One of Joe Gibbs\u2019 favorite sayings is so simple, but also perfectly describes the kind of person he is. It goes: \u201cFair and square.\u201d Gibbs does not believe in cheating or bending the rules, something that he ingrains in all his drivers and several hundred employees.<\/p>\n
Sure, Joe Gibbs Racing has been caught bending if not breaking some rules over time, but more often than not, those infractions are unintentional or inadvertent. And if they\u2019re caught doing something wrong, JGR takes its punishment. That\u2019s the way the Coach demands it.<\/p>\n
Gibbs was his usual stoic self in the closing laps of Sunday\u2019s race at Dover Motor Speedway. The team\u2019s senior driver, Denny Hamlin, at 44 years old, the oldest active full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, was being challenged by his three JGR teammates, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs (Joe Gibbs\u2019 grandson).<\/p>\n
Ultimately, it came down to Hamlin vs. Briscoe. And while Briscoe could have tried a bump-and-run to push Hamlin out of the way, he didn\u2019t want to take the chance of potentially wrecking both<\/a> himself and Hamlin in the process, costing JGR a win.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said this numerous times, the most uptight I get is when two of our cars are up there going for it,\u201d Gibbs said after Sunday\u2019s race. \u201cSo much can happen and we\u2019ve had instances where it hasn\u2019t gone well and it\u2019s taken us too much to get guys to talk to each other.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can really, really hurt what you\u2019re building, the teamwork part of it, and that\u2019s so critical when our sport is totally different. You\u2019ve got four cars trying to solve problems.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving them work together teamwork-wise really is important, but when we get to the racetrack, everybody\u2019s after it. They\u2019re on their own. They want it for their sponsor and we understand that. It\u2019s racing and we go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Gibbs: There are \u2018no deals\u2019 or \u2018team orders,\u2019 just being \u2018fair and square\u2019<\/p>\n