You win some, you lose some. But that loss at Phoenix Raceway must’ve hurt the Joe Gibbs Racing crew. Fresh off the championship heartbreak, Denny Hamlin mentioned that “it wasn’t meant to be,” and that left JGR mourning in the postseason. In his 5th attempt, unfortunately, the No. 11 driver couldn’t deliver his elusive championship for the team he has been part of for 20+ years.

Even Chase Briscoe’s hardships during the Phoenix race added to the pain. Joe Gibbs himself was equally shocked after the tire gamble didn’t pay off late in the race. He admitted, “We really did this. It’s a heartbreak for everybody here, so I don’t think there’s much else you can say about it.” But now, with the sting of both drivers missing out still lingering on, one NASCAR insider gets into the mix as he laments the great pain.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s president opens up about a painful season

Speaking on his team’s official Instagram page, Dave Alpern, the President of Joe Gibbs Racing, said, ” So this weekend was one of the toughest endings, probably the toughest I’ve ever experienced in my 30-plus-year career, and I think many of the people here at Joe Gibbs Racing, in fact most of them, feel the same way… One, just acknowledge that that was really tough and kind of stinks. That’s one of the beauties of pro sports is that we get attached to it.”

Consider this a wrap-up of the entire year. It’s no secret that Joe Gibbs Racing has had a phenomenal season with all three of its playoff drivers. Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, and Denny Hamlin’s Round of 12 sweep stands as strong proof of that, followed by the Round of 8 run, where Hamlin dominated Las Vegas to score his 60th career win, and Briscoe followed that up with a victory at Talladega.

However, Christopher Bell saw himself out of contention for the title after Martinsville. But despite the setback, getting two of Joe Gibbs’ drivers into the Championship 4 was no easy feat, but Alpern understands that they chose to live life in the fast lane, which presents itself with heartbreaks and breakthroughs.

He then went on to add, “This is our life, and to win 14 races and to go dominate the championship race and be winning by three seconds with two laps to go and not win the title, it’s just plain hard. Again, I’ve made the analogy, it’s the only sport where you can be leading 30 to nothing late in the fourth quarter and lose on a fluke play or fumble, and essentially that’s how it works with a one-race format on a 38-week season.”

The late caution really crushed Hamlin‘s strong run. Despite leading 209 of the 319-lap race, the 44-year-old driver’s championship bid fell short after a costly tire gamble. Briscoe had his own challenges, too. Early in the race, he suffered a right rear tire blowout while running fifth, and he later had another tire issue while in third. A tire gamble derailed his day too, as he finished 18th, falling short of the title.

However, Alerpn isn’t one to give up. He ended his speech by saying, “But we’ll move forward from it, and I know the great thing is Coach always says you win with people, and we got great people. And so I really wanted to take this opportunity at the end of the season to say thank you for following.”

Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin is taking some time off to process the heartbreak at Phoenix Raceway, though he has signalled his intention to return to Joe Gibbs Racing. However, his teammate has a slightly different approach.

Chase Briscoe’s title run still haunts him as he charts out next year

Chase Briscoe admitted that he is “still kicking myself” for not instructing crew chief James Small to provide two, as Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels did, a move that ultimately cost them the race and championship. Instead, Briscoe told Small to “trust your gut,” which led to the decision to take four qualifying scuffs.

Briscoe explained, “I would personally rather be on offense, and I just wish that he would have obviously not let me talk him out of it. Who knows? You never know. It’s the question mark of what would have happened. So that’s the only thing that, I guess, is kind of burning me up is the tire issues we had and that I wish I would have let James trust his gut.”

Despite this, Briscoe acknowledged that the season as a whole exceeded expectations. Interestingly, Joe Gibbs had already reached out to Briscoe before Martin Truex Jr. announced his retirement, signalling early interest in signing him if the 2017 champion decided to step away.

This revelation gave Briscoe the boost and restored his confidence, and now the No. 19 driver is already looking forward to next season, saying, “Now the goal is to build on this and move the goalposts even higher next year and beyond.” And it can be said with much certainty that the 30-year-old will be using this postseason well to come back stronger.