“I’m One of the Luckiest Guys in the World” – Joe Gibbs on Starting his NASCAR Racing Team

Way back in 1991, former NFL coach Joe Gibbs established the Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR team. Since its inception, the team has grown in leaps and bounds. The team has racked up seven championships, including five Cup Series crowns in its three decades of existence. Bobby Labonte drove the team to its maiden title in 2000.

Tony Stewart triumphed in 2002 and 2005, while Kyle Busch took the crown in 2015 and 2019. The remaining two titles came in the Xfinity Series, courtesy of Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez. In addition to that, the outfit has amassed 191 Cup Series and 182 Xfinity Series wins.

In his first press conference after the team was established in 1991, Joe Gibbs said, “Everybody’s got their dreams. Very few people get to live them. I’ve had one in football and dreamed about being a head coach for an NFL team. I guess I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world, because I get another one as I’ve always dreamed about. This is what I’ve thought about”

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Get to know Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing

The  80-year-old is best known for being the head coach of the Washington Football team, then known as the Redskins. Prior to that, he worked with the likes of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Diego Chargers. However, he elected to retire from the sport to pursue a new passion, NASCAR racing.

The former NFL coach has been inducted into both, Pro Football and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Led by Gibbs and with the support of his drivers, the Joe Gibbs Racing team has become a force to be reckoned with. In the 2021 season, the current crop of drivers include Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr and Christopher Bell.

At the moment, all four drivers are competing for the 2021 Cup Series playoffs. The good news is that all of them have qualified, despite Hamlin not notching up a win. He held onto the championship lead for a long time until he was forced to surrender it to Kyle Larson after the Watkins Glen race.

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