If there is a name that evokes the word “champion,” it’s Joe Gibbs.
The former head coach of the Washington Redskins and current owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, won the Super Bowl three times, and drivers on his team have hoisted the NASCAR championship trophy four times.
Gibbs’ 2019 began with tragedy. On Jan. 11, his elder son, J.D., died at the age of 49 following a neurological disorder discovered several years earlier. Joe had to say goodbye to his son but also prepare to have his team ready to race just more than a month later at the Daytona 500, the “crown jewel” of stock car racing.
On Feb. 17, after a wild racing day that saw nearly half of the field wrecked, the checkered flag waved. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, in his Toyota, had crossed the finish line first.
NASCAR team owners typically have three to four drivers in a race, and two of Gibbs’ other drivers, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones, finished second and third, respectively.
For Gibbs, it was a big moment. Following the race, he said, “It’s the most emotional and the biggest win I’ve ever had in my life — in anything. It was just an unbelievable night, unbelievable crowd. The whole thing was just a special memory for me, and it’s one I’ll never forget, and it’s the most important night of my occupational life.”
Unlike football or baseball, team owners in NASCAR don’t sit in luxury boxes watching their team go to work. They’re right there in the pits, headsets on, listening to the crews as the race progresses and talking with drivers and crew chiefs personally.
Gibbs did the same as he always does to gear up for the “Great American Race.” Despite starting the NASCAR season, the Daytona 500 is one race in a weeklong event that features racing from all of the NASCAR series, qualifying races and, finally, the 200-lap race featuring packs of cars traveling at speeds sometimes exceeding 200 mph.
Daytona International Speedway, along with Talladega Superspeedway, are two tracks that restrict the speed of the cars by limiting air flow to the carburetor. This effectively gives cars little edge over the others, creating scenarios where two rows of 20 or more cars race together in one big “pack.” It makes for thrilling racing; ordinary people wouldn’t even park that close to each other.
It also creates an environment where a single mistake by one driver can cause a wreck that involves a lot of cars. Fans and announcers refer to it as “the big one.” It partially explains why a lot of drivers hate racing at Daytona and Talladega and why owners bite their nails, especially as the race gets into the later stages and drivers have a tendency to take more chances.
“The big one” struck this year with a mere 10 laps remaining. It consumed 21 cars, accounting for more than half the starting field. Three of Gibbs’ four cars escaped the mayhem unscathed.
When the checkered flag finally waved on lap 207, Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx-sponsored car was victorious. As is a tradition with the Joe Gibbs Racing team, when they win the Daytona 500, the entire team, along with the Harley J. Earl Trophy, feast at a nearby Steak ’n Shake to celebrate.
For Gibbs, who picked up the check, it was a fitting end to race week. Still overcoming the grief of losing his son when the festivities started seven days earlier, Gibbs watched as his team grabbed the top three spots in the biggest race of the year. That’s something for a man who knows, perhaps more than anyone, what it means to win — and to face terrible loss.
Jay Caruso is deputy editor of the Washington Examiner magazine.
