We’ve gotten word that J.D. Gibbs, the co-founder and co-chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing, has passed away at the age of 49 years from complications that stemmed from a degenerative neurological disease that first came to light back in late 2014.
The oldest son of Joe Gibbs, J.D. had followed in his father’s footsteps and had been instrumental when the elder Gibbs made the move to running a NASCAR racing team when Joe Gibbs Racing opened for business in 1992. J.D. had finished up a college football career, playing defensive back and quarterback for William & Mary before making the jump to racing. In the early years of Joe Gibbs racing, J.D. was a crew member, changing tires. He thought he’d jump to being a football coach at the time, but the racing bug kind of stuck. He attempted to run in what is now the Xfinity Series and the Truck series, but in an interview in 2004 for The Washington Post, he said, “If it was just me, I could be a pretty good racer. But then you put 42 other cars out there and that causes some issues.” He quickly moved to administrative roles and by 2004, was running the racing team’s day-to-day situation.
Among accomplishments that he had a hand in, you can look at Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart’s championships, the careers of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., as well as Joey Logano, Daniel Suárez, and Martin Truex, Jr. J.D. had relinquished the role of president to Dave Alpern in 2016 and while he’s gone, the impact that his performance at the head of Joe Gibbs Racing will be felt for years to come. He is remembered as a strong personality, a positive influencer, a boss who genuinely cared, and the kind of person that everyone strived to be like. 
