Joe Gibbs Racing president explains decision to reverse dirt racing ban

Persistence pays off, they say, and persistence played a role in Joe Gibbs Racing lifting the restrictions that prohibited its NASCAR Cup Series drivers from participating in dirt racing.

With the addition of Chase Briscoe to the four-car team, that made three JGR drivers who wanted the opportunity to take part in dirt racing, the other two being Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs. As JGR president Dave Alpern said Friday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the three eventually wore out the boss (Joe Gibbs), leading to the ban being lifted.

“I think they just wore him out a little bit,” Alpern said, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “To be honest with you, and Christopher has been great about it, his fans were disappointed [in the ban] and there were a few injuries, and [Alex Bowman] got hurt. … People forget we have almost 500 employees, and they and the sponsors, and everyone are counting on the drivers, so we have to protect these guys for their primary job … I think to [Bell’s] credit, over time, it was just a matter of letting things settle down a little bit.

“Then Chase Briscoe comes in and he loves doing it. I also personally believed that when those guys run those [races], it breeds new life into them and makes them better over here.”

Joe Gibbs Racing loosens up on dirt racing policy

Bell and Briscoe have extensive experience on dirt, the former winning the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in three consecutive years (2017-19), joining Sammy Swindell and Kevin Swindell as the only three-time winners of the event. Gibbs allowed Bell to race Sprint Cars and Midgets until 2022 when Stewart-Haas Racing engineer DJ Vanderley suffered a spinal injury in a Micro Sprint event, according to Weaver.

Gibbs, who put his foot down then, made it clear that if any of his drivers want to race outside of NASCAR, they have to bring the idea forward to senior leadership.

“Like, if [Gibbs] sees someone flip over a fence in May, he may revoke the pass,” Alpern said. “But we have a competition group where there is a process. If a driver wants to run something, he brings it to the group.

“If the group recognizes the car, and we know the team building it, and we know the speeds or think it’s okay, then it’s probably okay for them to do it. So, there’s a little bit of a process now. But yeah, I think everyone at the company is excited and even Ty is going to run some dirt stuff.”

Chase Briscoe opens up on Joe Gibbs Racing lifting dirt racing ban

Briscoe, the new guy on the block, is excited to “at least have the opportunity” to race on dirt.

“It’ll be fun though to especially see Christopher back on dirt, you know, just with all the stuff that he’s been able to do in his career and the battles that him and [Kyle] Larson had,” Briscoe said. “For the fans, I think to be able to have that again is going to be really exciting. So yeah, I’m just thankful that I at least have the opportunity to go do it. You know, at first when I came over there, I thought even if I really wanted to go do like a memorial race that was important to me or something, I wouldn’t even have the option.

“Now I do so I’m thankful that they opened up the reins a little bit.”