Tragedy Strikes NASCAR: Champion Loses Father Hours After Winning Title
Coy Gibbs, the vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing for his NFL and NASCAR Hall of Fame father, died Sunday morning just hours after his son won the Xfinity Series championship. He was 49.
“It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night. The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time,” the team said in a statement released shortly before the start of the NASCAR season finale.
It is with great sorrow that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs (co-owner) went to be with the Lord in his sleep last night. The family appreciates all the thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time.
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) November 6, 2022
Joe Gibbs has lost both of his sons. J.D. Gibbs died in 2019 of degenerative neurological disease, and was also 49 at the time of his death. Coy Gibbs succeeded his deceased brother as vice chairman of the family-run NASCAR organization.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs. On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France said in a statement.
A statement from NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France on the passing of Coy Gibbs. pic.twitter.com/Ja94LfO5C8
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2022
NASCAR held a moment of silence for Coy Gibbs before the start of the Cup championship Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, where JGR’s Christopher Bell was racing for the title. JGR picked up all four of its crew chiefs in golf carts and drove them to a meeting in the motorhome lot two hours before the start of the race.
“Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest,” JGR driver Denny Hamlin tweeted.
Coy Gibbs had just watched his son, Ty Gibbs, win an emotional victory, and the Xfinity Series Championship title, at Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway on Saturday.
The win was particularly important because Ty Gibbs had just last week wrecked teammate Brandon Jones out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway on the final lap.
Jones needed to win the race to make the Xfinity championship and JGR and Toyota would have had two cars in the finale had Gibbs just stayed in second.
“When you start this day, you just want to get it over with, you just want to get past it,” Coy Gibbs said after his son’s victory. “I think he’s just doubled down and did his job after making a huge mistake last week. It was fun to watch.”
Hard to fathom that this picture was taken just last night. RIP Coy Gibbs. pic.twitter.com/AHuuoEGqiA
— Davey Segal (@DaveyCenter) November 6, 2022
Coy Gibbs played linebacker at Stanford from 1991-94 and served as an offensive quality control assistant during his father’s second stint as the Washington NFL coach.
Gibbs had a short racing career, including two years in the then-NASCAR Busch Series and three in NASCAR’s Trucks Series before helping his father launch Joe Gibbs Racing Motocross in 2007.
Coy Gibbs was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and lived in Cornelius, North Carolina, with his wife Heather and four children.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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