Gibbs tops Super Bowl triumphs with 4th Sprint Cup title
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) - Maybe it's time Joe Gibbs got a new nickname.
The man they call "Coach" now has more NASCAR championships than Super Bowl trophies.
Gibbs won his fourth career Cup title Sunday when driver Kyle Busch won the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gibbs won championships with Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Tony Stewart in 2002 and 2005.
Gibbs formed his own race team in 1992, a year before he ended his first stint with the Washington Redskins.
Gibbs led the Redskins to three Super Bowl titles (1982, 1987 and 1991).
Believe it or not, no championship contest topped Sunday night.
"Nothing bigger in sports has ever happened to me," the 74-year-old Gibbs said.
Burned out from long days and nights - he was known as a workaholic who sometimes slept on a cot at Redskins Park - Gibbs left football and pursued a successful NASCAR career. His racing team heavily involved both his sons, giving him the family life he missed in the NFL.
Gibbs' oldest son, J.D., is president of Joe Gibbs Racing. J.D. Gibbs is battling a brain disease and gingerly walked during the Cup celebration. Joe's grandkids were part of the victory party and bounced around the back of the media center.
"We've got a second generation coming to the race shop," Gibbs said. "It's a thrill for us, a thrill me to (win) in two sports like this. I love football. It's just a thrill for me."
JGR also fields Cup entries for Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. JGR also has three Xfinity Series teams and Busch won the series championship in 2009.
Gibbs said the Super Bowl wins were "awesome" though ownership meant different responsibilities than drawing up plays.
"I have the real thrill the first of every month of trying to pay the bills," Gibbs said, smiling.
Busch has a new contract with JGR, which also got sponsor Mars Inc.'s M&M's brand to extend its deal.
Busch, who opened the season in a hospital bed, needled his coach after the race that perhaps he shouldn't have rushed to sign the deal.
"He said, 'I should have waited to extend my contract,'" Gibbs said.