Six-year title drought for Joe Gibbs Racing has felt like 'forever'

Joe Gibbs is quite used to winning championships. He did so thrice in the NFL, winning three Super Bowls as the head coach in Washington. He's won five NASCAR Cup Series championships as a car owner. 

But Gibbs' NASCAR team hasn't won a Cup Series title in six years, with Kyle Busch's 2019 title being the last time JGR was on top of the pile. That could change on Nov. 2, with JGR drivers Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe making up half of NASCAR's Championship 4 field. 

"It seems like it’s been forever," Gibbs said of JGR's championship drought during a news conference on Monday. "I think that’s the thing about pro sports. You work so hard. With our (NASCAR's) championship it goes to the last race. It’s really, really hard.

"You go 38 weekends. Everybody’s put everything, all the work effort and everything they put into preparing our cars, all the people here. When you stop and think about it, so many people kind of depend on this."

Two wildly different scenarios for Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin

A championship would affect the careers and legacies of Briscoe and Hamlin in very different ways. Briscoe, who is only in his fifth Cup Series season and his first with JGR, would immediately become one of NASCAR's biggest superstars in the span of one season. 

Hamlin, meanwhile, who is in his 20th Cup Series season, would check the final box on his resume and put a bow on top of a Hall of Fame career. 

"To see (Chase Briscoe), a first-year guy, be able to get everything done that he’s got done, be on seven poles, won three races, to wind up in the Final 4 ... That’s a great story when you think about that," Gibbs said.

"Then you move over to Denny. Here’s somebody who’s won 60 times in our sport. It’s two definitely different stories. I think for everybody, the only thing that Denny has not claimed is a championship. I know everybody asks him about that in every interview. If you do that for 20 years, I can tell you there’s a burning desire for him to win a championship." 

JGR will have to go through two Hendrick Motorsports drivers in William Byron and Kyle Larson, to win the title, which certainly won't be an easy task. But if either Briscoe or Hamlin brings home the Bill France Cup, it will put an end to a title drought that has clearly frustrated those within the halls of Joe Gibbs Racing. 

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.