The Villages Daily Sun

Joe Gibbs is back with the racing team he founded in 1991, and if you ask me, his return comes none too soon.

Gibbs, who recently retired a second time as the coach of the NFL’s Washington Redskins, is back at the raceshop doing what he does best — motivating people, being a positive influence, and just generally making things run smoothly.

His son, J.D., is still in charge of the racing operation, but everyone in the garage area at Daytona knows having the “coach” back on pit road is a big positive.

“It’s great, obviously, having Joe back,” said Tony Stewart, who finished third in Sunday’s 50th running of the Daytona 500. “He’s a great leader. Everybody’s excited to have him back.”

Stewart, the 36-year-old lead driver of Gibbs Racing, couldn’t have said it better when speaking about Gibbs’ return. That’s because the team recently switched to Toyota after 16 years in the General Motors camp — a major move for any team to undertake.

In case you aren’t familiar with Toyota, the automaker made the move to Cup racing last season with less than stellar results. Only four Toyotas started the 2007 Daytona 500, while nine started Sunday’s Great American Race.

Last season, Toyota ran Camrys with two start-up teams, Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing. The automaker also supplied Toyotas for Bill Davis Racing, but the results weren’t positive.

For the 2008 season, Toyota officials wisely went after a top-tier team and a big-name driver. They got the team they wanted —Joe Gibbs Racing — and as an added bonus, they came home with three top drivers — Stewart, Denny Hamlin, who finished in 17th-place Sunday, and the recently signed Kyle Busch, who recorded a fourth-place Daytona 500 finish.

But making sure the switch to Toyota goes smoothly isn’t the most important reason for Gibbs to return.

The biggest reason he’s needed is to ride herd on his stable of volatile drivers. Stewart is a well-known hothead who’s done everything from knocking a tape recorder out of a reporter’s hand to scuffling with several other drivers to making smart aleck remarks just about every time he’s interviewed.

Hamlin showed he has plenty of spunk last season when he tangled with Kyle Petty on the track, then jumped out of his FedEx Chevy to get in the 47-year-old driver’s face.

And Busch has quite a well-known temper, much like his brother, Kurt. He’s constantly running on the edge, always ready with a biting comment about another driver, NASCAR in general, or the Goodyear tires all teams run. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and probably won’t ever hesitate to put his foot in his mouth after a crash or a tough race.

That’s where Gibbs comes into play. The 67-year-old owner is a calming influence and knows how to handle explosive personalities like a pro. Gibbs is probably the only owner in NASCAR who could have tolerated and succeeded with Stewart for the past nine seasons. But 320 races later, Stewart has won two Cup titles and 32 races and has recorded 119 top-5 and 191 top-10s at the Cup level. Sure, he’s done some stupid things and found himself on probation from both NASCAR and his sponsor, Home Depot, but the bottom line is simple — he wins and he wins a lot.

When you throw Busch into the Gibbs mix, you can count on the team definitely needing a steady and calming influence — a baby sitter of sorts. Gibbs is that guy, and as the 2008 season goes forward, the race team’s results will show how invaluable it’s been to have the “coach” return to the sidelines to lead his Toyota operation.

“With the driver lineup he’s got, I don’t think he wants to relax too much,” Stewart said with a smile Saturday after winning the Nationwide Series race. “We just kind of like keeping him on the edge anyway. It’s kind of fun to watch him walk around on edge a little bit.”

Maybe so, Tony, but make no mistake about it, Gibbs has all three of his drivers right where he wants them — on the verge of being a part of one of the most successful dynasties in NASCAR history.

Larry D. Croom is the content director of The Villages Media Group. He can be reached at (352) 753-1119 or by e-mail at larry.croom@thevillagesmedia.com.