| | LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- It hasn't been much of a secret that Joe Gibbs is building something special in NASCAR.
Since retiring as coach of the Washington Redskins and starting
a Winston Cup team in 1992, he has in his quiet way been laying a
foundation for what could become a stock car dynasty.
Heading into Sunday's CarsDirect.com 400 at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing has won four of the last five Winston
Cup events.
|  | | Joe Gibbs has a blue-chipper in Tony Stewart. |
Tony Stewart, who rewrote all the rookie records in 1999, won
two straight races before teammate Bobby Labonte ended the season
with a victory in Hampton, Ga.
After Labonte and Stewart opened 2000 with finishes of sixth and 17th, respectively, in the Daytona 500, the team again flexed its muscle Sunday in Rockingham, N.C. Labonte won for the 13th time, and Stewart finished fourth -- the 13th top-five of his budding career.
That left Labonte second -- just five points behind series
champion Dale Jarrett -- and Stewart ninth in the standings.
"A lot of people talk about how teams work together, but we really do," said Greg Zipadelli, Stewart's crew chief. "It elevates both teams."
Zipadelli frequently exchanges information with Labonte's crew chief, Jimmy Makar.
Not surprisingly for a group of people working for an ex-football coach -- one who went to the Super Bowl four times and won three of them -- teamwork is the key in the burgeoning success of the Gibbs operation.
"Sure, Tony was a rookie last year, but I had a lot of respect for him coming in," said Labonte, who ran second in the points last season while Stewart was fourth. "He was a champion and a big star in sprint cars and midgets. Nothing he has done in stock cars surprises me."
Labonte, who at 35 is seven years older than Stewart, said he doesn't hesitate to turn to the former Indy Racing League and USAC champion for advice when things aren't going well.
Last year, the Gibbs operation became a two-car team. Labonte won a career-high five times, and Stewart set a rookie record with three victories.
"It was really good for me," Labonte said. "There's things that Tony would try that I might not have tried. I saw it work for him, then I went that way.
"I guess you can say our philosophy at Joe Gibbs Racing is you don't have an A team and a B team, you've got two A teams."
That togetherness was ruffled only once last year -- in November in Homestead, Fla., where Labonte and Stewart banged together late in the race while battling for the lead. Stewart went on win.
Did that lead to hard feelings?
"I hope this year we can have a lot more battles like that," Labonte said with a grin. "They will get sticky like that sometimes. But that's OK. We'll each win our share of those battles."
Stewart echoes his teammate.
"Bobby has really helped me get to where we are now," Stewart
said. "He's never turned me down when I've asked him something.
I've learned a lot from him and I hope I've been able to help him
at times, too."
Stewart said that the crew chiefs have a fine relationship
despite trying to beat each other every race.
"We feel good if those guys have a good day, and I think they
feel the same way about us," Stewart said. "Of course, we want to
beat them real bad, and that goes the other way, too."
Gibbs smiles serenely when he hears that kind of talk.
"We believe in teammates, in helping make each other better,"
he said. "You work together off the track to get the best car you
can get for those guys, then you let them settle it on the track."
Nobody will be surprised if the result of that team battle is a
handful of championships.
| |
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