What does an offseason look like for NASCAR team employees? JGR president spills the beans

The 2024 NASCAR season ended in the second week of November and the awards ceremony took place in the last week of November. The NASCAR drivers are traveling across the globe with the off-season underway. But what about the team employees? Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Albern took to Instagram and revealed what the off-season looks like for the employees.

The NASCAR off-season is the shortest in all the major pro-motorsports categories around the world. The off-season starts at the end of November and the first race of the 2025 NASCAR is in the first week of February. With an off-season of about two months, JGR President said:

“I often get people that ask me, hey, the season's over, what are you doing? And that's a good question. Well, what we're not doing is traveling to the racetrack on the weekends. But otherwise, it's not too much different during the week in the shop. If you're in the front office, you're working hard on things for next year. Sponsorship renewals, car designs, working with our partners to prepare for next season.”

“If you're downstairs, you might be starting to, there's a lot of organizing and cleaning. This is the time of year that our shop sometimes gets a facelift, whether it's resurfacing floors, painting. But everyone around the shop is either prepping for next year, cleaning up from last year, or doing planning for the upcoming season,” he continued.

Former football coach Joe Gibbs founded Joe Gibbs Racing. His son Jason Dean Gibbs ran the team and was a stock car driver. JD Gibbs passed away in 2019 and the team is currently managed by Dave Albern.

JGR has four entries in the NASCAR Cup Series: #11 Denny Hamlin, #19 Chase Briscoe, #20 Christopher Bell, and #54 Ty Gibbs.

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Christopher Bell shares opinion on JGR’s move to promote Denny Hamlin's crew chief to Competition Director in NASCAR Cup Series

Chris Gabehart became Denny Hamlin’s crew chief in 2019. Gabehart was promoted to the role of Race Director on November 22, 2024. JGR had a strong start to the 2024 season but fell short in the playoffs. The change came in light of the lackluster performance as the #20 driver shared his opinion on Gabehart’s promotion. He said (via NASCAR):

“I think it has potential to help out all the teams. Gabehart is a incredibly smart person. He was a huge asset to the 11 car and I think moving him to oversee the crew chiefs and be able to provide input and knowledge and just kind of keep all of the teams in line is a solid move. I think it has potential to increase the performance of all the teams.”

All the JGR drivers made the playoffs but only Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell made it to the Round of 8. No JGR driver qualified for the showdown at Phoenix Raceway.