Mark Gibson (born August 14, 1957) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver and team owner. He is a long-time competitor in the

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

, and has also made occasional appearances in

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

competition. He helped found the ARCA team

Cunningham Motorsports Cunningham Motorsports (operating at various points in its history as CSG Motorsports and CHS Motorsports) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, but also in the NASCAR Camping Worl ...

Personal life

Gibson was born in

Richlands, Virginia Richlands is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,823 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578. History Located along the banks of the Clinch R ...

, and is a resident of

Winder, Georgia Winder (pronounced WINE-der) is a city and the county seat of Barrow County, Georgia, United States. It is located east of Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The population was 18,338 at the 2020 census. History The Georgia Gene ...

. The son of racer Bo Gibson, he grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, and graduated in 1975 from

Mainland High School Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

. He is married, to Jan, who was the daughter of racer

Curtis Crider Curtis "Crawfish" Crider (October 7, 1930 – December 21, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver, and a pioneer in the early years of NASCAR. Career Born in Danville, Virginia, he was one of the hardest working and underfinanced racers t ...

, and they have one daughter, Michelle.

Career

Gibson's racing career began in 1974 when, at the age of 16, he began competing in races at

Volusia County Speedway Volusia Speedway Park (formerly known as Volusia County Speedway and Barberville Speedway) is an auto racing facility located near Barberville in Volusia County, Florida. It currently operates as a 1/2-mile dirt oval and a 1/5-mile dirt oval ...

; also running at

New Smyrna Speedway New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller track, known as "Little New Smyrna Speedway" in t ...

, where he won the track's championship in 1979. He began competing in the

in 1981, he moved from the Daytona Beach area to central Georgia in 1985, and won the series' Rookie of the Year title in 1986. He was the last ARCA driver to qualify at over at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...

. A four-time winner in ARCA, Gibson became part of the first two-car team in the series when he teamed with brothers Mike and Joe Cooksey and Don Faurbach from Maurtco Motorsports. Gibson eventually stepped out of the driver seat to concentrate on developing new talent. He, along with Briggs Cunningham III and Kerry Scherer started

in 1997 as CSG Motorsports, racing in ARCA and the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...

. Scherer moved the team to Charlotte in 2000, but he eventually returned to Georgia and worked with Gibson in the Mark Gibson Racing (MGR) shop from 2007 until 2010. Gibson became a partner, owner and General Manager of car No. 77. In 2009, that team would win nine races and their driver

Parker Kligerman Parker L. Kligerman (born August 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing. Kligerman is a former development driver ...

won ARCA Rookie of the Year. Gibson has been instrumental in the development of

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

and

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

driver

Justin Allgaier Justin M. Allgaier (born June 6, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports. He is the 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series champion a ...

and Truck Series driver

Tayler Malsam Tayler Malsam (born February 15, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. Early career After spending time in USAC sprint cars, Malsam made his debut in the ARCA Remax Series in 2007 at Toledo Speedway. Driving for Mark Gibson ...

who drove for Mark in 2008. In 2006, NASCAR driver

Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...

drove Gibson's car at

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Before 2008 J ...

in his stock car debut. Gibson also worked with

Timmy Hill Timothy G. Hill (born February 25, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 56 Toyota Tundra for his own team, Hill Motorsports and part ...

, the NASCAR Nationwide series Rookie of the Year in 2011. Gibson won ten races as a car owner. Gibson is one of the most respected and talented stock car drivers on the dirt miles at DuQuoin and

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

and occasionally enters as a driver in those events to race against the likes of

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

and

Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Trac ...

. Gibson has also run in

on selected occasions, his last attempt being an unsuccessful bid in qualifying for the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

. Gibson's brother

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

was formerly the crew chief for Kurt Busch at

Stewart-Haas Racing Stewart-Haas Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champio ...

in the Sprint Cup Series.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Racing Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

* *
Driver DB Profile

Catchfence: Mark Gibson Racing Focused On Keeping ARCA Presence In 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Mark Living people 1957 births Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida Racing drivers from Florida NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Mainland High School alumni People from Winder, Georgia Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Richlands, Virginia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area