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One of the premier NASCAR organisations is none other than Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota's flagship team in both the Cup and Xfinity Series. However, before joining hands with the Japanese manufacturer back in 2008, Joe Gibbs Racing had a successful run with General Motors, fielding Chevrolets and Pontiacs.
The reason behind the switch from General Motors to Toyota
Coach Gibbs entered the sport back in 1992 with their partnership with Chevrolet. Dale Jarrett was driving for them. During the early years of the team, they relied heavily on current rivals Hendrick Motorsports for equipment and engines. In 1997, the team made the switch to Pontiac which saw them take two championships with Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.
They again switched sides and joined hands with Chevrolet back in 2003. In 2005, Stewart helped them win another title.
It was back in 2008 when Joe Gibbs Racing decided to switch their alliance and shake hands with NASCAR's newest manufacturer Toyota. They offered Joe Gibbs Racing resources and options that would have stayed away from them if they still would have had a partnership with General Motors.
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Toyota entered the sport through the Truck Series as Todd Bodine won the Germain Racing in 2006. The manufacturer then made their move to the Busch and Cup Series in 2007 and partnered with new teams such as Michael Waltrip Racing, Team Red Bull and Bill Davis Racing at the top level.
Despite having a tough debut season in the Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing still joined hands with Toyota. It was Kyle Busch who won the first Cup Series victory for Toyota at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was also his fourth start with the team.
Busch and Denny Hamlin have won the most number of races for the manufacturer. Since shaking hands with Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing has won a whopping 351 races in both Xfinity and Cup Series. They also have two titles in the Cup Series with Busch.
Joe Gibbs Racing president on the Toyota switch
Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern explained why the team switched from General Motors to Toyota. But it was love at first sight as the cultures and values Toyota had were the same here in Joe Gibbs Racing.
"We had won three championships with General Motors. Things were going well. Toyota came into the sport and was new, and we met with them and we really liked their focused approach to racing. They were going to have a smaller group, they were really focused more on quality than quantity," Alpern said on the Joe Gibbs Racing YouTube channel.
"They were really embedding their people in the race team. We really liked that idea and there was a lot about their culture that we were aligned with. Made that really difficult decision in 2008," Alpern concluded.
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