Team Owner
A successful organization starts with its people.
This has long been the philosophy of Joe Gibbs. It helped carry him to three Super Bowl championships as head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins and has been a defining principle behind building Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) into one of NASCAR's most successful race teams.
It also guides Gibbs' latest project: “Game Plan For Life”, which is the title of his New York Times Best Selling book and its corresponding ministry (www.gameplanforlife.com). Once again, Gibbs assembled an amazing team of 11 experts to respond to the issues a national survey revealed to be the most pressing in men's lives. The results are a modern day game plan for a successful life based on God's Word.
It is not surprising that JGR has experienced amazing success and growth since Gibbs founded the operation in 1991. It began its first season of racing in 1992 with just 18 crew members and JGR now employs close to 450 people, but despite the immense growth, the company remains defined by the same characteristics of its founder and owner, Joe Gibbs: Integrity, a relentless work ethic, determination, perseverance, and team building.
Those characteristics have been the driving force behind JGR's success which includes 145 overall wins in NASCAR, three NASCAR Cup Series championships (2000, 2002, and 2005) and back-to-back NASCAR Nationwide Series championships (2008 Owner's Champion and 2009 Driver's and Owner's Champions).
Of course he built and refined those characteristics in football and with the Washington Redskins where he made four Super Bowl appearances, winning three (Super Bowl XVII, Super Bowl XXII and Super Bowl XXVI).
After 17 years of serving as an assistant coach to several college and NFL teams, Gibbs was hired as head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1981 and his determination and perseverance was immediately on display when the team lost its first five games. The Redskins rebounded to finish that season 8-8 and the following season, he would lead the Redskins to their first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history. Over the decade that followed he would lead the Redskins to three more Super Bowls, including victories in Super Bowl XXII following the 1987 season and Super Bowl XXVI after the 1991 season.
Over that time he became one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, but he would retire from the NFL following the 1992 season to turn his attention to his family and the new race operations.
JGR would make its debut in the 1992, but it was a year later that JGR would claim its first victory, when Dale Jarrett captured the checkered flag at the 1993 Daytona 500 in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries car.
From that first victory the growth and success of JGR has been extraordinary. In 1999 Gibbs realized that multi-car teams were becoming more prevalent and successful than their single-car counterparts and brought Tony Stewart into the Cup Series with crew chief Greg Zipadelli and sponsor The Home Depot.
The collaboration was immediately successful from the outset, bursting onto the NASCAR Cup scene in the No. 20 Home Depot, as Stewart became the winningest rookie in series history, taking three checkered flags en route to the Rookie of the Year title and a fourth-place position in the championship point standings.
In 2000, the No. 18 team with Labonte and the No. 20 team with Stewart proved to be a formidable one-two punch. The two drivers combined to win 10 of the series' 34 races, with Labonte winning four events en route to his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship. Just two years later it was Stewart's turn, as the Indiana native score three wins during the 2002 campaign and captured his first NASCAR title.
In 2004, Gibbs shocked the sports world when he seized an opportunity to return to the NFL for the team and fans he loved. With his eldest son J.D. Gibbs running the day to day operations at JGR, Gibbs would be joined by his youngest son Coy Gibbs at the Washington Redskins, who served as an offensive assistant on his coaching staff. Once again Gibbs went to work and in 2005 he led the franchise back to the playoffs and earned the team's first playoff victory in six years.
While Gibbs was working to restore the Redskins winning tradition, the team he built at JGR continued to flourish. In 2005, JGR expanded to a third car as FedEx came on board to sponsor the No. 11 team. That same year Stewart captured his second and JGR's third Cup Series Championship. Denny Hamlin would join the No. 11 FedEx and went on to earn 2006 NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.
One of the greatest challenges of Gibbs' career would come in his final season with the Redskins in 2007 when star player Sean Taylor was murdered in his Miami home. Despite the tragedy, Gibbs managed to steer the Redskins to victories in their final four games to secure yet another playoff season for the team.
When the season concluded Gibbs made the decision to spend more time with his family and is now back with son J.D. at Joe Gibbs Racing and working with Coy, who left his post at the Redskins following the 2006 season to start JGRMX, a motocross team based near JGR's NASCAR operations in Huntersivlle, NC. In only its second season, JGRMX captured its first victory in January 2009 when rider Josh Grant won in Anaheim, CA.
When Gibbs returned to JGR prior to the start of the 2008 season, he had a new manufacturer, Toyota, a new sponsor for the No. 18 team, M&Ms, and a new driver in Kyle Busch. In addition, JGR would learn during the season that Tony Stewart would be leaving after the conclusion of year to start his own race team. But despite all the changes, JGR proved its foundation strong once again as Busch would win a remarkable eight times in the Cup Series, and for the first time, all three JGR drivers would qualify for NASCAR's Chase for the Cup.
The 2009 season saw the debut of Joey Logano, a talented driver that became the youngest ever to start the Daytona 500 at the age of just 18 when he climbed behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot and the youngest winner in NASCAR history when he captured his first win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June. Surrounding Logano is a support system that includes not only his veteran crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, but a foundation of nearly 450 JGR employees that was built over the past 19 years. The results speak volumes as Logano became the youngest ever to earn NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Hamlin would also win a career-high four times and earn an impressive fifth-place finish in the standings, while Busch added yet another four victories.
In addition to his working daily with J.D. at JGR and Coy at JGRMX, as well as working to further spread the message of “Game Plan For Life”, Gibbs also remains committed to Youth For Tomorrow, a home he founded in Bristow, VA that is now licensed to house up to 106 troubled boys and girls ages 11-18. He also added yet another championship to his resume when he coached his grandson Jackson's eight-man JEFA football team to a title this past fall.
He and his wife Pat, currently reside near JGR's Huntersville, NC headquarters and enjoy spending time with their eight grandchildren.
