A Gibbs Reunion?

Following the Washington Redskins’ first round playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks a week and a half ago, Joe Gibbs announced his retirement once again from coaching in the National Football League.  During Gibbs’ first coaching tenure in the NFL, the Canton bound coach took Washington to repeated playoff appearances and three Super Bowl berths, including a win in the 1991 / 1992 Super Bowl, after which he stepped down. From there, Joe went onto create Joe Gibbs Racing, the elite racing team that has since won 4 Cup Championships in NASCAR’s elite series. Since Joe stepped down from the President of Operations within his own company four years ago to re-pursue another career with the Redskins, however, the racing team just hasn’t been the same. They’re still contenders for the championship year in and year out, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve been missing the dominant presence that the team used to possess.

For instance, two-time champion Tony Stewart failed to finish a Cup Series season ranked in the top ten two years ago for the first time in his career, and last season we watched the teams of Stewart and Denny Hamlin (for all intents and purposes) fall apart once the season reached the playoff schedule we’ve come to know as “the Chase”. Since then, the team has replaced JJ Yeley in the no. 18 car with the likes of the rising Kyle Busch, but the road’s still been looking rather bleak for the team due to the fact that they’ve made the jump from racing behind the Chevy Monte Carlo to getting strapped into the one-year old (to NASCAR) Toyota Camri’s for the 2008 season, which failed miserably in 2007.

Hope is not lost, however, as JGR still has under its contract three of the most talented drivers in stock car racing today. The big question right now is what will Joe Gibbs’ role in the ’08 season be? It’s already known that he’s agreed to remain within the Redskins’ organization as a consultant to owner Dan Snyder, but what does this mean for his racing operation? For years, JGR has been known for running some of the best engine packages in the sport, and Joe’s son, JD, is no doubt capable of maintaining his father’s program. But, the fact of the matter is that Joe Gibbs is a proven winner – no matter what it is he’s pursued, he’s won – and, with the team going Toyota-bound, I believe that the immediate future of this team could rest on his shoulders once again.