Joe Gibbs Racing - A Tale of Two Teams?
Is there a divide building at JGR between the "haves" (11 and 20) and the "have nots" (19 and 54)? The 11 and 20 seem to be living up to the expectations we have for JGR, with both teams winning multiple races and making deep playoff runs each year. But on the other side of the shop, we have the 19 and 54. Outside of a pole and a 4th place finish at Daytona, Chase Briscoe's had a fairly mediocre start to the season. He sits 20th in points with no top 10s since Daytona. And Ty Gibbs is on an absolutely atrocious run of form going back to last year. His last top 10 was Kansas in September, and he sits a miserable 34th in points. The 19 hasn't won since July 2023, and the 54 hasn't won since April 2022- When it was still the 18 driven by Kyle Busch. Both cars went out in the round of 16 last year.
This divide sort of reminds me of Hendrick Motorsports in the 2000s. You had the 24 and 48 with Gordon and Johnson who were perennial championship contenders, and then you had the 5 and 25 who could win a race here and there, but they were never quite on the same level as the 24 and 48.
What do you think, are we starting to see a real divide within JGR in terms of performance, or is it just a run of bad luck for the 19 and 54 teams?