Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

Bjf AwardDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Nominations open today for The NASCAR Foundation’s Ninth Annual Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, which honors the philanthropic ideals and vision of the late Betty Jane France, who started the foundation in 2006.

The NASCAR Foundation’s Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award is presented annually to a NASCAR fan in recognition of community service that has significantly impacted the health and wellbeing of children. Since its inception, the award has produced $1.4 million in donations to charities represented by each year’s four finalists, impacting the lives of approximately 300,000 children in need.

RELATED: Access the nomination form here

Four individual award finalists and the charitable causes they represent will be announced in November; after a one-month on-line vote, the award winner will be announced during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Awards in December. Each finalist will be guaranteed to receive a minimum $25,000 donation from The NASCAR Foundation, with a $100,000 donation provided to the award winner, as determined by the online vote.

“We are coming off an outstanding year when the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award really connected with our fan base,” said Nichole Krieger, executive director of The NASCAR Foundation. “The connection produced nominees that embodied what our award is all about. They loved their work, but they also loved NASCAR.

“We anticipate a similar turnout this year. We are excited to see the nominations start coming in.”

Nominations will close on Friday, March 22. The nomination form can be accessed online at NASCARfoundation.org/Award; completed forms can be submitted via e-mail or regular mail.

Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

Denny Hamlin has etched his name on the Harley J. Earl trophy for the second time in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career, marking his 32nd race win at NASCAR’s highest level.

The victory also earned Hamlin his fourth triumph in crown-jewel events, scoring a pair of Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 2010 and 2017.

But do those accomplishments make Hamlin a lock for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, or will he need to earn that elusive championship to prove himself worthy of the legendary accolade? NASCAR.com’s Brad Norman and Chase Wilhelm debate.

RELATED: Hamlin: Daytona 500 victory is ‘validating’ | Where does Denny’s win rank?

WILHELM: Yes, Denny Hamlin is hands down a lock for the NASCAR Hall of Fame with his second Daytona 500 victory on Sunday. I’m a firm believer that a driver’s potential place in the Hall of Fame doesn’t ride on whether or not a championship is won (i.e., Mark Martin), rather, there are multiple factors to consider.

Hamlin became only the 12th driver in history to win multiple Daytona 500s. In addition, he has a pair of Southern 500 victories, five Martinsville wins, a win on every type of race track on the circuit, along with 17 Xfinity Series and two Gander Outdoors Truck Series victories. Hamlin has placed 11th or better in the final points standings on 11 occasions in 13 full-time seasons, while also ranking third or better three times at season’s end.

While the 38-year-old has more years behind him than ahead of him, Hamlin still has a decent chance to hoist the big trophy in Miami before it’s all said and done. But with the stats as they stand right now, Hamlin already has a place among other greats of the sport someday.

RELATED: All of Hamlin’s Monster Energy Series victories

NORMAN: The question here isn’t whether or not Denny Hamlin will have built a Hall of Fame resume by the time he retires, at whatever point that comes in the future. The question is whether or not Hamlin, as of this very moment, has done enough to be inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. And he has not.

Let’s not get lost in this post-Daytona 500 bliss here. Hamlin’s NASCAR history would be the envy of most other drivers at the sport’s highest level. His crown jewel wins — four of ’em — absolutely hold weight. But as it stands right now, he simply hasn’t done enough. Not yet.

With 32 wins, Hamlin is tied with Dale Jarrett — yes, a NASCAR Hall of Famer himself — on the all-time wins list. “Wow, he’s so much better than I am,” Hamlin remarked when told of that after his Daytona win. “Those are guys that, I mean, I idolized growing up. I shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as Dale Jarrett.”

What stops Hamlin from being a lock is, yes, the lack of a title. And not just the lack of a Monster Energy Series championship — the lack of a title in any of NASCAR’s three national series. The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran, though, has plenty of time to bolster his case over the next several years. And bolster it, he’ll need to do. Because he’s not quite there yet.

Posted on by Staff Report

Tony Stewart hasn’t forgotten about his confrontation with Joey Logano at Auto Club Speedway in 2013 — or the emotions that went with it.

Stewart shared his candid thoughts with Dale Earnhardt Jr. while the two retired Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers talked on Earnhardt Jr.’s “Dale Jr. Download” released Tuesday.

The incident started when Logano, in Stewart’s view, ran the No. 14 down the race track following a restart with 11 laps to go. Stewart lost a number of spots while trying to clean his tires off after being blocked down on the apron.

RELATED: That time when Stewart told Dale Jr.: ‘Let’s be friends’

“I was so mad at Joey,” Stewart recalled. “Joey had a real big habit at that time of running you all over the race track, and he literally ran me down to the grass where nobody had been all day.”

Stewart made his frustration known after the race, pulling up his No. 14 to Logano’s No. 22 on pit road. Stewart bolted toward Logano, getting a shove in before the fuelman from Danica Patrick’s No. 10 team pulled him away.

“I had Joey hemmed up,” Stewart said. “… I’m like, ‘I got his ass now. I’m gonna dot his I, cross his T. We got this.’

“By that time, a big fuel guy grabs me by the collar and pulls me back like I’m a rag doll.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart weren’t always the fast friends that they are now.

In fact, it took a scuffle for them to realize they should be pals.

The two retired Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers talked on Earnhardt Jr.’s “Dale Jr. Download” released Tuesday, and reminisced about the first time they met — in the now-NASCAR Xfinity Series hauler at Pikes Peak International Raceway on June 14, 1998.

RELATED: Stewart on Logano at Auto Club: ‘I was gonna dot his I and cross his T’

Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart were called there after Stewart “punted (Junior) into Turn 1” following an intense battle on the track.

“There was an altercation and pushing and shoving between me and his crew chief,” Earnhardt Jr. remembered. “Nobody ever really got popped or anything.”

Fast forward one week later when both drivers were in Milwaukee for a then-Busch Grand National Series race. Stewart stopped Dale Jr. in the pits.

“I would never have done this so it probably would have been awkward for a long time if it was up to me,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “But he came up to me … and said, ‘Hey man, we’re going to be racing each other a long time, so let’s be friends. Let’s not run into each other anymore. Let’s not drag this out.’

“He’s like, ‘I’ve got no problem with you. Let’s be cool.’

“And we’ve been cool.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Mike Looney began his storied racing career at Motor Mile Speedway in 1995, when he was just 16 years old. He has more good stories from races at the Radford, Virginia, track than he can remember in one sitting.

There’s his first win at the track – “I can’t remember what year that was” – when his team took a limited sportsman car and moved it up to the late model race.

“I think we sat on the pole and led every lap,” he said. “I beat (former NASCAR Wheelen All-American Series national champion) Philip Morris and I think I won $5,500 that night. That was pretty cool to beat the big boys with an old wore out limited car.”

In 2000, when he was “pretty much a nobody,” in just his second year running a full season he won a track limited sportsman championship with a small team and a home built engine.

“I’ve just kind of made the most of what I can get for most of my career,” he said.

Looney Vl Vertical

Looney, who lives in Catawba, Virginia, less than a hour from Motor Mile, considers that his home track. He had driven at least one race a season there every year since 1999.

That was until last season.

That was when Motor Mile took a year off from racing, so they could “kind of hit a reset button,” according to track general manager Michelle Vaught.

This season, though, Looney and his team with Billy Martin Racing out of Stuart, Virginia, will be back at the newly reopened Motor Mile trying to race for a championship at their home track. As the track re-opens, it will also return to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Vaught said she and the crew at Motor Mile felt like they needed to take the year off in 2018, but in the offseason track officials got together with drivers and fans to have discussions on what could be done to improve the on-track product and make it more accessible for drivers and fans.

“We had many of our drivers who were devastated, along with our fan base who was devastated about it and they came to our management and our ownership and said ‘hey we have some thought, we have some ideas to make it better,’ ” she said. “So we opened up the conversation with all those people, whether it was a driver, a team owner, a sponsor or just a fan and we had sort of an open meeting.”

RELATED: Motor Mile Speedway | 2019 Schedule

Looney was one of the drivers in those meetings. The year away from home was tough for his team. He said they drove in a couple of races at Kingsport Speedway in Tennessee, and the second half of the year at South Boston Speedway in southern Virginia, but the extra travel was tough while working on a tight budget.

“Touring is a huge expense. When you race at other tracks you’ve got to take off work, go down and spend all day Friday and put the whole crew in a hotel Friday night,” Looney said. “But being able to race at home would allow us to get to test more. I’ve got the most experience there. So we’re looking forward to it, getting back to what we know and we’ve been successful at.

“The biggest thing for us is we live here. It’s home. You get to sleep in your own bed.”

Helping small budget teams like Looney’s was one of the changes Vaught said the Speedway looked to make in reopening this year. Going to a two-tire rule instead of four, changing back-gate fees and helping with tickets for drivers’ family and sponsors are a few of the changes.

The response to a return to racing at Motor Mile has been “unbelievable,” Vaught said. Most of the regulars are like Looney – local drivers from within just a couple of hours from the track. The hope is other former Motor Mile regulars will return, and some of NASCAR’s new rules will also bring in younger drivers racing for a national championship.

Motor Mile opens the season April 27, headlined by its Divsioin I Late Model Stock Car. Other NASCAR divisions include Limited Sportsman, Modified 4 Cylinder and Super Street Division. The track will finish the season on Sept. 7.

Motor Mile opened as Pulaski Speedway and was a NASCAR track for one season in 1954. It returned to NASCAR as Pulaski County Speedway in 1988, and was part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series up until last year, through the name change to New River Valley Speedway in 1992 and finally to Motor Mile in 2004.

Having a local track also helps attract local fans.

“Somebody that lives here can say ‘I went to school with him,’” Vaught said. “There’s things like that that will be interesting.”

Unlike last season, when Looney was racing often five or six hours from home with no fans in the stands, he said whenever he gets behind the wheel at Motor Mile there’s usually 30 or 40 friends and family there cheering him on.

Vaught hopes the other drivers have just as big of a cheering section.

“Response has been unbelievable,” she said. “Just that return of racing and the hope that we can fire everybody back up about it and get that excitement… I think it’s going to be a breakout year for us.”

Looney and Martin have been laying the ground work to compete for a track championship at Motor Mile, and while that is the goal, he said knowing that is an option doesn’t change how they approach the season. In the end, he’s just excited to be back home and race for the fun of racing.

“We just try to take it one race at a time,” he said. “You can get caught up in chasing points and wind up spending a lot of money that you didn’t need to spend and get emotionally worked up about it. We don’t measure our success by wins or championships. Me and Billy, it’s about us having a good time. He doesn’t put the pressure on me. If I never won another race I’d still be his driver. We measure success a little differently.”

“Mike Looney is such a great story,” Vaught said. “For us, we are so fortunate to have him. He’s competitive here but he’s competitive at other tracks as well. He and Billy both are just great, hard-working, your normal guys. He doesn’t come in with some million dollar hauler. He works on his car. He is a phenomenal story. And we have so many of them.”

Posted on by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C.  – In their 10th year of partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), McDonald’s announces plans to serve as the primary sponsor for multiple races in 2019 on the No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, driven by Kyle Larson, in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

McDonald’s has not only been a valuable partner to CGR for nearly a decade on the No. 1 Chevy driven by Jamie McMurray, they have also been a supporter of Larson’s for several years. Although the increased presence in 2019 on the No. 42 Chevrolet will be a slightly new look, Larson has sported the Golden Arches on six occasions in his NASCAR career, having raced a McDonald’s entry in each of NASCAR’s three national touring series.

Kyle Larson Mcdonalds Scheme

The partnership with Larson will officially start in Atlanta, with McDonald’s first primary paint scheme of the 2019 season on the No. 42 Chevrolet. The paint scheme will highlight McDonald’s current campaign featuring bacon on several of their Classics: the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, and World Famous Fries. The campaign begs the question, do Classics make bacon better, or does bacon make Classics better?

As the paint scheme on the No. 42 Chevrolet shows, Team Larson is all in for Team Classics!

NOTES OF INTEREST:

• Through the ranks: Larson has competed in a McDonald’s sponsored car in each of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series, including the MENCS (Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, 2018) the NASCAR Xfinity Series (New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio, 2013) and the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series (Martinsville Speedway, 2016). His two MENCS races in 2018 resulted in a runner-up finish at Bristol and a third-place finish in Kansas.

• Would you like dirt with that?: In addition to supporting Larson in the MENCS for the 2019 season, McDonald’s was recently featured on Larson’s entry at the 33rd annual Chili Bowl Nationals, a prestigious dirt midget race held in Tulsa, Okla. Larson won his preliminary night race, and finished second in the feature event driving the McDonald’s No. 01 car.                                                                                 

QUOTEBOARD:

• John Lewicki, Head of Global Alliances, McDonald’s: “McDonald’s has enjoyed a partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing for nearly a decade and we are excited to continue that relationship with The No. 42 team and Kyle Larson in 2019. Like Jamie McMurray previously, Kyle embodies many of the same qualities as a family man and a competitor, that are important to McDonald’s and we look forward to having him as an ambassador to our brand.”

• Chip Ganassi, Owner, Chip Ganassi Racing: “It says a lot about our team, both on and off the track, that we will be celebrating 10 years of partnership with McDonald’s this coming season. McDonald’s has been a great partner over the past nine seasons, and we are looking forward to what this season holds with Kyle as their driver. I am sure there will be plenty of exciting moments throughout the year.”

• Kyle Larson, Driver No. 42 McDonald’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1: “It’s always great to announce a new partner, and it means a lot that one of our team’s long-time partners will join me and the No. 42 team this season. Along with Credit One Bank, and now McDonald’s, I’m pretty lucky to have the opportunity to represent some great brands. I’ve enjoyed racing a few McDonald’s cars over my career, and I’m looking forward to representing them on track this season. In addition to me, there is also one family member in particular who is pretty excited to see McDonald’s join Team Larson. We came close to a couple wins with them last season, so hopefully we can get the Golden Arches back to Victory Lane this year.”

Posted on by Steve Luvender

That can’t be Dale …

A driver in a random iRacing session named Dale Earnhardt Jr.? It can’t be, can it?

No better way to confirm it was Dale Jr. than from the man himself. Plus, his former spotter TJ Majors hanging out in the session might have given it away, too.

Novak wins PEAK iRacing Series opener

Roush Fenway Racing’s Zack Novak claimed the first round of the 2019 eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series in a thrilling side-by-side finish with Jimmy Mullis of Richmond Raceway eSports.

Perhaps Novak, the reigning eNASCAR Ignite Series champion, can teach his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series counterpart Ricky Stenhouse Jr. a thing or two about sim racing.

And, yes, Mike Davis, the competition is real.

 

Final lap from Four-Time’s view

Daytona wasn’t kind to Ray Alfalla in his debut with Wood Brothers Racing. After a single-car crash midway through the race, Alfalla chronicled his ascent to finish 19th on a wild green-checkered finish.


Sunoco joins Richmond Raceway eSports

Even though you don’t need race fuel to make a car move in the virtual world, Sunoco Racing has partnered with Richmond Raceway eSports.

PEAK iRacing Series rookie Malik Ray will sport the Sunoco colors and the No. 90 in honor of Richmond native and former NASCAR team owner Junie Donlavey.


Richmond Raceway eSports drivers visit the Daytona 500

Continuing an eventful week for Richmond Raceway eSports, drivers Jimmy Mullis and Malik Ray visited the Daytona 500, spending some time teaching fans about iRacing.


Valentine’s Ray

The defending and four-time eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series champion sent his best wishes for Valentine’s Day last week.


Leveling the playing field

Sim racing has changed the way up-and-coming drivers can showcase their skills, as evidenced by NASCAR driver and iRacing team owner Parker Kligerman’s interaction with a fan and eSports hopeful.


Heat Pro League Showcase Races continue

Last week, the eNASCAR Heat Pro League continued its Showcase Race series ahead of the series draft in March — this time, racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Xfinity Series cars. Competitors looked to demonstrate their racecraft skills in hopes of catching the eye of a real Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team.

The next Showcase Race takes place Wednesday at Martinsville Speedway in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series-style trucks.


iRacing Paint Schemes of the Week

Erik Le brought Natalie Decker’s unfortunately short-lived truck to life for iRacing.

JR Motorsports graphic designer Jordan Erickson ported the design from Noah Gragson’s No. 9 Xfinity Series Chevrolet to the virtual screen.


iRacing Video of the Week

Check out the highlight reel of the PEAK iRacing Series opening race at Daytona, culminating in an exciting finish.


NASCAR Heat 3 Video of the Week

The second eNASCAR Heat Pro League Showcase Race featured the top eSports racers competing in the Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Catch the recap from 704 Games:

Posted on by Staff Report

Ever wonder just what it feels like to be a part of the “Big One” in the Daytona 500?

Well, so you don’t have to experience it, we have some photos that show just how hard the impact can be at Daytona International Speedway.

RELATED: Wreck pics from every angle

Thanks to eagle-eye Twitter user @malikkoonce77, we can see that Matt Tifft’s No. 36 Ford wrecked so forcefully in the “Big One” that someone’s tail lights were embedded in the front of his car.

Tail lights of Paul Menard's No. 21 are embedded in the front bumper of Matt Tifft's No. 36 after the Daytona 500.
@malikkoonce77 | Twitter

Let that sink in — just like those three horizontal red lights are in Tifft’s car. The lights transferred from one car to another because they collided at such a great force.

Kevin Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers was the one who realized what the photo showed on Twitter.

And Tifft then admitted he brought back a little present from his first Daytona 500.

But it took another Twitter user to discover just whose tail lights those were …

Looks like Tifft will be sending that thank you note to Paul Menard.

See the crash in the video above — and the two cars colliding at about the 1:37 mark.

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin was still grinning Monday morning at Daytona International Speedway, 12 hours after hoisting his second Daytona 500 trophy in Victory Lane. He met with the media, signed special pieces of speedway memorabilia and received the traditional Daytona 500 winner’s leather jacket during the annual champion’s breakfast.

There was a distinctively different vibe from last February, when 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon was sharing stories of his victory tattoo and an all-night party.

Truth be told, Dillon’s rowdy celebration was more similar to Hamlin’s first Daytona 500 win in 2016, but this time around Hamlin has two young daughters, is nursing a cold and feeling all kinds of sentimental having won the sport’s biggest race only weeks after his close friend and Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs passed away.

Instead of burning the midnight oil, Hamlin joined his team owner – J.D.’s father Joe Gibbs – at a nearby Steak ‘n Shake for a more wholesome and fitting nod to his late friend. It’s a team tradition that took on significant meaning this year.

RELATED: Inside JGR’s Steak ‘n Shake tradition in Daytona Beach

“We were running the streets,” Gibbs said jokingly of the celebration.

“Actually, this tradition started with our very first win [Dale Jarrett, 1993], we got lost in Daytona 500 winner’s circle, wound up grabbing the trophy, didn’t know you go to the media center, pulled out on the road from the track and went north and J.D. and (his other son) Coy said, ‘Hey dad, we’re starved,’ so I said ‘Steak ‘n Shake.’

“So we spent 30 minutes in the parking lot with fans and it was awesome. So a tradition started. Last night we did the same. We wound up with our whole group and a bunch of fans too.’’

As for any victory tattoos?

Denny Hamlin's 2019 Daytona 500-winning car now sits in Daytona USA
Torey Fox | NASCAR Digital Media

Again, Gibbs, Hamlin, and his winning crew chief Chris Gabehart laughed out loud.

“I got one,’’ Gibbs joked about the tattoo.

“Not me,’’ said Hamlin, who did however, receive congratulatory calls from NBA legends Michael Jordan on Sunday night and Charles Barkley on Monday morning.

While both Gibbs and Hamlin were able to smile about the celebration and trophies Monday morning, they both remained insistent, however, the best part of the victory was the opportunity to remember and honor J.D. Gibbs, who battled a degenerative neurological disease.

Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota carried J.D.’s name and there was a moment of remembrance during Lap 11 of the Daytona 500.

The outcome – the victory and the happiness it produced – was a fantastic way to remember Gibbs, who was a positive, always-smiling presence in the NASCAR garage for years as a driver and then executive on the JGR team.

Winning was the expectation and Gibbs’ style of leadership certainly seemed to have worked the magic. The smiles, high fives and team celebrations this week are reminders of the J.D. Gibbs’ spirit that elevated the organization for years.

MORE: Denny Hamlin wins 61st annual Daytona 500 | Complete results

“The whole thing was just a special memory for me, and it’s one I’ll never forget, and it was the most important night of my occupational life,’’ Joe Gibbs said Sunday after the victory lane celebration.

It’s not only a sentimental accomplishment for the team, but also a strong signal of Hamlin’s competitiveness to come in 2019. The win assures him a position in the Playoffs this fall.

First though, Hamlin heads out Monday night on the Daytona 500 victory tour. On Tuesday, he will appear on FS1’s “First Things First,” Live! With Kelly and Ryan, Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take,’ and also at the New York Stock Exchange. He will make appearances on both The Weather Channel and CNN in Atlanta later in the week.

“There’s been a lot of one-time winners of big races, but certainly if you win a couple that’s a skill thing and if you put yourself in that position, certainly it’s validating for sure,’’ Hamlin said.

PHOTOS: Best scenes from all-time great Daytona 500

Posted on by Jessica Ruffin

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As cars sat under two red flags during Sunday’s Daytona 500, the No. 11 pit box of Denny Hamlin began accumulating more people in its vicinity. Some folks were smiling, many were nervous – and all had their eyes glued to the on-track action when the cars began rolling again for the final two-lap shootout in overtime with Hamlin in the lead.

When the Joe Gibbs Racing mainstay crossed the start-finish line first to grab the checkered flag, the box erupted with emotion; crew guys jumped off the wall and one sprayed water in the air. Someone shouted, “We did it for J.D.!” There were hugs, high-fives and cheers.

And there were tears, too.

J.D. Gibbs’ widow, Melissa Gibbs, stood at the corner of the pit box, her hands on her face and tears in her eyes, her sons around her celebrating.

“J.D. is on that car,” said team owner Coach Joe Gibbs, amidst embraces and cheers. “Unbelievable.”

This was more than a victory, more than a Daytona 500 win or even breaking Hamlin’s 47-race winless streak — Sunday night went beyond any of that for the Joe Gibbs Racing family.

MORE: Hamlin takes home second Daytona 500 | Full results

That race was for Joe’s son and Joe Gibbs Racing co-founder J.D. Gibbs, who passed away at age 49 from degenerative neurological disease Jan. 11.

“It’s the most emotional and the biggest win I’ve ever had in my life, in anything,” said Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowls with the Washington Redskins before founding Joe Gibbs Racing.

“J.D. built our race team, was the guy that ran day‑to‑day operations for 27 years. He invested his occupational life in our race team. And as a part of that, he went up to purchase some late model stuff from Denny and struck up a relationship with Denny, put him in a test, put him in a truck, put him in an Xfinity car at Darlington, and finally he said, ‘We need to sign this guy.’ … And then to say, J.D.’s favorite number was 11 when he raced. That’s what he had.  Denny’s number is 11. Denny put J.D. over the door post on that car, and to have that take place, everything that took place tonight, everybody knows, we’ve been to Daytona 27 times. We had won twice before. …

“It was just an unbelievable night, unbelievable crowd.”

For Joe Gibbs Racing to take home the Harley J. Earl trophy mere weeks after J.D.’s passing was special. But it was even more meaningful that the victory came from Hamlin, who has long spoke of his close relationship with J.D.

“He meant a lot to me and it’s hard for me not getting choked up because I’ve been choked up about 100 times about it,” Hamlin said. “Just to have Melissa and all the kids here, it’s just crazy. Joe and his whole family and what they’ve done for my career – to bring them back to Victory Lane again is just amazing. …

“The whole family – they did so much for me over the course of my career. This one is for J.D. We are desperately going to miss him the rest of our lives.

“His legacy still lives on through Joe Gibbs Racing and (I’m) proud to do this for them.”

The signs of J.D. were everywhere Sunday; his oldest son, Miller, wore the same Interstate Batteries race shirt that his father wore when he won the Daytona 500 as a tire changer in 1993. Each race car in the field carried a J.D. Gibbs decal on the driver’s side and Hamlin’s winning car bore an additional sticker on the B-post for J.D. Gibbs Legacy, the foundation established in J.D.’s honor that supports Young Life Ministry.

J.D. was also honored at Lap 11 – his favorite number – with a tribute in Sunday’s Daytona 500. During the lap, Joe Gibbs Racing pit crews stood on pit wall, holding a J.D. banner bearing countless signatures.

And when the checkered flag waved at race’s end, the scoreboard showed that Joe Gibbs Racing – in perfect, storybook fashion – had swept the top three spots as Kyle Busch finished second and Erik Jones rallied for third.

“Any time you can run 1-2 or 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, whatever it is, it’s a good sign for your company and for your team,” Jones said. “For me, I knew J.D. very early in my career at JGR, when I first got into Xfinity part time in 2014. I didn’t get to spend much with him, but great guy. My father was a big fan of J.D. and what he was doing at Joe Gibbs Racing, and I think you’re hard‑pressed to find anybody who would have a bad thing to say about J.D.”

Indeed, J.D.’s impact went beyond the walls of Joe Gibbs Racing; it was evident Sunday that he had touched many more in the garage during his lifetime. That included fourth-place finisher Joey Logano, who had been chasing JGR’s Hamlin and Busch for the victory in the waning laps of the “Great American Race.”

“I’m not a Gibbs driver, but what J.D. has done for my career is the reason why I’m sitting here today,” Logano said. “As bad as I want to win it, it is pretty cool to think that the first race after his passing, to see those guys 1-2-3, it just says he’s up there watching and maybe gave you guys a little extra boost there at the end.”

Some could say Hamlin won solely because of his restrictor plate prowess or Joe Gibbs Racing’s power under the hood. Others may claim it was due to Lady Luck bestowing favor upon Hamlin at the most tumultuous of race tracks.

But Joe Gibbs would likely disagree with most of that. This win was too special for coincidence.

“I guess everybody could say, ‘Well, that just happened.’ I don’t believe that just happened,” he said. “I honestly believe it was ‑‑ I think the Lord looked down on us, and I know J.D. and everybody in my family was emotional. …

“The whole thing was just a special memory for me, and it’s one I’ll never forget, and it was the most important night of my occupational life.”