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Gibbs Racing is geared up
Team poised for NHMS win
The stable of drivers for Joe Gibbs (left) has the highest likelihood of claiming a second straight championship heading into the postseason. (file/Phelan M. Ebenhack/associated press)
By Fluto Shinzawa
Globe Staff

LOUDON, N.H. — From 30,000 feet, David Wilson, president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development, does not believe the discovery of a secret formula answers why the Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys his company supports are the class of the Sprint Cup garage.

As an engineer, Wilson believes in processes, problem-solving, and marginal gains. To make his point, Wilson underscores five critical components to track results: driver, pit crew, aerodynamics, chassis, and engine. Over the last three seasons, the robustness that race team and manufacturer have combined to claim in each category manifests in practice speeds, laps led, and checkered flags. Since halfway through last year, JGR has had no equal.

“Everyone wants to identify a thing, a widget — we call it the magic bullet,’’ Wilson said. “That’s never the case. This sport is so competitive, you have to perform in every category.’’

It has become routine for Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth — Martin Truex Jr. drives the No. 78 Camry for Furniture Row Racing and has a technical alliance with JGR and TRD — to smoke out their competitors’ windshields with clouds of their exhaust. The preferred view for JGR’s chasers has become the Gibbs tailpipes they’re perpetually pursuing.

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, the front of the field projects to boast more Camrys than a Toyota dealership. In Friday’s practice, Truex (133.562 m.p.h.), Edwards (133.380), and Busch (133.100) turned the three fastest laps. In Saturday’s practice, Edwards (131.456), Hamlin (131.284), and Kenseth (131.193) paced the field.

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske’s driver of the No. 2 Ford, has a series-leading four wins and has one of the 16 Chase positions on lockdown. Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing’s 2014 champion, has one win and leads the garage with 599 points. Hendrick Motorsports currently has one car comfortably in the Chase grid with New Hampshire 301 pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson (two wins) and a second (Chase Elliott) pushing for qualification, although Jeff Gordon’s successor in the No. 24 does not have a checkered flag.

But no other conglomerate is positioned as well as JGR heading into the New Hampshire 301. Busch, the defending champion, has three wins, one off Keselowski’s pace. Edwards has visited Victory Lane twice. Truex, Hamlin, and Kenseth have one win apiece. They can be aggressive in pursuit of a victory at NHMS where lesser competitors might have to race for points.

Based on math, the Gibbs stable has the highest likelihood of claiming a second straight championship by sending all four of its drivers and a fifth allied team to the postseason. The Chase starts on Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway, then makes its second stop during a return to Loudon on Sept. 25 for the New England 300.

“I’m riding the wave that is JGR,’’ said Edwards, a former Roush Fenway Racing veteran and second-year Gibbs driver. “They’ve been working a long time to get to this point. I feel like the lucky recipient of all their hard work. Right now, you can just look at the scoreboard every week and the speed charts. Our Toyotas are really fast. I can’t point to one thing. I think overall, it’s just TRD, JGR, all the folks that do this and us teammates working together that gives us these results.’’

The dominance of the JGR armada has turned the playing field from level to perpendicular. It starts with the pilots. JGR has no equal when it comes to the talent of the men steering the wheels, stomping on the gas, and sending streams of feedback to their crew chiefs.

Last week at Kentucky, every driver had to handle a trunkful of variables. Their cars were fitted with the low downforce package — smaller splitter, shorter spoiler — that made them tougher to drive. A repave tightened the two racing grooves. A late tire swap by Goodyear changed teams’ practice schedule. Just about every driver lost the handle and smacked into the wall.

“I think it’s cool when you see the cars — unfortunately I was one of them — it’s cool when the cars are sideways out of control and crashing,’’ said Joey Logano, who tagged the fence and retired from the Quaker State 400 practically before the tires warmed up. “That means it’s really hard. It’s supposed to be. It’s the Sprint Cup level. It isn’t easy.’’

In contrast, all four JGR drivers plus Truex kept their noses clean. Edwards finished in second place behind Keselowski, only denied a checkered flag because the out-of-gas No. 2 Ford somehow made it back to the start/finish line.

The variables the drivers faced at Kentucky — low downforce package, a repaved track, a last-minute tire change — do not exist at Loudon. But the 1.058-mile track is one of the trickiest on the circuit. The absence of banking demands drivers to be precise with their entries into the turns. The JGR wheelmen have combined for six career NHMS wins.

“Hands down, I can say that we have the strongest driver lineup,’’ Wilson said. “Nobody would dispute that we have the strongest driver lineup in the entire garage.’’

The cars, however, have progressed to a threshold where crash test dummies could navigate rocket ships like the No. 18 to Victory Lane. The combination of horsepower, handling, and aerodynamic performance has consistently allowed Busch to blow through rush-hour-like traffic that causes his competitors to stall out. Crew chief Adam Stevens has called for the right adjustments. The No. 18’s pit crew has executed crisp stops. Busch has led 700 laps this season, third-most after Truex (866) and Harvick (829).

“Sometimes you go to these racetracks and you’re confused as to why you’re not very fast, and you struggle along and don’t fare very well in practice or the race,’’ said Busch, the winner of last July’s Loudon race. “But for us on the JGR side, especially speaking on the 18 car, we’ve had decent speeds in practices. Sometimes not at the top of the sheet, but we’re at the top half of the sheet. Then we get to the race, and we can always count on the race as being able to race our way up to the front. That’s been a huge confidence-booster for us as a team, me as a driver, and Adam as a crew chief. We know when we get to the race that we’ll have the opportunity to make ourselves better and have good races.’’

Even championship drivers such as Busch battle with doubt. There are occasions on which Busch and all of his peers describe their cars as uncomfortable. Back ends break loose. The nose doesn’t turn well out of the corners. The handling goes away. When this happens, it’s not as easy to dive into turns or keep the gas mashed down. The walls at every track, including NHMS, are not forgiving.

But the JGR drivers have enjoyed Toyota’s trademark reliability. Hesitation does not regularly enter their minds.

“Make no mistake, the driver and his confidence go a tremendous way,’’ Wilson said. “If they get frustrated, if we unload and we don’t have speed, it’s hard to turn that around mentally and emotionally. It’s tremendously important that we give them the confidence they need to go out and do their job.’’

Cup success usually goes in cycles. Hendrick was once the stoutest team. Roush used to be competitive. JGR’s trick will be to avoid the valley that usually flattens out the field.

“The toughest thing is to stay out front,’’ Wilson said. “The competition’s right on top of us, to be fair, right now. The Penske guys are strong. Hendrick is strong. Stewart-Haas, Kevin Harvick is still one of the toughest and most competitive cars every week. It’s not like we’re dominant. But certainly I like to think we’re competitive just about every week.’’

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.