Joe Gibbs Racing has swapped a couple of pit-crew members between its #19 and #20 teams, ahead of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, scheduled to get underway Sunday with the running of the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Mike Hicks has been moved from Erik Jones’ #20 team to be the new rear-tire changer on the #19 team of driver Martin Truex Jr. Adam Hartman, in return, has been sent from Truex’s team to replace Hicks on Jones’ team, according to an NBC Sports report.
Truex, along with JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, made the playoffs. After a points reset among the 16 playoff drivers, Truex heads into the Darlington race sixth in the driver standings, six points behind fifth-place driver Chase Elliott and a single point ahead of seventh-place Ryan Blaney.
Truex has one win, so far, 26 races into the 2020 season, coming at Martinsville Speedway.
“I’m just focused on our team and what we’ve been doing,” Truex said. “I’m curious to see if we can step it up to that next level. I feel like we can. I feel like we are right there on the cusp of it. You look at what we’ve done the last 10 races, I feel like we have been a top-three car every single race. We’ve had opportunities to win slip away, so hopefully, I look forward to seeing if we can take those seconds, thirds, and fourths and turn them into wins. That’s ultimately what it takes to win the championship. If we can do that, I’ll be happy. That’s what I’m ready to see, and hopefully, we will see it soon.”
Jones is the only JGR driver to not make the 2020 Cup Series playoffs. He is 18th in the points standings heading into Sunday’s race. JGR already has announced that Jones will not be with the team next season, as he’ll be released to make room for Christopher Bell.
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