Joe Gibbs Racing lifting driver ban on dirt racing, other circuits

Joe Gibbs, the former football coach who owns a NASCAR racing team, is giving his drivers more options.

The racing team confirmed Monday that it will have a process allowing drivers to request competing outside the NASCAR Cup Series on dirt tracks and in other forms of motorsports -- something Gibbs has restricted. The policy change follows Chase Briscoe, a former Stewart-Haas Racing driver and dirt star, joining JGR in 2025 to replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr.

Gibbs told The Athletic in a story on Monday that he has "always preferred (drivers') focus remain on racing in NASCAR." However, with his team including former dirt racing champions Christopher Bell and Briscoe, and a third driver, Ty Gibbs, interested in that extracurricular competition, Gibbs had a change of heart.

"We sort of talked things over to come up with a process by which they can request to run certain races," Gibbs told The Athletic. "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."

Briscoe is a dirt car owner who regularly drives on those tracks, while Bell won the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

"I was definitely caught off guard by the change of policy," Bell told The Athletic. "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."

The fourth driver on the JGR Cup roster, Denny Hamlin, is not a dirt racer.

Neither Briscoe nor Bell have announced plans in any non-Cup Series races but said they're pleased to have more options.

"It's refreshing knowing I'll be able to do whatever I want to do," said Bell, who believes the experience of driving sprint cars is advantageous for stock car racing. "I'm super excited to reconnect with my dirt fan base and see everybody at a dirt track soon."

--Field Level Media