From Bobby Labonte's 1997 Charlotte run to the 2025 owners title, the Gibbs Xfinity team turned its cars into a training ground for Cup-bound drivers.
Founded as an Xfinity operation in 1997, the team's first car was Bobby Labonte's No. 18. It has six owners titles and four drivers' championships, and its newest owners crown came with the No. 19 in 2025, when Aric Almirola drove for the team.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Xfinity effort dates to 1997, when Bobby Labonte raced the No. 18. It grew into one of the strongest teams in the series, with six owners championships and four drivers' titles. Its cars have also been a training ground for young talent, and several of its drivers went on to full Cup careers.
When did the Xfinity team start and who drove first?
The team's first Busch Series entry came in 1997, when Bobby Labonte drove the No. 18 Shell Oil Pontiac at Charlotte and finished ninth. The first entry was a single car with one driver, a format the team would change many times. The series presence has now lasted for nearly three decades.
The team's early years were uneven, and its cars changed hands and drivers quickly. By 1999 the No. 18 had returned with MBNA sponsorship, and Labonte ran only one race before a shoulder injury from a qualifying crash at Darlington.
A team that started with one Pontiac in 1997 and now runs a driver pipeline that has produced four series champions.
How did the early No. 4 and No. 18 cars perform?
In 2000 Joe Gibbs Racing bought Diamond Ridge Motorsports from Gary Bechtel, and the No. 4 operation came with it. The car switched to Pontiacs and gained Porter-Cable sponsorship after the earlier sponsor left. Jeff Purvis finished second three times at Milwaukee, Gateway and IRP, and he finished 11th in points with four top fives.
Jason Leffler ran the No. 18 full-time in 2000, winning a pole at Texas and posting three top-ten finishes before he left for the Cup Series with Chip Ganassi Racing. Jeff Purvis then took his place, but he was let go after the GNC Live Well 250 due to sponsorship trouble. Mike McLaughlin took over the car and finished seventh in points.
McLaughlin came back in 2002 and moved up to fourth in points despite going winless. Owner Joe Gibbs then wanted his son Coy in a full-time ride, which left McLaughlin without a seat. Coy Gibbs ran the No. 18 full-time in 2003 and came second to David Stremme in the rookie standings.
How did the No. 11 car take shape?
The No. 11 team began racing in 2011, when Joe Gibbs Racing signed 22-year-old Brian Scott to a two-year contract. Scott earned a pole, two top fives and seven top tens that season, finishing eighth in points. The team struggled to finish races, but its best run was a third at Dover in 2012, and Scott finished ninth in points that year.
In 2013 Elliott Sadler replaced Scott. He had finished second in the championship standings in the two prior seasons, and he brought OneMain Financial sponsorship from Richard Childress Racing. Sadler won four races in 2012 with another team, but he went winless in 2013 while scoring 20 top tens and finishing fourth in points.
Sadler scored his first win for the team at Talladega in 2014, leading a race-high 40 laps. He announced his departure on 31 October 2014, taking the OneMain sponsorship with him to Roush Fenway Racing's Nationwide program. The team's points and crew moved to the No. 18 for 2015.
How did Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin shape the No. 18?
For 2008 the No. 18 was shared by Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Busch won ten races that season, eight of them in the No. 18, and finished sixth in points. Hamlin scored a single win in the car at Dover.
In 2009 Busch went full-time in the Nationwide Series in the No. 18 Z-Line Designs and NOS Toyota. He won nine races and the 2009 Nationwide Series championship,.
In 2010 Busch handled most of the events that ran alongside Cup races, while Brad Coleman ran the stand-alone events. For 2011 Busch split the ride with Michael McDowell, who won the pole at Road America before late-race contact ended his run.
In 2017 Kyle Busch won five races with the No. 18 at Atlanta, Kentucky, Loudon, Watkins Glen and Bristol. Christopher Bell made his series debut with the team at Charlotte, where he finished fourth, and he won at Kansas in his fifth start for a first career Xfinity victory. Denny Hamlin also won a race that year, running a throwback scheme at Darlington.
What did Daniel Suarez achieve in 2015 and 2016?
Daniel Suarez joined the No. 18 full-time in 2015 with Arris sponsorship, running for Rookie of the Year. He recorded eight top fives and 18 top tens, along with three poles, and placed fifth in points. He beat Bubba Wallace to the rookie award.
The No. 18 won 12 races in 2016 with multiple drivers, and Suarez moved to the No. 19 that year. He won three races and the 2016 title, the first foreign-born driver to take a NASCAR national crown.
Who drove the No. 20 in the team's middle years?
Mike McLaughlin won the Subway 300 in the No. 20 in 2001, when he had no major sponsor. Mike Bliss followed in 2003 and 2004, and he won at Charlotte in 2004 while finishing fifth in points. The car's lineup changed almost every season.
Denny Hamlin came aboard the No. 20 in 2005 and posted eleven top tens to finish fifth in points. He ran the full schedule in 2006, winning two races and finishing fourth. In 2007 he took the car to four wins, including Darlington, Milwaukee, Michigan and Dover, and the No. 20 finished second in owners points behind RCR's No. 29.
Joey Logano took over the No. 20 in 2008 and drove it into the 2009 season. In 2010 Logano, Hamlin and Matt DiBenedetto shared the car, and Logano won at Kentucky and Kansas that year. Erik Jones took the No. 20 to four wins in 2016 and finished fourth in points after a late restart at Homestead.
Christopher Bell arrived in 2018 and won seven races, a record for a rookie in the series. He made the Championship 4 but finished 13th in the Homestead race after a tire went down, and he still finished fourth among the title contenders.
The No. 19 had a short run in the early years. Bobby Labonte ran seven races in the car in 2005 with three top-ten finishes, and the car was disbanded after 2006. It returned in 2016 with Suarez and then ran several drivers, with Matt Tifft finishing seventh in points in 2017.
How did the No. 54 car fit into the team's history?
Kyle Busch ran the No. 54 in 2012, winning once that year and then 12 races in 2013. The No. 54 finished second in the owners' standings to Penske's No. 22 by a single point in 2013, and it was second again in 2014 when Sam Hornish Jr. won at Iowa.
In 2015 Busch broke his leg in the season-opening race at Daytona, after hitting an inside wall that had no SAFER barrier installed. Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin and Boris Said took his place for a series of races, and Busch returned in June to win at Michigan.
Ty Gibbs won in his series debut on Daytona's road course in 2021. He returned to the No. 54 full-time in 2022 and won at Las Vegas, Atlanta, Richmond, Road America and Michigan, then clinched the series title at Phoenix. Taylor Gray later drove the No. 54 and won at Martinsville in 2025.
Who were the 2021 and 2022 champions?
Daniel Hemric won the 2021 Xfinity title in the No. 18. He had been winless during the regular season, but he advanced to the Championship 4 at Phoenix and won his first career Xfinity race there, along with the championship.
Ty Gibbs won the 2022 title in the No. 54. He dominated at Phoenix to clinch it, after a season with five or more wins, including Road America and Michigan.
What did the No. 19 achieve in 2025?
The No. 19 won the owners' championship in 2025. Ryan Truex, Aric Almirola, Ty Gibbs and Taylor Gray had shared the car in earlier seasons, and in 2025 it was shared by Justin Bonsignore, Riley Herbst, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.
Almirola came back for a nine-race schedule and won at Bristol and Las Vegas during the playoffs. He finished second at Phoenix, and the team ended the season with the owners' title.
What are the team's championships?
The team's most recent title came in 2025, when the No. 19 won the owners' championship. The team has six owners championships, including 2008 with the No. 20 and 2025 with the No. 19. Its four drivers' titles came in 2009, 2016, 2021 and 2022.
| Season | Title | Driver or car | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Owners | No. 20 | Four drivers shared the car and all four won in it |
| 2009 | Drivers | Kyle Busch | Nine wins with the No. 18 |
| 2016 | Drivers | Daniel Suarez | Three wins in the No. 19 |
| 2021 | Drivers | Daniel Hemric | First career Xfinity win at Phoenix |
| 2022 | Drivers | Ty Gibbs | Clinched at Phoenix |
| 2025 | Owners | No. 19 | Almirola second at Phoenix |
Who drove the No. 81 and other recent cars?
The No. 81 car made its debut in 2021 as the team's fifth entry at Road America, with Ty Gibbs driving while Kyle Busch drove the No. 54. The car returned full-time in 2024 with Chandler Smith, who started with a fifth-place finish at Daytona and later won at Phoenix and Richmond.
Smith parted ways with the team at the end of 2024.
How did the 2018 to 2023 seasons unfold?
Ryan Preece drove the No. 18 in 2018 and won at Bristol that year. Brandon Jones took the No. 19 from 2018 through 2022 and scored five wins before leaving for JR Motorsports in 2023. Harrison Burton won four races in the No. 20 in 2020 and finished eighth in the standings.
John Hunter Nemechek took the No. 20 full-time in 2023. He won six races that season, including Fontana, Martinsville, Atlanta, New Hampshire, Michigan and Kansas, and he finished fourth in points. The No. 19 had its own 2023 story, with Ty Gibbs winning at Indianapolis and Ryan Truex scoring his first career win at Dover.
What were the first years of the No. 42 and No. 44?
In 1997 J. D. Gibbs drove the No. 42 Pontiac at Rockingham, where he failed to qualify. The car ran seven races in 1998 with Gibbs behind the wheel, but he qualified for only one, at Darlington. Sterling Marlin and Jeff Fuller also drove the car in the next season.
The No. 44 was a different story. Joe Gibbs Racing bought the car from Bobby Labonte, and Tony Stewart made the car's first start for Gibbs at the 1998 NAPA Auto Parts 300. Stewart finished second at Rockingham the following week after leading 60 laps from the pole, and he ran 22 races that year with five top fives and two poles.
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