.”