One of Joe Gibbs’ favorite sayings is so simple, but also perfectly describes the kind of person he is. It goes: “Fair and square.” Gibbs does not believe in cheating or bending the rules, something that he ingrains in all his drivers and several hundred employees.
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Sure, Joe Gibbs Racing has been caught bending if not breaking some rules over time, but more often than not, those infractions are unintentional or inadvertent. And if they’re caught doing something wrong, JGR takes its punishment. That’s the way the Coach demands it.
Gibbs was his usual stoic self in the closing laps of Sunday’s race at Dover Motor Speedway. The team’s senior driver, Denny Hamlin, at 44 years old, the oldest active full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, was being challenged by his three JGR teammates, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs’ grandson).
Ultimately, it came down to Hamlin vs. Briscoe. And while Briscoe could have tried a bump-and-run to push Hamlin out of the way, he didn’t want to take the chance of potentially wrecking both himself and Hamlin in the process, costing JGR a win.
“I’ve said this numerous times, the most uptight I get is when two of our cars are up there going for it,” Gibbs said after Sunday’s race. “So much can happen and we’ve had instances where it hasn’t gone well and it’s taken us too much to get guys to talk to each other.
“It can really, really hurt what you’re building, the teamwork part of it, and that’s so critical when our sport is totally different. You’ve got four cars trying to solve problems.
“Having them work together teamwork-wise really is important, but when we get to the racetrack, everybody’s after it. They’re on their own. They want it for their sponsor and we understand that. It’s racing and we go for it.”
Gibbs: There are ‘no deals’ or ‘team orders,’ just being ‘fair and square’
But Gibbs was quick to add that he does not believe in so-called “team rules” or “team orders,” where one driver should get precedence and preference over the others. “There’s no deals,” Gibbs said. “But it is something that you think about a lot. I do.”
Gibbs then interjected to reveal something else he does a lot of, adding with a laugh, “All I do is pray on race day.”
