Joe Gibbs Racing’s most memorable 1-2 finishes

Much like he did in his professional football career, Coach Joe Gibbs has built a powerhouse organization that's among NASCAR's elite, carving out a place for himself in the Halls of Fame of both sports. As the company has grown, so has its tendency to occupy the top reaches of the scoring pylon. Joe Gibbs Racing has posted 1-2 finishes 36 times in the NASCAR Cup Series. View some of the most memorable 1-2 finishes for the team. 

Track, date: Richmond Raceway, Sept. 11, 1999
Race name: Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400
Winner: Tony Stewart
Runner-up: Bobby Labonte
Significance: This race marked the first of 49 premier-series victories for Tony Stewart, coming in his 25th start. It also represented the first 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing, which expanded to a two-car operation that season.
Non-JGR particulars: Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home 10th, notching his first top-10 finish in the Cup Series. ... Dale Jarrett, JGR's first driver, was third in a Robert Yates Racing Ford.

Track, date: Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 9, 2008
Race name: Kobalt Tools 500
Winner: Kyle Busch
Runner-up: Tony Stewart
Significance: Busch led 173 of 325 laps to register a pair of firsts, including Toyota's breakthrough Cup Series triumph. He also gathered his first victory with Joe Gibbs Racing in just his fourth start with the organization, and joined Stewart in giving the automaker its first 1-2 finish.
Non-JGR particulars: Carl Edwards was vying for his third straight Cup Series victory. He led 33 laps before mechanical failure dropped him to 42nd in the rundown. ... Brian Vickers drove to a ninth-place finish, the best to that point for Red Bull Racing. ... Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. started 1-2 in an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row.

Track, date: Martinsville Speedway, March 29, 2010
Race name: Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500
Winner: Denny Hamlin
Runner-up: Joey Logano
Significance: Hamlin gave up the lead on a late pit-stop gamble, then made up the lost ground and sidestepped a Jeff Gordon-Matt Kenseth fracas in overtime for his third Martinsville victory. The triumph kicked off a hot streak of five wins in 10 races and set the tone for one of the strongest seasons in Hamlin's career.
Non-JGR particulars: Jimmie Johnson finished ninth, snapping a nine-race streak of top-five finishes at Martinsville. ... Martin Truex Jr. took fifth, posting the first top-five finish of his Michael Waltrip Racing tenure (2010-13).

Track, date: Darlington Raceway, May 11, 2013
Race name: Bojangles' Southern 500
Winner: Matt Kenseth
Runner-up: Denny Hamlin
Significance: Kenseth's only Southern 500 victory came with a substitute crew chief -- Wally Brown in place of the suspended Jason Ratcliff -- who delivered his 27th Cup Series win. Hamlin took second place in his first full race since suffering a broken back in a crash at Auto Club Speedway seven weeks earlier. And Kyle Busch nearly figured into the JGR 1-2 mix, but after leading 265 of 367 laps, he faded to sixth after a late tangle with Kasey Kahne. Joe Gibbs Racing also went 1-2-3 in the previous day's Xfinity Series event, with Kyle Busch leading teammates Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers across the line.
Non-JGR particulars: Jeff Gordon led 16 laps and finished third in his 700th Cup Series start. ... The 2013 running of the 500-miler marked Darlington's last event on Mother's Day weekend. The race was held in April in 2014 before returning to its traditional Labor Day slot the next season.

Track, date: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 17, 2013
Race name: Ford EcoBoost 400
Winner: Denny Hamlin
Runner-up: Matt Kenseth
Significance: Hamlin helped take some of the edge off a frustrating year by winning the finale, running his streak to eight consecutive seasons with at least one victory. The win was overshadowed by Jimmie Johnson's run to his sixth series championship, but the triumph helped offset Hamlin's heartache of missing the playoffs for the first time in his career.
Non-JGR particulars: The 2013 season is the most recent time that the eventual series champion did not win the final race. The Championship 4 format came to be in 2014, and the title winner has won the finale as a clincher for six years straight. ... Martin Truex Jr. closed out his Michael Waltrip Racing tenure with a fourth-place finish, just ahead of then-teammate Clint Bowyer in fifth.

Track, date: Richmond Raceway, April 24, 2016
Race name: Toyota Owners 400
Winner: Carl Edwards
Runner-up: Kyle Busch
Significance: Edwards tracked down and gave teammate Busch a textbook bump-and-run move on the final lap then scooted to the checkered flag for his second straight Cup Series victory. "It's racing, I guess," Busch lamented, as Gibbs experienced the highs and lows of a testy 1-2 finish.
Non-JGR particulars: Tony Stewart finished 19th in his first start of the season. He had missed the first eight races after suffering a broken back in an offseason sand buggy crash. ... The event was the Richmond track's first scheduled start in daytime since 1997.

Track, date: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, July 24, 2016
Race name: Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400
Winner: Kyle Busch
Runner-up: Matt Kenseth
Significance: Busch dominated by leading 149 of 170 laps from the pole position for his second consecutive Brickyard victory and JGR's fifth since 2000. Kenseth took second with Jimmie Johnson third and Denny Hamlin fourth, placing three Gibbs entries among the top four.
Non-JGR particulars: Tony Stewart finished 11th in his final Indy start, just ahead of 13th-place Jeff Gordon, who broke out of retirement to sub for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. After the finish, the two made a ceremonial parade lap and embraced.

Track, date: Daytona International Speedway, Feb. 17, 2019
Race name: Daytona 500
Winner: Denny Hamlin
Runner-up: Kyle Busch
Significance: Hamlin's second win in The Great American Race added another piece to his legacy while denying his teammate one of his best shots at a 500 crown. Behind the lead two, Erik Jones slipped in for third place to hand JGR its first 1-2-3 sweep.
Non-JGR particulars: Ross Chastain claimed 10th place for his first top-10 result in the Cup Series. ... The race marked the last Cup Series start for Jamie McMurray and the first for Tyler Reddick.

Track, date: Richmond Raceway, Sept. 21, 2019
Race name: Federated Auto Parts 400
Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Runner-up: Kyle Busch
Significance: Truex shrugged off his short-track doldrums in a big way in 2019, capping a season sweep of Richmond's two races. Truex had gone 0-for-80 on short tracks for his career before his April win there; his September triumph on the .75-mile track gave him two straight wins to open the postseason. Busch's runner-up finish and Denny Hamlin's claim to third place gave JGR another 1-2-3 effort.
Non-JGR particulars: Pole-starter Brad Keselowski led 89 laps and settled for fourth place. ... Ryan Newman gave his underdog playoff hopes a boost with an inspired drive to fifth in Roush Fenway Racing's No. 6 Ford.

Track, date: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Nov. 17, 2019
Race name: Ford EcoBoost 400
Winner: Kyle Busch
Runner-up: Martin Truex Jr.
Significance: Busch outran the rest of the Championship 4 to claim his second Cup Series title, moving him to ninth on NASCAR's all-time win list. The triumph also gave JGR a single-season record with 19 victories. Truex was followed to the finish line by Erik Jones in yet another 1-2-3 finish for the organization.
Non-JGR particulars: Kevin Harvick finished fourth in the race and third in the championship fight. The Stewart-Haas Racing veteran was the only non-Gibbs driver among the title-eligible quartet. ... Daniel Hemric finished 12th and was named the series' Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

Track, date: Phoenix Raceway, March 9, 2025
Race name: Shriners Children's 500
Winner: Christopher Bell
Runner-up: Denny Hamlin
Significance: Side-by-side action to close out the spring bout in the desert yielded a thrilling Cup Series finish, with Christopher Bell maneuvering past Denny Hamlin on the final lap to clinch the Phoenix Raceway victory. The triumph was Bell's third consecutive Cup Series win. 
Non-JGR particulars: Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe weren't as fortunate in terms of finishing inside the top 10 as their JGR teammates. Gibbs finished the race in 25th, while Briscoe finished 10 places worse (35th).