- A Jan. 9 Sports article misstated the number of grandchildren Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs has. He has seven grandchildren and an eighth on the way.
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Gibbs Again Switches Gears From Football to Racing
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Gibbs will continue spending time in Washington as an adviser to Redskins owner Dan Snyder, but he made clear yesterday that his NASCAR team will be a major part of the next phase of his life.
"We started a family business there that's real important to all of us," Gibbs said.
"Selfishly, I'm thrilled," said Lee White, senior vice president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development USA, after hearing about Gibbs's football resignation. "This is a pivotal year for his race team, for his family, for his family business. J.D. has done an amazing job.
"But they have a huge task facing them with a new manufacturer and a new driver. They have sponsorship issues to renew and extend; they have driver contracts to extend. I have no doubt Joe will be a very positive influence on all those things."
Interstate Batteries has sponsored Gibbs's NASCAR operation since its launch. And Gibbs, whose personality meshed perfectly with that of Interstate's chief executive, Norm Miller, was a major reason.
"It's his presence," Miller said yesterday. "When you know somebody as a friend, you don't always see in them the esteem that they carry. But to Americans and especially people on the East Coast, Joe is a pretty big man. His return is going to add a lot. Not that J.D. hasn't. But it would be like Ronald Reagan going back to the ranch after being president."
Jimmy Makar, senior vice president of racing operations at Gibbs Racing, put it in similar terms.
"Joe just brings a special feeling to the team when he's back in the shop," said Makar, who was one of Gibbs's first NASCAR employees. "He's a great motivator. Just to have him around for a few hours on the shop floor -- the guys are still in awe of him and have great respect for him. When he left to go back to football full time, it sort of left a void here. Not to say that J.D. didn't do a fantastic job of filling Joe's shoes. But it'll be great to have them both back here, working together."
