All in the family

For the increasingly powerful Joe Gibbs Racing team, good communication, a positive role model and long-term contracts keep success on track.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2000

CONCORD, N.C. -- The Joe Gibbs Racing team is one big happy family. But not long ago, things seemed to be fraying at the edges.

Tony Stewart had just completed the finest rookie season Winston Cup had seen, and Bobby Labonte ran a stunning second half of the year. They finished fourth and second, respectively, in the points standings.

Then the rumors started. Stewart and Labonte didn't get along. Stewart was going to jump to Ray Evernham's Dodge operation.

Things got so bad, Stewart said crew members worried about the team's future.

"We had some guys in the shop who were pretty upset about this," said Stewart, adding he never spoke to Evernham about a move. "Every time they'd read something in the paper or hear something in the rumor mill, it was a distraction."

That was something team owner Joe Gibbs did not want, so he sewed up the edges by signing Stewart, Labonte and their crew chiefs, Greg Zipadeli and Jimmy Makar, to contract extensions through 2004.

As for the alleged Stewart-Labonte feud, Stewart said, "Bobby and I have a great relationship. I owe Bobby more thanks for last year because he's the one who really gave me the knowledge to go out and do what I did."

"We've got great communication right now," Labonte said. "We go out and drive our own race, but we can still communicate about what the tracks are doing, what the tires are doing. I think that's a big key and I'm sure it will only get stronger as the season progresses."

In other words, Joe Gibbs Racing is primed for a two-pronged assault on the Winston Cup points title.

On one flank is the 35-year-old Labonte, who had five victories and 23 top-5s last season, and 10 top-10s in the final 10 races. On the other is Stewart, 28, who won a rookie-record three races and had 21 top-10s.

Add a Pontiac Grand Prix that turned in eight of the 20 fastest laps at last month's Daytona testing, and the package is formidable.

It is Gibbs, though, who really makes the team tick. The former Washington Redskins coach admitted he does not get involved in the technical side of the business.

"We don't let him work on the race cars," Labonte deadpanned.

But he is a master at gathering sponsorships and evaluating and accumulating talent. He called Stewart and Labonte "draft picks" that were "as good as I have ever made."

Stewart said Gibbs further falls into coach mode when he draws X's and O's on the chalkboard to explain a complicated point. But his positive attitude is infectious, and Stewart called him "a great leader."

Gibbs treats the Stewart and Labonte teams equally and said about 85 percent of his employees work on both cars. The car bodies, chassis and engines are identical, he said. That way, jealousies are squashed and it is easier for the teams to share information.

That said, Gibbs also fosters competition.

"There are no deals at our race shop," he said. "Everybody races as hard as they can."

"He knows how to coordinate, motivate and assemble people," said Travis Carter, owner of Jimmy Spencer's car. "If we look at where we want to go, that's our model. I admire the man."

For all the strides his teams have made, Gibbs said the organization still has a long way to go.

"I've learned in sports that a good year does not buy you anything the next year," he said. "We're approaching it cautiously."

But optimistically, right?

"I tell you, I'm not an expectations kind of guy," Gibbs said. "All I can say is that we want to try to race each race as hard as we can. We think potentially we have a chance to win races, and what we're hoping is we'll be consistent enough to run for a championship with both cars."

Labonte is considered the front-runner. Had it not been for the occasional wretched finish in the first half of last season, he might have won the championship instead of finishing behind Dale Jarrett.

Most disappointing: a 27th-place finish at Sears Point on June 27.

Labonte was running sixth with nine laps remaining when he ran into a tire barrier and crashed into Joe Nemechek.

"It wasn't a parts failure," Labonte said. "It wasn't something that happened in front of me that you couldn't avoid. It was something I should have avoided but wasn't smart enough to do it. It was just a major screw-up. We lost a lot of momentum points-wise that day because we were ahead of Dale (in the race), and we never could get it back."

Still, Labonte said one incident or shortcoming did not derail his championship bid, and one adjustment will not make a difference this season.

"We just need to get a little bit of everything better," Labonte said. "We don't have to count on one solid thing or put all our eggs in one basket. If we make all the right moves. If we can pick up some tracks we didn't hit on last year, we'll do good. We just have to wait and see, but I like our chances. We feel good going into the season, no doubt about that."

Stewart, who insisted he still has much to learn, said he wants to help Labonte win the title. After all, only Dale Earnhardt has gone from top rookie to champion in one year.

Then again, Stewart seems farther along than Jeff Gordon was in 1993, when he finished 14th as Winston Cup's rookie champion.

Stewart said it is not fair to compare.

"Part of winning a championship is having luck on your side," he said. "We had it last year. If we have the same luck, then sure (a championship) is a possibility. Do I lay at home at night and say we can win a championship this year? No. There are just too many variables that are out of your control."

Give Gibbs credit for turning four potential variables -- the futures of Stewart, Labonte and their crew chiefs -- into a constant.

Not only did it stop harmful speculation, it allowed Stewart to catch up on some sack time.

"I'm going to be able to go to sleep without Joe calling me and saying, "Guess what I heard today?' " Stewart said. "Best of all, the guys in the shop won't have to worry about where I'm going or what I'm doing, and we can get the focus back on where it needs to be."

Call it a family affair.

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