Joe Gibbs founded the team in 1991 after exploring opportunities in motorsport. The team debuted at the 1992 Daytona 500 and competed for its first sixteen seasons with General Motors vehicles, winning three championships — two with Pontiac machinery and one in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. J.D. Gibbs, Joe's son, was named team president in 1997 and ran the organisation with his father until his death in 2019.
The team expanded to a two-car operation in 1999 with Tony Stewart's No. 20 Home Depot-sponsored car. In 2005, Denny Hamlin joined in a No. 11 FedEx-sponsored car owned by Coy Gibbs. For the 2015 season the team added a No. 19 entry for Carl Edwards.
In September 2007, JGR announced a switch to Toyota beginning with the 2008 season, with Joe Gibbs citing resources and development options not available through their previous General Motors arrangement. JGR executives also indicated they felt less prioritised by GM than teams such as Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing. The move proved fruitful: in 2015 Kyle Busch delivered Toyota their first premier series championship with JGR. In 2012, JGR merged its Cup Series engine programme with Toyota Racing Development, which has since supplied engines to JGR and its technical alliances.
In June 2023, JGR sold minority stakes to Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Arctos Partners, with Joe Gibbs becoming a limited partner of HBSE in the transaction.
JGR's five Cup Series titles came in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2015, and 2019. The organisation also won O'Reilly Auto Parts Series championships in 2009, 2016, 2021, and 2022, and the 2021 ARCA Menards Series title with Ty Gibbs.
As of the 2026 season, JGR has accumulated 499 total race victories: 229 in the Cup Series, 223 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and 47 in the ARCA Menards Series across 2,343 total race starts.
JGR fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series: the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Denny Hamlin, the No. 19 for Chase Briscoe, the No. 20 for Christopher Bell, and the No. 54 for Ty Gibbs. In the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, the team fields the No. 18 for William Sawalich, the No. 19 for Brent Crews and other drivers, the No. 20 for Brandon Jones, and the No. 54 for Taylor Gray.
JGR's driver development programme groomed future Cup Series winners Joey Logano and Aric Almirola. In 2004, the organisation partnered with former NFL player Reggie White to create a diversity programme, fielding drivers including Almirola, Marc Davis, and Bubba Wallace, and forming the basis for NASCAR's wider Drive for Diversity initiative.
JGR operated directly in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series from 2000 to 2002, fielding trucks driven by Coy and J.D. Gibbs. Coy posted two top-five finishes and finished tenth in points in both 2001 and 2002. JGR's Truck Series presence subsequently continued through a close partnership with Kyle Busch Motorsports from 2010 through 2022 until Busch left the organisation.
JGR formed a technical alliance with 23XI Racing in 2021, providing engineering and engine support to the co-owned team.
On 19 February 2026, JGR filed a lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart, claiming he took confidential team information when accepting a leadership role at Spire Motorsports. JGR sought damages of at least $8 million. Spire Motorsports was subsequently added as a defendant on 24 February 2026, and JGR requested a temporary restraining order preventing Gabehart from working in a comparable competitive role for Spire during his non-compete period.
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