About Joe Gibbs

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 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame 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 multi-team racing organizations.

JGR has experienced amazing success and growth since Gibbs founded the operation in 1991. Beginning its first season of racing in 1992 with just 18 crew members and JGR now employs close to 450 people. Despite the immense growth, the company remains defined by the same principles of its founder: Integrity, a relentless work ethic, determination, perseverance and team building.
Those principles have been the driving force behind JGR's success including over 160 overall wins in NASCAR, three NASCAR Cup Series championships (2000, 2002, and 2005) and the organization's first NASCAR Nationwide Series owners' championship in 2008.

Gibbs was applying character based leadership long before he started in NASCAR. 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. Four years later he would receive the NFL's highest honor with induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
JGR would make its debut in the 1992, but it was a year later that JGR would claim its first victory, when Dale Jarett captured won the 1993 Daytona 500, known as the Super Bowl of racing, 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. He 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 car, Stewart became the winningest rookie in series history, with three wins 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 Bobby 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 scored three wins during the 2002 campaign and captured his first NASCAR title.

In 2004, Gibbs shocked the sports world when he accepted an opportunity to return to the NFL for the team and fans he loved. With his eldest son J.D. running the day to day operations at JGR, Gibbs would be joined by his youngest son Coy at the Washington Redskins, who served as an offensive assistant on his coaching staff. Once again Gibbs went to work and in 2005 the franchise returned to the playoffs and earned its 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 team as FedEx came on board to sponsor the new 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 team and went on to earn 2006 NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.

When the 2007 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 Coy, who left his post at the Redskins following the 2006 season to start JGRMX, a professional motocross team based near JGR's NASCAR operations in Huntersville, NC.

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 racing season 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.

2008 saw the debut of Joey Logano, a talented driver who took over the reins for the No. 20 Toyota. Just days after his 18th birthday in May 2008, Logano made his Nationwide Series debut with GameStop as his primary sponsor. Logano then powered to victory in only his third Nationwide Series start, making him the youngest winner in series history. In 2009, Logano grabbed four pole positions and won five Nationwide Series races in the No. 20 GameStop Toyota. Surrounding Logano is a support system that includes not only his crew chief, Kevin Kidd, but a foundation of nearly 450 JGR employees that was built over the past 18 years.

He and his wife Pat, currently reside near JGR's Huntersville, NC, headquarters and enjoy spending time with their eight grandchildren.

About JD Gibbs

J.D. Gibbs was named president of JGR in October 1997 and over the past dozen years, he has overseen the team’s expansion from fielding just the No. 18 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, to a second car with the addition of the No. 20 team in 1999, and to a third car via the No. 11 team in 2005. In addition, JGR has grown to include two NASCAR Nationwide Series teams, a driver development program, and most recently JGRMX, a motocross operation.

The team’s growth, which now includes nearly 450 employees, has not hindered its overall success as JGR continues to be one of NASCAR’s premiere race teams with three NASCAR Cup Championships (2000, 2002, and 2005) to its credit and the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner’s Championship.

J.D. has been with JGR since he joined his father, Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs, to launch the operations in 1992. Over that time he has had the opportunity to experience nearly ever facet of the business. In fact, he changed tires on the car that carried JGR to its first NASCAR victory – the 1993 Daytona 500. He also raced Late Model stock cars at short tracks throughout North Carolina. He even advanced to professional NASCAR touring series, competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Series East and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. But ultimately it’s managing JGR where J.D. feels most comfortable.

Of course running an organization the size of JGR presents its challenges. In 2004, the challenge came in the form of its owner and founder making the decision to return to the NFL as head coach of the Washington Redskins, but JGR never missed a beat and even captured its third NASCAR Cup Championship in 2005 under J.D.’s leadership.

Coach Gibbs returned to JGR prior to the 2008 season but new challenges continued to surface. After a decade of success that included three NASCAR Cup Series Championships, Tony Stewart made the decision to leave JGR at the conclusion of 2008 season. Thanks to its driver development program, JGR didn’t have to search long for his replacement – Joey Logano.  After two successful seasons in the No. 20 GameStop Toyota, including five Nationwide Series wins in 2009, JGR named Logano to sit behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for the 2009 Sprint Cup season.

Keeping the organization rich in talent to remain competitive on the track each season is something J.D. places a high priority on for JGR. In addition to keeping its internal staff strong, maintaining the external partnerships that allow JGR the opportunity to be successful is equally as important. In 2005, FedEX came on board to sponsor JGR’s third team, the No. 11 with Denny Hamlin and continues to be a strong partner. Prior to last season M&Ms joined JGR to sponsor the No. 18 team with new driver Kyle Busch and the response to the partnership was strong on every level with an amazing eight-win season. Of course, maintaining those relationships has been key to JGR’s success under J.D.’s guidance and nothing is more evident than the lasting relationship enjoyed with Interstate Batteries. Norm Miller, CEO of Interstate Batteries, made the decision to sponsor their first entry into NASCAR back in 1992, and remains a key partner to the organization.

In addition to its sponsors, J.D. oversaw an important change prior to the 2008 season when JGR decided to partner with Toyota. The change proved to be an unquestioned success as all three JGR Cup teams made the chase for the first time in the organization’s history and its No. 20 Nationwide Series team captured the organization’s first owner’s championship.
2010 is certain to bring new challenges, but JGR is well positioned with J.D. running the organization’s day to day operations.
J.D. makes his home in Davidson, N.C., with his wife, Melissa, and their four boys – Jackson, Miller, Jason and Taylor.