Ty Gibbs was born 10 years after Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) made its first appearance in NASCAR Cup Series competition in 1992. But just because he wasn’t around for the early years doesn’t mean he lacks any appreciation for the people who helped found his grandfather’s powerhouse team as a third-generation Gibbs family racer.
A 1991 meeting between then-Super Bowl-winning NFL coach Joe Gibbs and Interstate Batteries chairman Norm Miller in Miller’s Dallas office led to a commitment from Interstate Batteries to become the founding sponsor and help Gibbs start his race team in 1992.
This weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Ty Gibbs will get to help pay homage to that 30-year relationship as he’ll be throwing it back to the beginning of the Interstate Batteries and JGR partnership behind the wheel of the No. 54 Interstate Batteries Throwback Toyota for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Steakhouse Elite 200. Gibbs and Interstate Batteries will honor not only the start of their longtime partnership, but also their first victory together as JGR and Interstate Batteries celebrate their 30th anniversary together in 2021.
The paint scheme Gibbs will race is a replica of the original design Dale Jarrett raced to victory in the 1993 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway – the first-ever Cup win for JGR and for Interstate Batteries. The No. 18 entry for Jarrett’s Daytona 500 victory was the prominent Interstate Batteries scheme that was run for the first two years of JGR’s foray into NASCAR’s top series in 1992 and 1993.
The story of Jarrett’s historic victory in the 35th Daytona 500 has been told many times over the last 28 years. That day – Feb. 14, 1993 – Dale Earnhardt led 107 of 200 laps, but he was passed by Jarrett’s No. 18 Interstate Batteries car on the last lap while Jarrett’s father Ned excitedly called the action during the live television broadcast. The “Dale and Dale Show,” as referred to by Ned Jarrett on the telecast, is still considered by many to be one of the memorable races in NASCAR history.
Perhaps lesser known, and somewhat humorous, is the mass confusion that took place following the checkered flag of that 1993 Daytona 500. JGR was just beginning its second season in NASCAR and had yet to find victory lane, while Jarrett had scored only one previous victory in his career – the August 1991 race at Michigan.
So after Jarrett took the checkered flag at Daytona, a large yet slightly unorganized celebration took place.
“We were so naive, we didn’t know what to do after the race, nor did Joe (Gibbs),” Miller said. “I think we barely remembered to get photos taken in victory lane. It was only our second Daytona 500 and we won the thing. It was amazing.”
Joe Gibbs, who 18 months earlier had sold Miller on sponsoring his team despite not having a race shop, a driver or any racing experience, couldn’t believe his team had won the biggest NASCAR event of the season.
“When we crossed the finish line, reality kind of set in,” Gibbs said. “Norm was obviously excited. We were all very emotional. Pat (Gibbs, wife) was there. She was a crying. I remember when we were heading for the winner’s circle, J.D. (Gibbs, son), Coy (Gibbs, son) and Todd (Meredith, crew member, former vice president of operations) were all kind of wrestling in the infield. It was just a great thrill for us.”
Jarrett, who would go on to win two more Daytona 500s, the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series championship and 32 races in NASCAR’s top division, was in the middle of the chaotic victory lane.
“I would say it was one of the more interesting victory lane celebrations,” he said. “Even though I had won at Michigan in the Cup Series, this (Daytona 500) was the biggest race and we were all kind of looking around going, ‘Did this really happen? What do we do now?’ I think we were all kind of looking for some help. I remember looking at Joe and his family, and Norm was there, and we were all kind of looking at each other wondering what we were supposed to be doing. There was just a lot of laughing and hugging and even a few tears, I think.”
While this weekend’s scheme pays homage to JGR’s 1993 Daytona 500 win, there were also memories made in the years that followed for JGR and Interstate Batteries at the tricky Darlington oval. Former JGR driver and 2000 Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte brought home JGR’s first Southern 500 win back in 2000, the same year he brought JGR and Interstate Batteries its first Cup Series title.
In addition to the Cup Series history of Interstate Batteries, Gibbs will join several other drivers who have made Xfinity Series starts for JGR’s founding partner, including Busch, Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, and Daniel Suarez.
Ty Gibbs is set to make his third Xfinity Series start of the season, still early in a career that already has been impressive, to say the least. He won in his first career start on the Daytona road course back in February, then backed it up with a third-place finish in his second start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway last month. In addition to a full schedule in the ARCA Menards Series this season, Gibbs is set to make 14 starts in the Xfinity Series in 2021.
So as Gibbs heads for his next Xfinity Series start at Darlington this weekend, he is hoping he can end up in the same place the same Interstate Batteries scheme ended up in almost 30 years ago –victory lane at an historic racetrack. But this time it’s the 1.33-mile egg-shaped Darlington oval.
TSC PR
