Kyle Busch cited as stern Joe Gibbs Racing warning issued

So far, so good for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

With three postseason races in the books, JGR has three victories under their belt, with Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell having won at Darlington, St Louis (Gateway) and Bristol, respectively.

All of the talk heading into the Round of 12 is the team's dominance so far and how it will surely be one of their cars that emerges victorious at the championship race in Phoenix in November.

However, former Cup Series driver turned pundit Kyle Petty is not so sure.

Kyle Petty issues JGR playoff warning

Whilst Petty accepts that JGR has been dominant in the postseason so far, he believes that there is a long way to go between the Round of 16 and Phoenix, warning that their name shouldn't be written on the trophy just yet.

“They [Joe Gibbs Racing] have dominated the first rounds of the playoff this year, that is phenomenal,” Petty said on NASCAR.com.

“When you look at the first three races with Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and now Christopher Bell, amazing. Toyota has come out of the box strong and JGR is hanging on.

“But I want to caution everybody. Do not put JGR on that Championship trophy yet. Do not write any of those drivers' names on that championship trophy.”

Backing up his statement, Petty pointed to a 2015 example of where dominance in one playoff round might not necessarily equal a championship. Team Penske - specifically Joey Logano - swept the Round of 12 that season, but failed to win the title.

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Kyle Busch-Joey Logano example

In fact, Logano didn't even reach the championship race, with Kyle Busch, who was, ironically, a Joe Gibbs Racing driver at the time, crowned the Cup Series champion that year.

“Joey Logano, he swept a round in the playoffs, which was unheard of at the time and unheard of since,” Petty continued. “The problem is, he didn't go on to win the championship. Kyle Busch won the championship.

“JGR first round pure dominance, when we look at laps led, when we look at passes, when we look at anything that could happen, any stat NASCAR keeps is JGR and those three drivers, but we just eliminated four drivers. Now, we're down to 12. Will these guys make it forward? Will they move into the final round? Will we have three of those cars there?

“I doubt it. I doubt Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are all in that final four; somebody's gonna get eliminated.

"One of those guys is not going to make it to that last race. So, dominance now is good, but dominance in Phoenix is a lot better.”

Sunday's Cup Series playoff race at New Hampshire kicks off at 2pm ET and will be broadcast live on USA.

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