Huntersville, North Carolina-based Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Monday that it will be lifting a longstanding rule that prevents its Cup Series drivers from participating in dirt and other racing activities outside their professional careers. The news comes shortly after the team signed a multi-year deal in June with former Stewart-Haas Driver Chase Briscoe, who has an extensive dirt racing background. Owner Joe Gibbs wants his drivers to be able to run races outside of NASCAR if they so choose. However, they must request to do so, and it must be approved. Once approved, drivers can run races outside of NASCAR in dirt racing and other forms. Here’s what the change means for the future of Joe Gibbs Racing.
Lifting Restrictions is a Game Changer
The removal of dirt-racing restrictions by Joe Gibbs Racing and the newfound flexibility is long overdue but also unexpected, especially for seasoned Joe Gibbs driver Christopher Bell, an avid dirt racer. Bell is well known in open-wheel midget racing and is considered one of the most successful, aside from new teammate Briscoe. Bell, an Oklahoma Native, has even been crowned a 3-time Chili Bowl Nationals Champion, winning the race in Tulsa in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The only driver to win it multiple times. Newcomer Briscoe, who is set to replace Veteran Gibbs driver Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19, is no stranger to dirt racing and hails at the top of the midget racing ranks.
Briscoe never anticipated that his addition to Joe Gibbs Racing would be the cornerstone of lifting dirt racing restrictions, and he never imagined the opportunity to compete in both the NASCAR Cup Series and Dirt Racing in his first year with Joe Gibbs. Still, he’s excited that he’ll be able to explore different avenues aside from NASCAR. Ty Gibbs, fellow driver and Grandson of owner Joe Gibbs, who has 18 wins and 42 top-ten finishes, has also been vocal about his interest in branching beyond NASCAR into dirt racing, So fans shouldn’t be surprised to see him on a dirt track at some time in the foreseeable future.
“I could tell it wasn‘t a hard ‘no, but it wasn‘t something at the time they were super thrilled about,” Chase Briscoe mentioned. “It didn‘t feel like the door was shut completely; there was definitely a crack. But I didn‘t know in my first year getting there, I would still be able to go do stuff if I wanted to,” he added.
What Sparked Joe Gibbs Racing’s Changes?
For Joe Gibbs Racing, revising policies to allow drivers to race in other disciplines was a team effort. Owner Joe Gibbs himself mentioned when asked by journalists from “The Athletic,” a subsidiary of the New York Times, about how he decided to make these policy changes that he allowed all drivers to have a say in the process. He added that approval would go through a process requiring everyone involved on the competition side for each driver who wishes to compete in races outside the cup series. If everyone involved agrees, then they are free to participate in extracurricular racing activities, not including dirt racing.
Bell took to the social media platform X, sharing motorsports journalist and enthusiast Jeff Gluck’s announcement regarding the policy changes. Gluck tagged Bell, Briscoe, and Gibbs in the announcement to inform them that the longstanding policy preventing dual participation in dirt and other forms of racing that Joe Gibbs Racing has had in place had been lifted. Bell added a tagline to the shared post, letting fans know it wouldn’t be long before he’d be back on a dirt track, and has since mentioned that he was surprised by the change.
“We sort of talked things over to come up with a process by which they can request to run certain races,” Joe Gibbs stated.
“If they get approval from everyone they need on our competition side, then they are free to run the race. That includes dirt, but also potentially other forms of racing,” he said.
“I was definitely caught off guard by the change of policy,” Bell said”
“I was super shocked, but with Chase coming on board and Ty growing an interest in dirt racing, it‘s nice we have the majority of our team aligned with it now,” he added.
Final Thoughts
Lifting the restrictions around dirt and other disciplines for Joe Gibbs Racing came at two pivotal parts of the team’s history. The retirement of NASCAR great Martin Truex Jr. and securing a multi-year contract with his replacement Chase Briscoe for the 2025 Cup Series season. While the team already had a dirt racing champion with Christopher Bell, the sudden move was an unexpected but welcome shock. The change at Joe Gibbs Racing coincides with the franchise’s newly released schedule, which has undergone changes and has reconvened with historic tracks like Bowman Gray Stadium and Rockingham Speedway.
