RIP Coy Gibbs – Rider X
It is with heavy hearts that Racer X announces the passing of Coy Gibbs, owner and leader of the Joe Gibbs Racing MX team which competed from 2008 to 2020. Coy had moved on to the NASCAR side of the Joe Gibbs Racing operation, and his son Ty had won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship yesterday in Phoenix. Coy passed away in his sleep last night. The NASCAR Cup championship final takes place this afternoon in Phoenix.
Coy is the son of NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs. After Joe retired from the NFL with several Superbowl championships with the Washington Red Skins, he got into auto racing, first with drag racing and then NASCAR. Joe’s son, JD, was a big part of the NASCAR operation, while Coy branched out and started the JGR motocross team. Coy left a mark as an innovator, using team concepts from his football background and a private team business model like the JGR NASCAR team. The JGR MX team never won the championship they were hoping for, but the team did win races with the likes of Josh Grant, James Stewart and Justin Barcia, and you can see some of the concepts Coy had preached 15 years ago – like riders on horseback and training together, in a single facility, outside of the factory network in California – has become common practice today.
