Tony Gibson (born November 3, 1964) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

auto racing crew chief. He last worked for the #41

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 ...

Ford driven by

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

in the

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 ...

Monster Energy NASCAR 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, ...

. He was the crew chief for Busch's 2017

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 ...

victory. Gibson worked as car chief on

Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...

’s title team of 1992 and was also the car chief on

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

’s title teams of 1998 and 2001. With

Dale Earnhardt Incorporated Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, th ...

, Gibson, was the crew chief for racers such as

Steve Park Stephen Park (born August 23, 1967) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He won races in NASCAR's two top Northeast touring series ( Modified and K&N East) and all three national divisions (Truck, Busch, Cup Series). Park ...

, Michael Waltrip,

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

and at Stewart-Haas Racing for Ryan Newman from 2009 to the majority of 2012 and

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...

for 2013 to most of 2014 before swapping drivers.

Early life

Gibson was born in

Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal Resort town, resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County near the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coastline, its population ...

, United States. He, along with his father, built and maintained cars with his brother

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

as the driver. The Gibson family found success at short tracks around central

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and even won a 1978 track championship 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 ...

. While attending Daytona Beach Community College, Gibson continued to race with his family but after graduating with a Tool and Die making degree, he moved to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to pursue a NASCAR career.

Racing career

Gibson started in the 1980s hanging car bodies for various NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series teams. While working as a body hanger he was befriended by Alan Kulwicki, a driver and owner in the Winston Cup Series, who was working in a nearby shop space. This led to Gibson becoming a

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...

on Kulwicki's team in 1986. Kulwicki's underdog team achieved a surprising Winston Cup championship win in 1992 with Gibson as car chief. After Kulwicki's death in 1993, until 1995, Gibson worked for former champion

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

helping him win the 1994

Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. From 1998 to 2001,

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

hired Gibson to work on the 24 car with driver

. In his 1st year with Hendrick, he scored 13 wins and the 1998 Winston Cup title. In his last season, he scored 6 wins and the 2001 Winston Cup title. The combination scored a total of 29 victories, and 2 championships (the 2 titles were ironically in his 1st and last seasons respectively) in 4 years. Gibson moved to Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2002 where he worked various roles. As a crew chief he worked with Steve Park and later Michael Waltrip. In 2005, he moved to the car chief position for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and later worked as his crew chief for 12 races in 2007. Gibson moved over to Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s #8 Chevrolet, in 2008, driven part-time by

and rookie

Aric Almirola Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. A graduate of Hillsborough High School in T ...

. His first full season as a Sprint Cup crew chief saw him help earn 4 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. A new race team, Stewart-Haas Racing, created by a joint venture between

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 Gene Haas, hired Gibson to lead the #39 of Ryan Newman. A decision to pit for just 2 tires led to his first victory with Newman on April 10, 2010 in the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. In 2017, Gibson was the winning crew chief at the

, with

winning the race. In 2018, Gibson came out of retirement and became the crew chief for the 4 of

Kevin Harvick Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champio ...

after crew chief

Rodney Childers Rodney S. Childers (born June 7, 1976) is an American NASCAR Cup Series crew chief and former professional stock car racing driver. He is currently employed at Stewart-Haas Racing as the crew chief for the No. 4 Ford Mustang, driven by Kevin Har ...

got suspended for the final 2 races of the season due to a L1 spoiler penalty.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Tony 1964 births Living people NASCAR crew chiefs Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida