Gibbs shifts into racing mode
The Lexus arrived at Joe Gibbs Racing a few weeks back, a gift from Toyota for the team's namesake.
Gibbs, though, was still in Washington coaching the Redskins. So, oldest son J.D., the race team's president, decided to "borrow" the luxury vehicle.
Shortly after Joe Gibbs retired from coaching this month and returned to the family's NASCAR team, he learned of the gift and discovered he had a problem.
"J.D. won't give it to me," Gibbs said.
Retrieving his ride could be one of Joe Gibbs' easier challenges in coming back to racing. The 67-year-old's role will be similar to what he did before he left to coach the Redskins a second time in 2004. He'll be the closer on sponsor deals, given that his common-man persona connects with CEOs. He'll motivate and lift spirits, pat backs and tell uplifting stories. He'll steer the team, knowing when to let others make key decisions and when to aid them.
This is not retirement, he stressed.
"The pressure here is to pay the bills, keep the resources (available) and keep a healthy team winning races," he said.
That is a daunting task with Hendrick Motorsports' recent domination. Car owner Rick Hendrick has won the past two series titles, and his teams combined to win half of the 36 races last season.
Even as he faces such a formidable foe, Gibbs admits he'll have fun and even return to the golf course more often. Gibbs seemed to be enjoying himself this week, mimicking a Jay Leno monologue during a NASCAR media tour spot at his shop on Tuesday. He quipped about his age, pleaded innocent if something goes wrong this season and offered light-hearted condolences to crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who begins his 10th season working with Tony Stewart.
Gibbs' return is part of a broader change taking place at the shop. The team switches from Chevrolet to Toyota for this season. Kyle Busch replaces J.J. Yeley and joins Stewart and Denny Hamlin.
Gibbs admits he would have liked to have delayed his return, but a first-round playoff exit brought him back to North Carolina sooner.
"You'd like to finish things in Washington with a championship, but I think we've got things going in the right direction there," he said. "We knew that football was going to be for a limited amount of time. Lord willing, racing is going to be forever for our family."
A team that began with fewer than than 20 employees in 1991 now has more than 400. His team is thriving even in a time when Daytona 500-winning teams Melling Racing and Morgan-McClure Motorsports have closed shop and three-time 500 winning car owner Robert Yates retired.
Gibbs does not plan to walk away soon.
"I think I'll be here on an ongoing basis," he said. "I'm not going to butt in and try to change things."
Even while coaching the Redskins, Gibbs found time to play a Zig Ziglar role. Hamlin, who grew up a Redskins fan and lives next door to Gibbs, often got phone calls from his boss during the season.
"I would really get my phone calls from Joe on either a really good week or kind of a really bad week," Denny Hamlin said. "I think that was kind of his coach role coming out, either keep you pumped up about having such a good week. Or when he knows when you're down, he tries to get you back up.
"I think that's the important role he plays."
Gibbs' most vital role came last year at Chicago, when he diverted from his planned vacation to sit down with Hamlin and Tony Stewart at a time when they were feuding after a crash the week before at Daytona.
"It's good to have the father figure around," said Mark Cronquist, who heads the team's engine department. "Just who he is can bring some people back down and people don't get cocky."
Said J.D. Gibbs: "When he speaks, people are going to listen."
Well, maybe everyone but J.D., who still has that Lexus. For how long is the question.
"I won't have it for very long," J.D. Gibbs said.
Not when your dad is the type who specializes in finding a way of getting people to do what he wants.
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