‘Coach’ Joe Gibbs Lets Slip His Mastermind Story Behind Luring Tony Stewart Into NASCAR

One of many hardest components of constructing a champion crew is recognizing uncooked expertise. And when you see it, do no matter it takes to safe it. NASCAR legend Rick Hendrick famously scouted Jeff Gordon at a Busch Collection race in 1992, chartering a personal jet to convey the 20-year-old phenom to Charlotte for a handshake deal the very subsequent day. Joe Gibbs confronted an analogous crossroads when he first heard about Tony Stewart.

Gibbs, a three-time Tremendous Bowl-winning coach who led the Washington Redskins with three totally different quarterbacks within the Nineteen Eighties and early ’90s. Now, Gibbs had turned to NASCAR possession in 1991 with the identical strategic mindset. When he watched Tony Stewart climb by means of the ranks of USAC, open-wheel, and finally win the 1997 IRL title, Gibbs noticed a multidisciplinary driver with uncommon versatility. He got down to convey Stewart into Joe Gibbs Racing, organising some of the transformative partnerships in Cup Collection historical past.

How Joe Gibbs lured Tony Stewart into NASCAR

Joe Gibbs was nonetheless laying the groundwork for his fledgling Cup crew when he first turned his consideration to a younger sprint-car star named Tony Stewart. As Kevin Harvick put it on his Happy Hour podcast, “Inform me the way you went and located Tony Stewart.” Joe Gibbs walked right into a Shell sponsorship assembly, already eyeing a driver he’d by no means formally met, as Gibbs recalled, “We had type of all seen Tony, and I simply mentioned, ‘What do you suppose if we might get Tony Stewart?’ They freaked out. ‘He’s who we would like.’”

On the time, Tony Stewart had already clinched the 1995 USAC Triple Crown. A feat nobody had achieved earlier than, and he was rising quick in IndyCar. In 1997, he turned the IRL champion whereas additionally dabbling in NASCAR’s Busch Collection with Bobby Labonte’s crew. Regardless of being underneath contract with Harry Ranier’s Cup operation, Stewart was seen by some within the inventory automobile world as a risky expertise: good behind the wheel, however onerous to handle.

Gibbs didn’t let Stewart’s busy schedule derail him. “I begin making an attempt to chase him down. I can’t discover him half the time as a result of he’s everywhere. So I lastly name his girlfriend at Indy. The third time I name her, she goes, ‘That’s not him.’ And I went, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s over.’ However I stored after Tony, stored speaking to Harry, and I mentioned, ‘May we work a deal right here?’” Certainly, Stewart was splitting time between USAC and occasional Busch (Xfinity) excursions with Bobby Labonte’s crew in 1996–97. This made it almost unimaginable to pin him down. Gibbs’ persistence—calling Stewart’s circle, negotiating with Ranier, and promising him a transparent improvement path—broke by means of the chaos and set the wheels in movement.

Stewart himself admitted he resisted a right away leap to the Cup. The 84-year-old mentioned, “I’m not prepared for Cup… They wished me to drive Cup. I’m not prepared nonetheless. So we put him in Xfinity.” Reasonably than pressure a untimely Cup debut, Gibbs bought Labonte Motorsports in late 1998 to create his Busch program and let Stewart sharpen his stock-car abilities. Stewart wrecked repeatedly, generally 3 times in a single observe. However these crashes taught him automobile management on pavement, in contrast to his USAC dust background. In 1998, he didn’t win, however he completed eighth in Busch factors and gained invaluable expertise.

In 1999, Stewart’s rookie Cup season netted three victories and Rookie of the 12 months honors, instantly validating Gibbs’ gamble. Stewart went on to win his first Cup championship in 2002. Simply 4 years after Gibbs first “freaked out” on the thought of signing him, he turned one among NASCAR’s most versatile stars throughout USAC, IndyCar, and inventory automobiles.

That’s only one success story of the Joe Gibbs playbook. However can he do the identical together with his grandson? That’s a query floating round quite a bit today.

May Joe Gibbs shift gears after his grandson’s NASCAR setback?

In the case of household, Joe Gibbs not often reveals his hand. Nevertheless, his grandson Ty Gibbs’s rocky 2025 Cup season might have even prompted “Coach” to loosen his grip on protocol. Ty began the yr praising his crew chief, Tyler Allen. “Your calm, your race craft—it’s precisely what we’d like,” he mentioned at Daytona. But by means of 18 races, Ty sat twenty fourth in factors with zero wins and solely three high‑10 finishes. That efficiency prompted a daring transfer. JGR elevated veteran Chris Gabehart, Denny Hamlin’s former crew chief, right into a extra hands-on function with the No. 54 automobile.

The shift was telling. Gibbs put in Gabehart in Atlanta’s pit field for a “tag crew” setup with Allen, hoping to speed up Ty’s studying curve. Regardless of main 32 laps there, Ty completed 14th after contact. A modest enchancment however nonetheless in need of Victory Lane. Sources say Joe has been quietly weighing even harder choices if outcomes don’t comply with.

The query now’s, will Gibbs’s steely aggressive intuition yield to familial loyalty? A number of insiders counsel he’s able to do no matter it takes, even breaking character to coax a win out of his grandson. In any case, he constructed his status chasing champions onto his groups. And if the blueprint that labored for Tony Stewart has taught us something, it’s that generally the hardest love is what brings out the very best.