Hours after his son won the Xfinity Series title, the vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing died. The man was 49 years old.
Shortly before the start of the NASCAR season finale, the team said that co-owner Coy Gibbs had gone to sleep. The family is requesting privacy at this time.
Both of Joe's sons have passed away. J.D. Gibbs passed away at the age of 49. The family-run NASCAR organization had a new vice chairman.
Jim France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR, said that the organization was "heartbroken" by the death of Coy Gibbs. "On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Coy, a true friend and racer," said France.
There was a moment of silence before the Cup championship at Phoenix Raceway, where Christopher Bell was racing for the title. Kyle Busch was crying on the pit road before the start of the race in his final race.
Denny Hamlin said "Today we will do what we don't want to do, but we will unify as a family and race for the name on our chest."
Today we will do what we don't want to do, but we we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chest. @JoeGibbsRacing
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) November 6, 2022
Daniel Hemric was supposed to drive the No. 23 for 23XI Racing, but he was replaced for an emergency. Jackson was on the pit crew for the race.
Kyle Busch's replacement at JGR is expected to be the 20-year-old son of Coy Gibbs.
Brandon Jones was wrecked out of the lead at a speedway on the final lap by teammate Ty Gibbs, who was criticized for aggressive driving. Jones needed to win the race in order to make the championship and JGR and Toyota would have had two cars in the finale.
It had been a difficult week at JGR, according to Hamlin. He explained that he was referring to a "tight family unit" when he said "I miss J.D.".
"We really have to treat them like they're our brother and our family, and I think at times at JGR, we probably work with each other the least amount of any other team, and that's just the facts." J.D. was different because he wrapped his arms around everyone. I said that J.D. was my father. When I came into the series, I realized that he was my dad, so we have to get it back.
After his back-to-back victories, the young driver was loudly booed by the crowd at Phoenix. Ty Gibbs apologized before he held off Noah Gragson for the title.
Following Saturday's title win, Gragson sent out a message ofPrayers to the Gibbs family.
He addressed the difficulty of the days leading up to his son's title win during Saturday's post race news conference.
"It's definitely been a difficult week for sure," he said. I just want to get this day over with as soon as possible. I want to move on and forget about it. This is not the first time I've been through this. Ty has yet to do so. It was more watching him to see how he would respond during the day. He did his job after making a huge mistake. It was enjoyable to watch that.
During his father's second stint as the Washington NFL coach, Coy was an offensive quality control assistant.
The owners of Commanders said in a statement that they were devastated by the death of their friend and colleague.
He had a short racing career, which included two years in the Busch Series and three in the Trucks series, before he helped his father start a motocross team.
Racing is a family and the relationships within the garage go far deeper than on-track competition. Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson said in a statement that they lost a dear part of their family today. Everyone at Toyota and TRD is devastated by the loss of Coy. Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with Joe, Pat, Heather, Ty, Case, Jett, and the rest of the family and friends of Joe.
He was born in Arkansas and lived in North Carolina with his family.
This report was contributed to by The Associated Press.
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