The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Joe Gibbs dedicated 2019 season to fallen son J.D.
“I know J.D. was looking down on us all year long. Damn, what a season Joe Gibbs Racing put together. For as awesome as our group is and everybody back at the shop and how awesome they are at building some really, really special race cars, we put it on themthis time.”
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs started 2019 by dealing with the worst possible family tragedy a parent can face and ended it atop the highest peak in his sport. On Jan. 11, Gibbs’ oldest son, Jason Dean, more commonly referred to as “J.D.,” died after a four-year battle with degenerative neurological disease. He was 49. A little more than a month later, Denny Hamlin, driving the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota— a team J.D. had helped pull together — capturedNASCAR’s biggest prize, the Daytona 500. The four-car JGR team would go on to win a modern-day record 19 NASCAR Cup Series races (more than half the 36-race schedule), qualify three drivers for the Championship Round race and emerge with the crown. It was Gibbs’ fifth championship since he jump-started the race team 28 years ago with one car and one major sponsor. Dale Jarrett nabbed Gibbs’ first win as car owner in elite fashion by winning the 1993 Daytona 500. Seven years later, JGR secured its first championship with Bobby Labonte. From there, the team became a heavyweight contender, first catching and now rocketing past the sport’s longtime benchmark organization — Hendrick Motorsports. The master plan for Joe Gibbs, who is now 79 years old, was to gradually pass the baton of ownership to J.D., who had been involved in the day-to-day operation of the team as a young adult. When J.D. was sidelined, Joe Gibbs called his younger son Coy up from the bullpen to begin a fast-track apprenticeship. When J.D. passed away, his father immersed himself into racing. “I know it’s been a difficult time on (J.D.’s widow) Melissa and Joe and to reward him with a championship; I don’t know how much it means to them, but it’s the best I can do,” said Kyle Busch, after winning the Cup Series title. “I know J.D. was looking down on us all year long. Damn, what a season Joe Gibbs Racing put together. For as awesome as our group is and everybody back at the shop and how awesome they are at building some really, really special race cars, we put it on them this time.” Few people realize how relationships and emotions— behind-the-curtain circumstances and actions — can affect the performance of a race team. Joe Gibbs, whowas hardened by professional football and shaped by deep religious convictions, refused to let the death of his son have a negative effect on the vanguard motorsports organization he built from scratch. As the car owner said repeatedly over the season, his son may have been gone in body, but not in spirit. “For me, it started with the Daytona 500,” Gibbs said. “I think anybody that saw that would say there’s no way that could happen by accident. I felt like God was kind of overseeing that. “I think J.D. was there. And then it kind of continued the entire year for me. It’s been emotional to think that you could win the number of races we’ve won.” J.D. Gibbs’ death could have set a negative tone for the entire season. Instead, Joe Gibbs & Co. dedicated the 2019 Cup Series to his son. “I think he was a big part of it for us,” Gibbs said. “I think everybody that worked at Joe Gibbs Racing when J.D. left us ... I think each and every one of them felt that so much. “... It’s kind of hard to put in words. But it’s been special and different, and it was great to finish it up theway we did.”