Championship weekend is a time of reflection for Joe Gibbs

AVONDALE, Ariz. — A year after the sudden death of his son Coy, car owner Joe Gibbs says memories will help fill the void this weekend.

Coy died Nov. 6, hours after celebrating son Ty Gibbs’ Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway. Coy was 49.

“I would say there’s going to be part of that that will be remembering things that happened,” Joe Gibbs recently said of returning to Phoenix. “And part of it was, hey, (Coy’s wife) Heather said that’s the happiest she’s seen Coy that night, everything that happened on the racetrack.”

After seeing Ty win the Xfinity crown a year ago, Coy Gibbs said of his son: “I’m definitely proud of him. … I’ve always got his back as his father.”

Coy ran the family’s Supercross and Motocross team from 2008-20. He took a larger role in Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR operation as vice chairman and chief operating officer after the passing of his brother J.D.

Coy, who was a linebacker at Stanford University from 1991-94, competed in NASCAR’s Truck Series from 2000-02 and in the Xfinity Series in 2002-03. He ran 97 races between those two series. Coy also helped guide Ty Gibbs’ racing career.

Returning to Phoenix a year later brings back many memories and emotions for those with Joe Gibbs Racing.

“I can’t get into Ty’s mind or anything like that but certainly it has to have some sort of effect,” Denny Hamlin said Saturday. “I think he does a really good job of focusing in and honing in on his job. Obviously, the organization looks a lot different than it did one year ago. I can just try to sympathize and empathize.”

Ty Gibbs doesn’t talk publicly about his father’s passing but is at Phoenix and will compete in Sunday’s race. Ty starts 11th.

Coy’s death stunned the NASCAR community and came on the morning of the Cup title race. He was the same age his brother J.D. was when he died in January 2019 following a long battle with a degenerative neurological disease.

“Last year was just a whirlwind of emotions,” said Christopher Bell, the lone Joe Gibbs Racing driver competing for a championship last year. “Going in there in my first Championship 4, it was very exciting and happy. It flipped very quickly on Sunday morning.”

Team officials met with those at the track race morning to inform them about Coy’s passing.

“All the management and crew chiefs and people met and hugged it out and just decided that the best thing we could do is to try to win for Coy,” crew chief Adam Stevens said.