“I Saved Your Life” – Joe Gibbs Breaks Silence on Kevin Harvick’s Heated Second That Went Too Far

NASCAR thrives on wrecks and impassioned encounters. The 2025 season has already seen its wholesome share of flaring tempers, with veterans turning in opposition to some offended younger males. Nonetheless, a couple of drivers nonetheless maintain hallowed standing within the rowdy realm. Just a few names roll off your tongue naturally, like Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick. Nonetheless, Harvick would have confronted a harmful state of affairs if not for Joe Gibbs.

Kevin Harvick retired on the finish of 2023, bidding adieu to a wealthy profession of 60 Cup Collection wins and settling down right into a broadcasting function as a revered veteran. But nearly 20 years in the past, Harvick had a status for ruffling feathers. At one level, he went too far, however unbeknownst to him to at the present time, it was Joe Gibbs who saved him!

Joe Gibbs acted as a mediator

Till the time he was alive, Coy Gibbs was a lot liked in NASCAR. The son of Joe Gibbs was a fixture of the previous soccer coach’s racing enterprise within the sport. Coy additionally dabbled in racing; throughout 2000-2003, he made 58 Craftsman Truck begins, netting a greatest end of runner-up in Texas. It was at the moment he brushed in opposition to Kevin Harvick, an offended younger man.

Harvick had moved into Richard Childress Racing quickly after Dale Earnhardt’s tragic loss of life and tried his greatest to reside as much as The Intimidator’s identify. At one time, he made a rival out of Coy Gibbs in a 2002 Martinsville Truck Collection race. Each exchanged retaliatory blows, and Harvick landed a $50,000 superb and a race suspension. Harvick needed to confront Gibbs, and NASCAR officers stopped him. However Joe Gibbs says there was extra to this story.

In a recent episode of ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’, Joe Gibbs slipped out a component unknown till now. With Kevin Harvick’s leaner construction, the 2014 Cup Collection champion wouldn’t have been capable of deal with Coy Gibbs in a combat, as Joe Gibbs defined: “I’m going to inform you the sincere fact, I saved your life. You don’t know this…’trigger you bought into it that day…I keep in mind this; you set that truck proper up in opposition to NASCAR, that didn’t go over effectively. And Coy, when he acquired out of there, Coy stated, ‘I’m gonna get him sometime.’ I stated, ‘We are able to’t be doing this in a sport.’ I don’t know who would have received that combat… I’d put the chances on Coy as a result of he outweighs you by a 100 kilos.”

Effectively, issues would have turned out otherwise if Gibbs Sr. had not stepped in. Perhaps Kevin Harvick would have improved his wrecking habits, as he went on to enter brawls with Ricky Rudd in 2003, touchdown a $35,000 superb, after which Matt Kenseth in 2004, which led to a $25,000 superb. Nonetheless, Joe Gibbs, Harvick, and Coy Gibbs maintained a enjoyable relationship.

Gibbs stated, “I keep in mind that these early days, I used to joke with y’all. I keep in mind he would provide you with humorous feedback about different drivers. And you then backed off for some time, and I keep in mind strolling as much as you and I stated, ‘Hey, what’s the deal? You get a lobotomy or one thing? Come on, let’s get again with the humorous stuff.”

The humorous stuff most likely muffled Coy Gibbs’ rowdy aspect from getting at Kevin Harvick. Nonetheless, Joe Gibbs quickly had two extra drivers on his workforce who had been a lot tougher to deal with.

Expertise fueled by ardour

Effectively, Coy Gibbs toned down his mood by listening to his father. However Joe Gibbs couldn’t create the identical influence on Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch for a time. Stewart, aka Smoke, had an eclectic status. From making pranks on different drivers to doing hysterical business appearances, Stewart’s vibrant character typically lacked a leash. Nonetheless, he ultimately scaled down his feelings with the assistance of his spouse, Leah Pruett. Then, Kyle Busch‘s notoriety on racetracks is not any much less well-known. From upsetting Kevin Harvick by wrecking his driver in a Truck race to touchdown a fistfight with Joey Logano, Busch was referred to as Rowdy for a motive. But Gibbs emphasised that each one this fueled their ardour much more.

Tony Stewart owns three Cup Collection championships, together with titles in numerous sequence like IndyCar, IROC, and many others. Kyle Busch remains to be the winningest driver in NASCAR with 233 victories. Therefore, Joe Gibbs burdened that their rowdy feelings helped their skills: “Each of them, I actually appreciated their expertise, the best way they went after it for us. Each of them, like when you get Kyle, he’s acquired an ideal humorousness. You get him in a social setting and stuff, you’ll snort loads. However each of them actually gifted, so clearly, that was nice for us. And you already know, we, now and again, there have been some challenges. However actually, they helped construct our race workforce, they actually did. I appreciated each of them a lot as a result of, you already know, they received a ton.”

Clearly, Joe Gibbs has a penchant for roping in feisty racers and calming them down. Irrespective of how wild they’re, such stories enrich his team’s legacy. What do you consider Joe Gibbs’ journey as a workforce proprietor? Tell us within the feedback!