Joe Gibbs Racing President JD Gibbs told Sirius XM NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody that as part of the team’s new engine partnership with Toyota Racing Development, new NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series entries could be fielded out of the JGR shops in 2012. “If we can add a couple of Nationwide programs and a Truck program & I don’t think there’s a person here who will have to worry about their job,” he said. “That is one of the things that made this worth looking at. For a lot of our key guys who have been here for years, there will be roles in the shop or motor department that they can fill. A lot of them will still have their (previous) jobs, a few of them will probably go on the road with the teams, and some of them will have different roles that will allow us to do things better across the playing field.” Gibbs said the proposed new Nationwide and Truck Series teams will run under the JGR banner. “We will continue to do all our (current) Nationwide teams, and if we add new teams, it will give us spots to put guys in so no one has to worry about their job.” He revealed that the new teams could be implemented quickly, saying, “Additional motor programs are one of the easiest things to do. The harder stuff is to build chassis, cars, parts and pieces and put them all together. The motors come (from TRD), you put them in, run them, take them out and send them back. (The new teams) are something we think we can add and do a good job with.”(Sirius Speedway)(8-12-2011)
UPDATE: During an interview today on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway radio program, JD Gibbs clarified what he said during the radio interview a couple of weeks ago. Gibbs said that with the new partnership with TRD they will most likely be involved in the engine programs for the Nationwide and Truck Series, but Joe Gibbs Racing has no plans to start either a new Nationwide or Truck team.(8-30-2011)
