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Heather Gibbs: Losing Coy, Charter Negotiations, & Ty's First Cup Win
01:17:32
When people hear the Gibbs name, most would think of NASCAR owner and Super Bowl champion Joe Gibbs. While Joe continues as the namesake of the motorsports powerhouse that is Joe Gibbs Racing, his daughter-in-law, Heather Gibbs, has stepped into a leadership role to help forge the future of the team.
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Narrator/Advertiser
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Chase Sapphire Cardholder
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Cards issued by JP Morgan, J's bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
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Dirty Mo Media Host
The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Welcome to the business of motorsports. It is yours truly, Kelly Earnhardt Miller. You know, one thing that I really hope that this series does is open up people's horizons.
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Heather Gibbs
I got in a lot of trouble, but I got challenged.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I don't know why you're coming here.
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Narrator/Advertiser
You don't trust us?
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Dirty Mo Media Host
I said, no, it's not. I don't trust you.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I'm running a business. A lot of people kind of feel like, well, we're never getting back to where we were.
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Heather Gibbs
Why did we ever get to where we were?
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
There's so much more involved in decision.
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Heather Gibbs
I mean, I want to rip somebody's
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
head off every day.
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Heather Gibbs
I say yes to him.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh, you say yes on the phone?
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Dirty Mo Media Host
Well, you made me say.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
This episode of Business and Motorsports is presented by Arby's. Don't forget about Arby's. New meet in three boxes. Get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats. All right. Well, welcome today to Business and Motorsports. I'm super excited to have Heather Gibbs here from Joe Gibbs Racing. We're going to just dive into a lot of topics, Heather, and super excited to hear a lot of different stories. I learned a few things I'm going to ask you about. One thing's not on here, but I promise it's not. I promise it's not bad. But, you know, before we get into this is business motorsport. So you know, we're usually talking about, you know, how things work and. And all of the challenges and. And. And. And all that we have in this sport and the fun that we have in the sport. I don't want to. I don't want to make. Make it all bad. It's not bad. It's a great sport. But I want to start with the win that at Bristol for Ty. Super special. I understand the legacy of family, obviously, being in the sport, and you guys like our family, where there's so many parallels to our families. We have been through our share of heartache and agony in the sport, and you guys, especially in the Gibbs family, what did this feel like? I mean, that just had to be such a moment. I watched on tv. We were excited. We're Ty Gibbs fans. We watch. You know, we. We've competed alongside him in the micros and sprint cars and things like that. So what. What was that like for you as a mom?
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Heather Gibbs
You know, it's so funny just kind of going back, thinking about it, like, ever stop to think, what would I do if he wins? You know, you. I think just being so busy with, you know, the business of, you know, racing, having four kids, that I never, you know, kind of crossed my mind. And also, it's really hard. You know, you got to be. You got to beat your teammates. You got to be Denny Hamlin on the track. So your first year going in, you're thinking, oh, you know, we won so many races in Xfinity at the time, we'll immediately win. And you realize you're. You're. You know, you were successful there. You're in. Get your butt kicked here. And so it's. It's very humbling. So I just never kind of stopped and to think about it. And so, you know, at the end of the race and he's leading and we're, you know, have a tire deficit, and. And I love that, you know, when it. When the caution came out the first time, and they're like, we want to come in. And Ty's like, I don't want to lose track position. And I. And I was like, okay. Because usually he's, you know, he's young and learning, so he's not as vocal, like, crew chief, you call the play. I'm just gonna go along with whatever you. You know, I'm a dog in the hunt, and so I love that. He's like, no, keep me out. And I'm like, oh, keep him out. You know, and. And then, you know, knowing that Larson and Blaney had fresher tires. Caution comes out again, and I'm like, you know what? It was a great run. If you finish top three, you finish top three. And. And where we are sitting, I really couldn't see the start, finish line. Our tv, you know, I'm up on the pit box, so I'm just listening to Tony Hirschman. He's like, all right, you know, get cleaned up. Get ready for your restart. And then I just. I remember hearing him, and he's like, finisher, Ben, finish. Moe's with you, you know, go. And watching the guys jump off the pit box, and I've never, like, at that moment, it was just so, so emotional. And I'm so good at compartmentalizing and guarding my emotions that it all kind of everything came out all at once. And I just. I mean, it probably took me 10 minutes to get my composure. And Byron, who's one of our great employees and helps with. And he just said, you take all the time you need. So I was up there for a while, you know, just trying to. Just wishing so bad, being so proud of Ty, but wishing so badly that Coy was there. It was just kind of the happiest and the saddest, and that emotion just. It just was overwhelming. I called, you know, my daughter and then Case and Jett later, my younger two, but took a while to get me to come down. And, you know, you're walking down there and, you know, being at the track all day, you know, I'm like, my makeup's. My hair's a wreck. You know, it's just. It's rough for women at the track, right? And walking up and, you know, I could see Ty kind of looking for me. And finally when I got over there, you know, he jumped over the wall and gave me the flag, and it was just for everybody. And watching all of our pit crews, like, you know, the guys in the 20 car and the 19 come running down and all of them celebrating, it was just. It was like. It was a family win. So it was just. It was the coolest thing, the saddest thing, the happiest, all mixed into one.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
So you jumped in the car and rode to Victory Lane with him. Were there. What were. What were the. What's the dialogue between the two of you? What are you thinking?
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Heather Gibbs
So the funny part is, you know, when. After Ty and then he ran over, Saw Coach, and then he starts to climb back over the wall, and then he looks at me and he's like, come on. And I'm like, I'm not getting in the car. And he's like, get in the car. Come on, Mom. So I'm, you know, try to gracefully hop over the wall in my dress and get in the car. And I wanted to do it because I was so excited for him. And I was like, gosh, it's. I mean, that was one thing. It's not meant for a passenger. You know, there's nowhere. You're, like, gracefully kind of squatting in there and. But the ride around, he. He was funny because he's like, we can just keep it on the apron. I'm like, yeah, just keep it on the apron. He's like, no, we're going to the top. So I'm holding. I'm holding sideways. But watching all the fans cheer, you know, you don't ever get to see that part of it. And watching them cheer for him, that was really just. It was just unbelievable. And then when we pulled up, you know, Bristol, obviously you have to go up the ramp and the line of people, like. I think the second most special thing was watching the NASCAR community. You know, obviously, media plays it one way. You have to. It's good content, good stories. But, you know, it was like, this is one of our own. And finally, you know, just watching just the amount of drivers and owners and crew chiefs and just members coming over and, you know, just congratulating him, and it was. I just. It was just really just such an emotional, like, special moment.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, I can feel it. I can feel it. You know, we had those moments back in 2001 with Dale at Daytona and that July race and all. And I can feel exactly, you know, what you're describing and that excitement and obviously being a mom of a racer, too, and those feelings that you have when they accomplish something. You know, he's had his share of criticism right through the career at that point. A lot of noise about, you know, whether he deserves a seat. You've got the stuff going on with Chris Gay part. You've got just the pressure of being in a Joe Gibbs car and being a relative, that's the hard part. Being a family member, you know, what did this prove to you guys? Or did it prove anything?
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Heather Gibbs
I mean, I think. I think for me, I never doubted it. I think be being a part of our O'Reilly series in the ARCA series and watching kids come up through the ranks. I mean, Ty, he didn't start running go karts till he was, like, 12. He was old for getting into the racing business. He wanted to. He raced bicycles. He wanted to do The Tour to France one day. I mean, he loved road bike, mountain bikes. So we were kind of later into the racing. You know, now they start so young and you're all over the place traveling. So I think, I think he's been, he, you know, kind of came into it and just having that, that you know, kind of target on your back everywhere you go. You know, you're, you're a silver spoon or you, you know, you're. Someone's writing the check for you. And it's funny because for us it's, it's. It was great for Ty just to be able to learn to have grit. I remember, you know, as he was coming through Late Models and they have the NASCAR next and Coy was like, yeah, we're not doing that. You're go, go win and they'll talk about you.
- [09:46]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It is amazing. Some of the things as parents that we do to protect them in that way. Right. You know, whether we allow them to be part of next, NASCAR next or, you know, we're even in the considerations why it drives our late model car here. But, you know, is that a great thing? You know, do we want him to go race with other people? Different things like that, or, you know, we in the CARS tour, we have a relationship with Kevin Harvick and Keelan doesn't run all of our races for that very reason. You know, it's. You get the, you get the noise and the noise can be a distraction even when you know where we stand as a family, how we go about things, the hard work that's put into it and all of those things. You know, just a side note for me, we obviously, you know, had our run ins with Ty in the Xfinity series at the time. And you know, I didn't know Ty very well and I only got to see kind of that on track side of Ty at the time. And when we started being around him under the micros and things that we were around with Ty, L Dub, I won't forget it. He came home one time and they, they tested together. I think Wyatt and Ty and, and, and l Dub's like, man, you, you won't believe how nice that Ty Gibbs is. He is a nice kid. And I was like, really? And you know, I love to hear that. And because I'm guilty as everyone to kind of have that, you know, judge a book by its cover kind of thing. Right? I'm just as guilty. I'm human. And it's, it's was great, you know, getting to know him through that lens and. And he's got such a great personality, and he's really cool and down to earth, but, you know, that's not the vibe that he gave, you know? And I'm sure, like Dale, he seems somewhat shy until he gets to know you. You know, he's.
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Heather Gibbs
He's definitely guarded. Yeah, I think it's. It's hard in our sport. You know, we. These young kids come up, we're watching them under a microscope. They say stupid things, they do stupid things. You're doing it. You're doing it in middle school and high school, but they're on the national stage. You know, I laugh because I'm like, I can't imagine if we, like, miked up our travel baseball parents and what they really think of your kid.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh, yeah.
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Heather Gibbs
And in our young drivers are facing it, you know, the criticism live, and they do something stupid. I mean, can you imagine if you're. Every single time you go to high school, you know, a sporting event, and your son's fight is on jumbotron, you know, you're like, yes, there it is again. Thank you.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
But I'm glad we didn't grow up in that age, right. All the video and digital age that there is today. My daughter Carson, she's. Since she was young, she said the same thing. I can't just be a normal kid, you know, and. And do normal kid things. And it's. It's not that they're trying to do bad things. It's just a maturity level at the end of the day. Right. I mean, yeah, we did things, said things, hid things, whatever, you know?
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Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
All of those things that kids do and. But, yeah, you're right, they're held to a different standard because they're in the limelight and they're supposed to be role models, but you know what, at what age is that fair?
- [12:51]
Heather Gibbs
Right?
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You know, and they're.
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Heather Gibbs
They're learning how to handle circumstances, you know, and. And learning the sport and how to respect people, how to earn respect, how to show your, you know, like, can't push me around. How. How far do you push that? And I mean, it is. It's tough. And I'm sure, especially with, like, Wyatt, you know, and the name, kids want to beat him. They want to be like, yeah, I got street cred. I beat that. You know, I mean, and. And if you don't beat them, well, they have their equipment, they have more money, you know.
- [13:18]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh, yeah.
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Heather Gibbs
And I think that's Kenny Wallace, I think, did a really great podcast one time or interview. And he was talking about, like, what kid goes to, like, the go kart track when you have the rental cars and they're like, give me the slowest car. Because I, you know, I mean, you. You want the best stuff. You want to get in the best stuff. And I think that's what we've been able to, you know, start with trust in other people, and then we bring it in house and kind of manage the whole course of it.
- [13:48]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Absolutely. So talking about bringing it in house, let's shift to Joe Gibbs Racing, where you got a lot of topics in terms of the charter and different things like that. But, you know, I know that fans don't always understand what it takes to run a race team. We're also going to get into you moving into that role. You guys have 450 employees. I have 130. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, times that by three. Wow. Four cup teams. Just the massive demand, sponsorship, partnership, all of those kinds of things. Hey, this is Jerome and Tiffany Davis.
- [14:26]
Dirty Mo Media Host
Jerome Davis home Strawberry wine.
- [14:29]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Most people know me from the dirt
- [14:31]
Dirty Mo Media Host
eight seconds at a time. This is Jerome Davis. So there's a lot more to life than the rides.
- [14:38]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
We've never really stopped to tell our story. That changes June 24th. This Cowboy Life is our new podcast on Dirty Mo Media. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast and come see what this cowboy life is all about.
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Heather Gibbs
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- [15:41]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You said in your testimony during the lawsuit, you know, that you guys have operated on about a 2% profit margin. And I feel you just after reading that. I've never really looked at our profit margin because I'm just happy if it's in the black, right? Like, it can be zero, it can be $10,000, it can be a hundred thousand dollars, and I'm just happy that it's in black. I looked at ours and we're about a one and a half percent, so I feel. Yeah, but you know, we don't, we don't do this. I, we. Junior Motorsports doesn't do this to make money.
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Heather Gibbs
Right.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You know, we, we started our team because of the legacy of our family and the passion of racing. And you know, we get in here and we're like, if we, from the very first days, if we were able to, you know, just ride that fence on the line of, of slightly profitable or not losing, you know, our butt, that was good for us. And I always said to Dale, you know, we have, you got, you have 450 families, I have 130 families. And they make their living doing this.
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Chase Sapphire Cardholder
Yes.
- [16:48]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You know, and we're fortunate in other ways that, that we can, you know, we've made a living, we've done things, Dell's career, so on and so forth. You were a very accomplished realtor and the family at Joe Gibbs, so,
- [17:03]
Heather Gibbs
you
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
know, there's no room for error kind of in this sport to, to mess up. Explain kind of what that looks like to the fans in terms of this, you know, the way we operate and this very minor profit margin that we're going to and the pressures of that, you know, when it comes to, to sponsors and partners. You even said, I think this year you've got 20 sponsors.
- [17:25]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah, 26 this year.
- [17:26]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
26 sponsors. Yep, I feel ya. You know, and, and that costs money too. You're changing wraps, you're changing this. It's more demand on your people to, to prioritize those relationships. And, and how do you prioritize what and how, you know, based off of their involvement. So talk about that a little bit just in terms of, you know, how, how you feel about that and, and the sport and running Joe Gibbs from that.
- [17:51]
Heather Gibbs
Well, you know, I think for Joe Gibbs Racing, it, it started as a hobby, right, with coach after, after coming from the Redskins and he and my mother in law put kind of a dream on a piece of paper and they built it from there. They never imagined, you know, went from one car to two to three to four. Four O'Reilly cars, one ARCA car. And never could they have imagined that it would have grown. And I think what they always wanted was that they had the right people, but they wanted. Coach, he didn't want to just, you know, be an owner in something that was fun. He wanted to win. And I think for us that it's probably the most important thing. I'm. It probably is unbalanced and you know, competitive. I sometimes I'm like, I wish. I wish I didn't care, but I care so much. And we want to win. So that means putting everything back in. It's not putting it back in your wallet. Not. It puts it right back in there. And there's. And there's no outside revenue for us. We're the business of racing. We're bringing in sponsorship. We don't have car dealerships. We don't have any outside other. So every, Every, you know, every sponsor counts. And, and those relationships count because you can't. If you don't have partners on the track, you can't compete. And, and ours, they want to be in the front, they don't want to be in the back. And. And so having, like, the right drivers, all of that matters. And that's where we put all of our. For. You know, it's funny, we. We didn't have a sign in the front of the building forever because we were like, it doesn't make us go fast. So finally we spent the money to put a. Of the shop, but we were like, everything we do, we want to make it go fast. And yeah, I mean, we've grown our social media team, our marketing team. We're like a mini marketing department. We're working on like, you know, capital campaigns for Progressive and just so many different things. It's with 26 partners. I mean, back in the day, you know, you had. You had a FedEx, you had a Mars, and you know, you. That you just. It was one and it was easy and they brought their own marketing department. I think this is also a good thing for us because we all always worried. I know Coy always worried what's going to happen when the name of the organization isn't there to run it. He's like, the doors are going to be shut. We won't be able to do it. And I think we've diversified so much trying to bring in that ROI for the different sponsors and showing our value, our media value, that you see light at the end of the tunnel, that these amazing patriarchs that are still here and running and running the operation and being a part of it. There is an opportunity to continue to keep these sponsorships happy and the team's doing well, you know, bringing in great, you know, like, like Progressive is a great. They just wanted to. They didn't want to talk to us. They just want to know what is our earned media value. And finally, you know, Coach loves to call people in winner circle and he was like calling the security guard because there was. We Literally had no number for now, we're great friends with like, Trish and Mari, but at the time we were like, just give them. I was like, give them someone else. Like, give them your wife's number and let him call an answer just so he feels good, you know, talking to her. But, but that was, you know, just having that personal detail. But now, you know that we've shown our value. And I think the teams like you guys do such a good job of, you know, representing different sponsors. The drivers do a great job. I mean, they, they all play an important role in it, but it is, it's. And then you've got 450 employees. You've got, you know, down from, like I said, Arca and O'Reilly and the cups here, you know, it matters to them. So they, you know, they. There it is there you're taking care of their family. It's their livelihood. And it is really stressful. Not watching how much our team has diversified has helped, you know, me kind of have like more of a peace of mind. It's not me. It's having a great leadership team around you. And, and we, I feel like Jacobs Racing has done a great job of that.
- [21:52]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. Joe Mattis here has always said, you know, we're a marketing company that just happens to race. And I think that's how we have to look at it, especially through the lens of. Gone are those full season sponsorships, you know, that we've had. And. And you said something else that I think is important, like with Progressive and what they're interested in, you know, we have to listen to the sponsor. Yeah, we have to really. No, no longer can we just provide a sheet of paper and say, you know, this is how we can service you. We have to list them and then take all of these assets that we have and then figure out what makes the most sense, you know, and what they're looking for to meet. Because you can mess a sponsorship up that way. Right. By thinking that, you know what they want or only focusing on what we're best at and it not really work, you know, for them. And the, the whole marketing department is a whole different animal from when I started in the sport. Like you said, sponsors had agencies and they had multiple agencies. They had a PR agency, they had a creative agency, you know, all of these different agencies. And we, as the race teams have become that agency. Yes. And we have had to acquire necessary skill sets within the company and within the marketing departments to do that. I'm sure that you guys have done the same Thing. Yeah.
- [23:09]
Heather Gibbs
Well, and I think what's the coolest part about NASCAR is the fact that, you know, you could. You could buy a spot on an MLB team or NBA team and you, you know, get a little patch on a jersey, but they're not going to rename the team, you know, after that sponsorship. Where you are the. You know, you are the Monster Energy car, you are the SIA car, you are the Bass Pro, you know, where you get to represent them in different areas. And. And the access to the driver, the access to the teams, the pit crew, I mean, the identity and the branding is. It's amazing. And for two hours on a Saturday, three hours on a Sunday, that that brand is seen. And. And I think the teams do a great job. I mean, I think. And that's one thing that's been a huge focus for us, but also learning some are in it just for B2B, some are in it just for earned media, you know, and those are where you have to sit and think and go through. We have a whole, you know, we have a group that just. That is all we do is business to business and try to figure out how you introduce this sponsor to this other sponsor and across the industry, which I think is great. You know, where if they have access, you know, like, young life loves to be there on a Saturday, those people get to interact with other. Other sponsors at the track. And I think that NASCAR does a really good job allowing the teams to put them together and work together.
- [24:28]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, absolutely. This was like a good time to talk about Denny's success and kind of, you know, thinking through how you go about planning and running your race team. You know, we're constantly looking. We try to look two and three years out. You know, in this sport, that's difficult. And due to sponsorships and all the business that you're trying to make, you know, we're already starting now talking about 27. It never stops, you know, but there's a. There's a real focus and emphasis when you get to. To June and you're like, okay, what does 27 look like? And I thought about it, too, as you were talking about Bass Pro with your. With the Truex to Briscoe transition. You know, Denny has a contract through 27. Man, is he on a roll. I mean, congratulations. Wow.
- [25:12]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
Thank you.
- [25:14]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He just take. It was Reddick. I thought that was gonna run away with the season. And here comes Denny right there. But you know, what. What does that look like for you guys as you're planning and doing, you know, looking at what 28 looks like at this point.
- [25:27]
Heather Gibbs
Well, I mean, I think for Denny, it's. It's kind of funny because every, you know, so many years you would change the crew chief and there's just like a whole new ramp up of Denny. And I think he is. He has come into his own. He's. He's comfortable, he's confident, he's got kind a piece about him. The entire. Our, you know, our whole cut program right now is. It has this great camaraderie and kind of a gel about them, the crew chiefs do. And it really reflects back to the drivers and it's, it's really.
- [26:00]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Is that something new for you that you feel. I feel like it is.
- [26:03]
Heather Gibbs
I feel like they're special this year. Yeah, I mean, I think all the crew chiefs just there and, you know, having Wally Brown does a great job as a competition director, he's. He's more of a facilitator. He's not a dominator. So he's, He's a great. Go back and forth on ideas. He'll let you share your opinion instead of, you know, saying we're going to do it this way. And I think the crew chiefs really enjoy it. Some are more, you know, want to go more AI focused and more technical. Some are more old school and it, and it works for everybody. But how the leadership, it trickles down to the drivers, you know, starts at the top.
- [26:38]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's a cliche, but it does.
- [26:39]
Heather Gibbs
It totally does. And the drivers, you know, watching them all kind of laughing, joking around, I think, you know, like Ty running dirt, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe can all kind of relate to that. But it's, it is. It's a great. It's like a great camaraderie that we have. And, And Denny is, He is. I mean, he. You listening to him in the, you know, competition meetings where he's. He has a whole toolbox of, you know, just wealth and knowledge that you can't get, especially nowadays. It's 25 minutes of practice. He has 20 years of it. And he, he's gone through, you know, highs and lows and made mistakes. And, and so I think just listening to him, it's just. He's. He helps our organization so much. He's a great voice for us and provides a lot of wisdom. And I think our partnership with 23Eleven has been great because of that and, and obviously drivers. But Denny is. I mean, he's outstanding. And really, you know, I'm like. Well, you know, like dale senior got 76 went like, you're not even close. Like, how could you even, you know, hang it up now? So we kind of tease them and who knows, you know, maybe if. If he wins a championship, he may be like, I'm done. But I feel like he's, you know, going through a lot of tragedies and going through a lot of difficulties off season, especially your. Your. Your home, maybe, and your piece is at the track. You know, it. That's. Those are your people. That's where you want to be. And so, I don't know, we'll see what happens with him. We would love to keep.
- [28:08]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You know, Denny reminds me of the Justin here, you know, in terms of. Justin's just such a great ambassador for us and the kids that are coming through and all, and that same wisdom and experience and all the things that they could provide and, you know, the point to the track. You know, I think we saw that with Samantha and. And Braxton and her family when they came out to Charlotte. I was just. I wanted to see them, but I was just shaken that they were able to do that. But I understand it because it is. This is home, you know, this is weekend and week out. Your family. We are a family sport, no matter if we're competing, no matter what it is. You know, when we competed for the championship in 22, you know, boy, did we want to win.
- [29:06]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [29:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And when we woke up that next morning, it was like, God wrote the story.
- [29:10]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah, right.
- [29:11]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He did. And that's what you lean into, you know, in times like this. And. And so, yeah, that. That family environment for everybody. And. And that's what I. That's what I wonder about Denny is, you know, can he not. He. He's not going to step away from the sport, but, you know, can he step away from driving? That's a really hard thing to do.
- [29:32]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [29:32]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You know, and he puts a ton
- [29:36]
Heather Gibbs
of effort in throughout the week, though, and puts a lot in to sim. I mean, he's. He's not going to do it if he can't do it 110%. Yeah.
- [29:43]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's always been his MO.
- [29:45]
Heather Gibbs
Yes. And he. He wants to leave on top where maybe he left a few wins on the, you know, on the table, but he'd rather do that than. Than it, you know, really? People are like, okay, it's time.
- [29:56]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah.
- [29:57]
Heather Gibbs
So I can see. And I respect that.
- [29:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, Denny. Denny was going into kind of the charter conversation. Denny was the ringleader. There was 2311. You know, we. We was it back in 24. Gosh, the years are crazy. I know thinking through how time flies, but you know, in 24, you guys were negotiating for, for really a couple years at that point, you know, for the new charter agreement that was expiring. You guys got hit with a deadline there in September of 24 to sign the charters. Denny and front row obviously decided to withhold, which man, what a huge decision. You know, I listened to some of your commentary about, in your testimony and whatnot about, you know, how you guys were feeling. And I think the, the day that that information was given to you guys to sign, I think you had to go to a ball game maybe with one of your sons and you guys are back and forth on what is this going to look like and what do you do, you know, talk just a little bit about that in terms of the employees. I, I can't imagine being really hit with something like that that is so consequential to how you move your business forward that you've been doing for 30 years.
- [31:20]
Heather Gibbs
Well, it was, it was, it was really scary for us because again, there's no outside revenue, there's no, no one's going to be like, look, we'll back
- [31:27]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
you standing there to hold you up
- [31:30]
Heather Gibbs
to, to do that. And, and, and I think for us, just thinking, you know, you're flashing the legacy of your family. What all that JD put into the sport, all that Coy did, you know, walking into that building every day. And if you didn't have that charter, financially it just wouldn't make sense. And even though we had a private investor, they're not writing a check for us.
- [31:52]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
So if we, and also just explaining all this, I mean, goodness, you know,
- [31:55]
Heather Gibbs
relative sponsors to your drivers, you know, it, it was, it was just to
- [32:00]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
ask them to take that risk alongside with you, you know, like, that's a big deal.
- [32:04]
Heather Gibbs
It was hard. I mean, I think I, I have so much respect for Lisa Kennedy. She was probably one of the first people I talked to after losing Coy, cuz she went through a similar tragedy with her husband. And Ben was at the same age just as Ty at that time. And I just had a, like a really close, you know, relationship with her early on. I, I, I think the world of Jim, I mean, I think he's, he's just like, when you see him in person, he's this gracious, kind, gentle, you know, person. And so it was frustrating through the negotiations because you're like, they're very reasonable. How could you know? But they, they also have their own family history. And their own family legacy that they, they wanted to carry on. Which is why I wrote the letter. I mean, never knew. I mean, you didn't know you were
- [32:49]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
gonna make such a splash, did you?
- [32:50]
Heather Gibbs
I was like, I was a journalism major in college finally. I. Something I did in college.
- [32:54]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What did you want them to understand from that letter?
- [32:56]
Heather Gibbs
I just wanted them to see how, you know, that we, we're with them, we're a fan of the sport. We want to grow the sport. We want to, we want to carry on their family legacy through, through our organization, through our drivers, through our employees. We don't want to hurt it and help us, just help. Help it make sense that especially for us, that the charters could never be taken away, that they're permanent and, and that we've earned that right. In 35 years, we've poured millions into the sport. We've. We've raised so many drivers, and those drivers are now raising their children into this sport. We're all addicted to this thing. That doesn't make sense. You know, it's. It's something, It's a family history that you don't have that. And you don't have that really in the NFL or the MLB or there's stick and ball sports. You have it in motorsports and I think nascar, such an all American motorsport. So people know the dynasty of the Earnhardt name. I mean, the Elliot name. I mean, they're just so. I wanted them to understand that how much we cared about it and just plead to their heartstrings saying it doesn't make sense. Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibson should have packed up and been like, I lost the greatest, the closest, you know, my children. And why am I still in this? What all. It's all for what.
- [34:16]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What is this for?
- [34:17]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah, and, and, but we're still here, you know, we're still here. I, I came over, you know, from my business because it mattered that much and it mattered for the employees that are staring at us going, what's going to happen? So that night of, you know, signing the charter, and we're, we're like, none of this makes sense. I shared it on the stand. I was like, you know, it had grammatical errors. You know, I mean, when I'm writing a real estate contract, if it was I had your middle name wrong, I wouldn't, I'd be like, no, let's fix it before we sign it. So. And there was such a sense of urgency. And you had spent two, you know, years plus drag. I think Coy was part of the Original negotiations.
- [34:57]
Dirty Mo Media Host
Yeah.
- [34:57]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah. And so that was upsetting and I. In defeating somewhat, you know, it was. It really was. And, And I, you know, Denny and. And their whole group and Bob Jenkins and Michael Jordan, you know, they. They took a leap of faith. They could, but they did. You know, they had the financial backing to do it, but it was a huge leap. Leap of faith. And. And it was because they love. Really expensive and scary. But, like, Michael is a fan of the sport, Denny is a fan of the sport. They love it. They breathe, you know, Absolutely. Bob, he's. It's just. It's amazing what they've done. And. And they were brave and. And it helped us. And I think NASCAR wants to work, you know, with the teams more and, and we have that security. So it is. It gives you a sense of, like, you take a deep breath, you know, you're going to have. You have this value that you are continuing to build into. And, and that's, you know, that's what it meant.
- [35:54]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That's what you wanted. You know, that's the thing that, when always asked about, you know, charters and whether or not Junior Motorsports is going cup racing is the thing I always could not get past. You know, as a business person, you know, I couldn't get past the fact that you were gonna make this investment into a charter that you didn't know at a specific time, a point in time if it still had the value that, you know, I mean, it's not from an investment standpoint.
- [36:19]
Heather Gibbs
You, You.
- [36:20]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You get that. You know, values go up and down. But, you know, you. You buy a charter for 20 million and then in seven years, they go, oh, okay, we're not gonna have charters anymore. And you're like, okay, what is this? What did I get for this? Exactly.
- [36:31]
Narrator/Advertiser
Right?
- [36:31]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [36:31]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
So what did the permanent charters kind of mean for your family from a legacy standpoint and kind of passing your team to the next generation?
- [36:37]
Heather Gibbs
Well, I think it gives us stability. It gives us the ability to. When you market to sponsors, you know, I think that's really important, having Just. Just understanding that we have our place in history and it's not going to be taken away from us. You know, we help. We helped, you know, we helped build the sport. Joe definitely did. And the boys and their legacy will carry on. I think that's. That's really important. We're. We're so fortunate, you know, to have four teams and to be, you know, grandfathered in with four along with Hendrick and. And it's hard. You know, people always are like, well, you have four teams, and I'm like, it's. It's really hard. Three teams would be a lot easier. You know, it. It's extra sponsors to figure out. It's trying to find drivers.
- [37:19]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
But just like us, four teams make the, you know, the overhead work, Right? And then sometimes it's. Yes. Is it difficult to find, you know, that fourth car in terms of sponsors and all of those things? But the overhead, overall, it's the sweet spot. I mean, for us, it's the same way. When we went to four cars, it was sort of a bridge in between some driver relationships and things that we knew that were going to be happening. But then year after year, it's like, we want to be four cars. We want to be four cars. Because going to three cars certainly would be easier in a lot of ways. But then your whole model and your whole overhead model. Yeah, there's. There's a lot to it.
- [37:57]
Dirty Mo Media Host
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- [38:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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- [39:11]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
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- [39:23]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It was a mansion.
- [39:25]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
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- [39:28]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
And that pistachio gelato was too good.
- [39:31]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
So where should we go next year?
- [39:32]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I'VE got ideas.
- [39:34]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
Check Chase Sapphire preferred the car that's preferred for a reason. Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
- [39:43]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Joe certainly built a heck of an organization alongside with JD and Coy and their involvement. You know, want to move to kind of your role in Joe Gibbs Racing? After losing Coy, you kind of surfaced, I think somewhere around April 23, you know, is like maybe someone that was going to be stepping up into the business. What did that time period look like between losing Coy and realizing that this is where you're being called to be, you know, in terms of leadership within the organization?
- [40:20]
Heather Gibbs
Well, I think, I think for me the most important thing was that I, the only person is going to take better care. No one will take better care of my family than myself. And I saw that and I remember early on, you know, Ty asking me like, what's gonna happen to us? Like what's gonna happen? It's Uncle J.D. now, it's dad. And I was like, you know, we have an outstanding leadership group. But it's still not like I could never just say okay, yeah, go ahead and take it over. It was so important that a family member and still your name, it's still your name and reputation. And for Joe, I mean I feel, you know, he had his two boys and now he's got, you know, his daughter in law. Right. And I get that and I respect that. I mean I think he's been so gracious in allowing me to be a part of it. And I also needed to earn my way. I mean I wasn't just gonna walk in the building and you know, I needed to build, I needed to earn respect of our employees and spend time with guys on the shop floor and let them see that I'm authentic and that I care about it and that I love it. And I'm a race fan myself. You know, I watch if I'll, I'll watch dirt racing, you know, on Flow, if it's, if it's on and it's a Friday night and I'm, you know, just sitting there, I, I love racing and so it's fun, fun for me watching it. But I think, yeah, I mean I, that was, it was when I stepped over, I just was like, what? You know, I want to understand what's going on. You're also become a majority owner overnight. So it, I want to understand what, what, what is going on, what's being done, what's the future and make, help be informed to help make decisions. And. And it's also hard because you're walking into an organization and you're like, okay, I'm the only one with the dress on in this. The room. I remember going like, hey, maybe I'll sit in on the competition meetings. And they're like, oh, you know, it's a bunch of guys. And sometimes they use bad words. And I'm like, well, sometimes I use bad words. You know, I was like, if I. If I. If I just show up, all of a sudden, it's going to be awkward, so I might as well be there, be present, and it was fine. And really getting to understand and know all the people and players, and there's so many amazing people in that building. And so it's over time slowly, you know, just getting to be a part of it.
- [42:42]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Have you thought about whether you would have wanted to step up like that if Ty wasn't involved in a driver?
- [42:50]
Heather Gibbs
I think that's a good. I absolutely think that.
- [42:53]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That. I mean, you don't know, But I'm just saying, has that had that crossed your mind?
- [42:57]
Heather Gibbs
I mean, and that's. That's a really good question, because obviously the mother, you know, instinct of me was like, I want to make sure that everything is organized and taken care of and that, you know, for Ty, you're either, you know, if you get something that people feel like it's, you know, ahead of others, it's because you're a silver spoon and you're, you know, getting favored, or it's the opposite and you don't get as much. And I feel like we've done a really good job trying to balance that and make sure it's fair across the board. I know our crew chiefs, they wouldn't be there if they thought otherwise, but, yeah, I mean, I wanted to be there. It's my family name. And it was, like, therapeutic for me. You know, you walk in and just the. I was talking about the other day, I'm like, you know, people go to the beach and they listen to ocean waves. I'm like, I listen to our engine dyno, and I'm like, am I just hearing. They're like, no. The dyno I was running, I'm like, am I imagining it? So. And the smell of the building and the people's faces and. And. And. And it was. It reminded me. It just. It was a place that I could go and it was safe, and it reminded me of Coy. It was. You know, it was just the. Of what? You know, just the walking into that building. Every single day. And it was a place that I could kind of forget about all the other worries and sadness because you walk in and one, it's, it's men. So they don't care how you feel. So they're not gonna be like, how are you? You know, they don't, they're, they're not
- [44:23]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
gonna ask any of these questions.
- [44:24]
Heather Gibbs
They don't want to know. So it was, it was great. You could just walk around and, you know, not have to be to share anything. And, and it's a place that I, you know, I want, I just wanted to be. It was closer to him. And, and the other thing is, I knew we, we were so aligned in so many areas, so I knew what he wanted, I knew what he, he's thought of for the future. So now I can be his advocate and I can be his voice and, and, and kind of carry that on for him.
- [44:51]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, I completely respect that. Obviously, you know, going through some of the things that we've been through and with our dad and, and not being able to see what we felt like he wanted to come to fruition, you know, in Dylan Har incorporated and things like that. It, I'm super proud and inspired that you've stepped up in that way because you didn't have to. I mean, you, you didn't have to for a lot of reasons, but you had your own career. You were a very accomplished realtor. And I feel like. Do you still dabble there? Because I don't know if I'm seeing things or sometimes I see little posts or whatnot here and there.
- [45:25]
Heather Gibbs
Very close, very close friends. Very close friends.
- [45:27]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You have four kids. You have four kids that you're still raising, Ty being the oldest. And so you didn't have to do this. And so I, I, I really admire you for that because you could have just simply said, you know what? We're going a different direction.
- [45:43]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [45:44]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
This is the tidbit that I learned. So prior to becoming a realtor and when you moved to Charlotte and maybe you, maybe I think you own these in Charlotte, but you were a baker, is that right? Yes, yes. So you came out of school and, and you were a baker and you got to bake cakes for Martha Stewart. I want to hear about it.
- [46:02]
Heather Gibbs
Oh, well, it's, it's so funny. I, I always loved baking growing up. Like, I remember, remember in fourth grade when entertaining came out by Martha Stewart and for Christmas, it's all I wanted was her, her cookbook and it was about weddings and so I always loved Baking. I always loved art. You know. After graduating college, you know, moved to Charlotte, worked selling payroll processing. I know it was very exciting. It was. And started working for a caterer. Best impressions, which is ironically is William Byron's uncle, Dave Byron.
- [46:36]
Dirty Mo Media Host
So.
- [46:36]
Heather Gibbs
And at night, you know, I was like, gosh, I have, you know, you make no money, you're just trying to make ends meet. And he's like, you should learn how to bake, do wedding cakes. You could do that as a side hustle. So he let me use his kitchen at night. So after I worked for him, I would bake cakes and it sort of became, it just became, you know, something I loved. It's trial and error. Went to, took different classes and ended up I went to work at the, for a bakery in Charlotte doing wedding cakes. I worked at the Peninsula Club as their pastry chef. Well, being a nanny, trying to pay the bills and, and, and the morning of my rehearsal dinner in January 30, 1999, I went to SunTrust Bank. I had my small business plan and got my first loan. So when we got back from our honeymoon, I had bought, rented a space that was like a vanilla shell. So I had to, to, you know, hire, outfit the whole thing. And, and that's where my bakery started. It was cake designs and it was, I mean, so many people in racing. I did Andrea Nemechek's baby shower cake for John Hunter.
- [47:40]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Oh my gosh.
- [47:41]
Heather Gibbs
I mean, it's just that so many of the Sabattas cakes and I mean, I can't. And it was such a, it was so much fun because it was like you're in a happy environment with people or sad, you know, whatever the environment was. I love having like the moms come in and the daughter and there's a rift and so you could problem solve them through it. And, but, and I had the opportunity. Martha Stewart came, it was right before she was actually indicted and she came to speak. It was the Art and Bloom conference at the Mitt Museum and there was like 500 people. So I did these fun cupcakes with these fondant flowers and I got to meet her and they were like, no picture. She's not, you know, because of all the press that was about to go down. And I was like, Martha, I just, you know, I did the cupcakes. Could you do one picture? And she did a picture.
- [48:30]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Such an opportunity, right? I mean, you have to get it.
- [48:32]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah. And she was, I remember her being just like so confident and she was like so beautiful and taller than I Imagined and, and took the time, did a picture with me. So I'm like all goofy and so excited. But I have that framed at home with a picture of the cupcake. But it was, it was really, it was, it was so much, it was very rewarding. It was fun.
- [48:51]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I love that you just, you know, people's backgrounds are this interesting and how you, how you start and go and grow and, and you know, that our kids these days. One of the things that drives me crazy is that, you know, there's this immediate gratification for everything. Right. And, and to hear the stories of, you know, coming out of school and, and working hard to do something like that and then moving into your real estate business and then, you know, here you are running and operating a race team.
- [49:20]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [49:21]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You talked a little bit about, you know, coming into the shop and, and being a female. Question that I've been asked all of my life. You know, being a female in the sport, sometimes you're the only one in the room. You were probably the only one in the room when it came to the, the race. Team discussions and stuff, I would assume, right? Yeah, yeah, in the room. What did you want to preserve about Joe Gibbs and the legacy and what has been there for 30 years? And what do you see that you kind of want to make your own or have you crossed that bridge, you know, in the last several years?
- [49:59]
Heather Gibbs
I mean, it, it, I don't know. I mean, that's a really good question. I feel like for us what we want to preserve is, is the culture of Joe Giz Racing. We want, I think people come there, they love, they, they, they begin and end their career there. I mean, we have so many lifers that have been there and, and they are all passionate about our relentless pursuit of excellence, wanting to be there to win and knowing that we're going to do whatever it takes to give them the resources to do it. There's no marching orders at Joe Gibbs Racing. There's no, this team is going to win over this. I mean every single door number gets, it's equal and we want to provide them as much as we can. And I think that's something that, that's built the culture around it. And so many of our people, and I'm sure you've gone through that with jrm, but we've walked through tough times with people, through amazing times and we're there to support them no matter what. We have a great culture committee that helps in crisis and want to support the family. So I think for us, for jokers, Racing it, it's bigger. It's not the Gibbs family. Family comes in all different shapes and sizes. It's not blood. I'm not blood. And the people there, that's kind of what matters the most. And for me, I think a lot of our employees are like, what happens when Joe's not here? He has all these grandkids. They're young and what I love and I feel like Coy and JD helped build is this huge organization that has so many different areas and they're able to find a spot that they love to do. Like Jackson is our front changer on the 54. He was a quarterback, he played at App State and he absolutely loves it and the camaraderie. Miller just came over. He graduated App State as a tight end and he's now trying to be. He's in our devo group to be a jackman. Jason is on the social media team Ty raced and even though know, you know, they don't want to sit in a boardroom meeting because who really does,
- [52:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
right, you know, their age too, right?
- [52:08]
Heather Gibbs
It's their age.
- [52:08]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Let them, let them, let them be. Let them grow and grow and figure it out.
- [52:13]
Heather Gibbs
And figure it out. That's exactly right. And, and, and my kids are younger coming up. My daughter's just finished her junior year of college. You know, she's like, well, heck, I'm gonna go to law school. You guys are in so many lawsuits. Like you need an attorney in the group. So she's, she wants to go to law school. School and who knows where she'll go. And, and then my younger two, you know, they, they love racing, they love being a part of it. So I, I, it'll be interesting to see. I'll probably be a little bit harder on them coming into it because I'll be like, what, what's your value? You know, go, go get some job, work, go get some experience, intern, whatever, and come back and bring us a skill set that is, you know, going to be beneficial to the organization.
- [52:54]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's funny that you brought that up because been in two situations over the last year at two different speaking engagements where I feel like in our industry, like I want family as much as possible. You said it. To start the show, you know, your family, this is what you know, you know, this is the Gibbs legacy, the reputation and all. And I've been in two situations. One with a speaker who is a home builder, she's a female home builder at her of Raleigh who they don't allow family to work in their business. And then with another. I'm not going to say their name, but with another fast food restaurant, and they make you go outside of the. The company, get that work experience like you just spoke of. And then, you know, you come in and you start it at various levels and then work your way up. It's interesting because I just don't feel like we could do that in our sport. Like, I want the family in there, you know, I want them to make choices to, to be a part of it, whether it's pit crewing, whether it's social media, whether it's in the boardroom, you know, because you want that person to come. And they don't need to fill your role as the leader, but they need to fill your role as that voice for the company. Right. They need to be able to listen, they need to be able to understand. Even if there's very competent group of leadership people, you know, they need to kind of be in that circle. Right. You know, kind of what they're. What Ben's been going through. Right?
- [54:28]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [54:28]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ben Kennedy. So, yeah, I think it's so important. I can't imagine telling my kids that you can't work in my business.
- [54:35]
Heather Gibbs
I think, I think, you know, it's funny.
- [54:37]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
We are going to be hard on them.
- [54:38]
Heather Gibbs
We're going to be hard on them. I think, you know, it was coy coach Pop Warner football and my, you know, the kids were, I want to be the quarterback. And he's like, you're not. You're on the line, you know, and you're back, like, earn your spot. And I see that for me, with my children, I want them to have a skill set they bring. We had a great conversation with Mark Tyra of Kings Hawaiian. They have, I mean, theirs is outstanding. Their policy of family. And they have a lot of family involved. You know, going to get your, you know, undergrad, then you have to get your master's. And if someone else is up against you on a job, you know, you, you have to earn your. You're not just going to get it because of your last name. And I respect that. I mean, there's so many, you know, Johnny Morris. There's so many different people in that have built these amazing organizations that they have a great history and policy and you want family. Sometimes it's hard with family, too.
- [55:32]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Absolutely.
- [55:34]
Heather Gibbs
And it's, it's just trying to find that right balance of. And, and have your employees, you know, the people there have to respect and it. And understand it and know they don't just come in because of that?
- [55:44]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, absolutely. Which leads me to my kind of next conversation. You know, you sit as an owner in the box on Sunday, but you watch your son out there compete. What does that balance look like, you know, for you?
- [55:56]
Heather Gibbs
It's. It's so. It's so difficult. I. I think the first, you know, the first year, it was. It was hard just, you know, just trying to find the balance and, And. And coach will sit on the box, and then. Then, you know, people be like, well, you're. You know, they're. They're all down at the 54, and it. It's hard because you're. You're invested in that. And I feel like now I've, you know, kind of grown to have a. A healthy balance of it. And so then that means every Sunday we go home and we're on the plane and we're just disappointed, even though we just won a race, you know, because the other three didn't. And, and you're like, gosh, that, you know, that just sucks. Sucked. And, you know, it's.
- [56:35]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That's the hardest thing for me. You know, yesterday we had our. Our bell ringing and beer toast, and, you know, you get up there and. And Justin coming home as the winner of Pocono, but you have, you know, in that case, five other teams that, you know, didn't have the success that they wanted to have. And, you know, you're sitting here talking to the 130 of them that make the win happen and the 130 of them that the others, you know, didn't have the days they wanted. That is so hard.
- [56:59]
Heather Gibbs
It's a.
- [56:59]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's a.
- [57:00]
Heather Gibbs
It's a hard balance. I. I think obviously, it'd be even
- [57:03]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
harder to be my son with your
- [57:05]
Heather Gibbs
son, and, And, I mean, who.
- [57:07]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I.
- [57:07]
Heather Gibbs
It's hard because I always am like, how would. How would Coy have handled it? He. And it. It would be different because a dad and a son, but when it's the mom and son, it's even different. Yeah, but I feel like we've done a pretty good job. I would say everyone inside of our building understands and sees it, but. Yeah, no, I, I, I'm sure. Why you have, like, Like a list, your mom listing. You're like, oh, that guy's on my list. Well, now it's like, I have it for, like, I have it for Christopher and Chase and Denny now, you know, and I'm like, oh, that guy. You know, I'm like, done. You know, so you feel this very, you know, having four kids now you have four drivers and you feel very protective of them.
- [57:45]
Dirty Mo Media Host
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- [58:35]
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It was a mansion.
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Chase Sapphire Cardholder
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and that pistachio gelato was too good.
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Chase Sapphire Cardholder
So where should we go next year?
- [58:56]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I've got ideas.
- [58:57]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
Chase. Sapphire preferred the card that's preferred for a reason. Cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
- [59:06]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I feel, you know, being a female leader here and, and you know, my employees, we all, we all kind of talk about this and laugh at times. But, you know, I feel like I can come in because, you know, you said earlier, okay, you can walk into the shop and the guys aren't going to ask you about your day or your outfit or anything else because they don't care. I feel like as a woman leading this group, I can do a lot of things that men wouldn't do in terms of nurturing and leading and cheerleading and the fun stuff that gets them out of their comfort zone, you know, to whether it's, you know, we have an Easter egg hunt and we play games and it's fun to, to watch the guys get out there and get competitive but have fun and laugh at the same time. Do you feel that way and, and do you see some change in that of have employees?
- [59:55]
Heather Gibbs
No, I absolutely do. I think, and I think that they enjoy it when you go down there and you're able to talk with them. I remember on Sunday walking up to Denny and he had his minions driver suit on and he's like, I know what you're doing. He's like, you think my head's too big? So you put me in the minion suit and. And we just left because, you know, it would. It was just kind of funny. But, yeah, I think we can. You have, you. You can bring that kind of more personal side and spend time with the guys, you know, when they're talking about if they're going through a struggle. You know, one of our employees just lost his wife and, and there's a lot that we can sit and talk about, talk about how what the kids are going through, what they, you know, are going through. And it's, it's. It's not just a hug where I'm like, it sucks, you know, and they're like, it does. And, And I think I'm able to give that to. To some of the employees and, and also enjoy and have fun and, and have a different perspective of, you know, having a voice saying, hey, someone might not want you to set up a meal, you know, train for those people, you know, they might not want that. Let's. Let's find out what they want, what they need.
- [61:04]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I enjoy it. I think there's certainly a perspective that we bring that makes our companies different and unique, and I love that. Let's talk about Joe for a minute. I don't know Joe super well. Just been in a few conversations or whatnot here and there. He's been a coach, leader of Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs. But what's Joe, the father in law, like for you?
- [61:32]
Heather Gibbs
He has.
- [61:33]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Can he be just Joe the father in law? He's.
- [61:35]
Heather Gibbs
He, he's probably. I mean, I have, you know, since going to races with Coy, you know, early on, I never was the travel wife that went. I would go on Sundays because I had my bakery, you know, and cakes to deliver on Saturday. So I would go with him afterwards to races and got to spend a lot of time with him. And, and he's. He's the greatest. He's a peacemaker. He, he, he definitely. He's a huge. He will outgrind, outwork anybody. And if there's something, he would take his shirt off and give it to anybody. He wants to help everyone. He loves people that come up and talk to him. I mean, you, you know, you think some people be over it and he doesn't. He wants to spend time with them. Always has his track to pass out, you know, always one last opportunity for him, which I admire so much, his faith. And he and Pat have been like a rock of foundation for Melissa and I to know, you know, we're the daughters in law. We, you know, we. They don't have to, they just have to. Yeah, they don't have to care about us anymore. And yet they still do. And, and, and I really think just watching, you know what, what means more to me as a mom is having people love your children and watching them, love them unconditionally and having that support, I think is. We're just really unique. I think with that and watching them, how they care for Melissa and with all my nephews, it means a lot. But Joe is, he's the greatest. He's the greatest recruiter. I mean, heaven forbid if you might want to leave and he finds out we want that person. I mean, they're not leaving. So he will get them and talk to them. I mean there's so many. And he's a great storyteller. He remembers members every story about every person. So it's, it's just I admire him so much.
- [63:26]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I think to, you know, to be such a talented coach and for as long as he was, those are qualities that just exist. Right. Because that's, that's how that team environment I imagine on the, the NFL side, you know, has to be in order to pull everybody together and make it all work. And Pat, my goodness, she's a gym. Yes, she is such a gym.
- [63:50]
Heather Gibbs
She is.
- [63:51]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Every now and then I'm on her email list and she's just such a gem. She, she just cares about so many different things and wants to make you aware of different things that you can help support and be a part of and things like that. She's just a, she's just a gym. So your kids have been watching you since November of 22 and, and what you guys have gone through and how you've handled your world since then. What do you hope they're taken from all of this and that you're giving them?
- [64:25]
Heather Gibbs
I would say the greatest thing that I hope is for them to see that I don't have the strength by myself that, that it is an absolute foundation in faith and trusting God through it. I got to spend time with Samantha a day or so after losing Kyle and I told her. She's like, is it going to get at, you know, what's it going to be like? And I'm like, it absolutely sucks. It's awful. And my heart broke so much. But I said, your kids are going to watch you and you're going to find strength. You're not going to have it on your Own. You have to have a relationship with the Lord. You have to trust in him because he's going to sustain you no matter how upset you are with him right now. And it's okay because we were made to have emotions. But he's going to walk with you through the darkest moments, which we're in right now, and through the highest moments and back to the dark moments. And if you don't have that foundation, you're going to be lost, you're going to be bitter, you're going to be empty, and no one on earth can fulfill that. And I think for my kids, also, understanding that our home isn't here. We're not meant to be here forever. Our home is in heaven. And knowing it means so much more to me now. I grew up a Christian family and knowing, you know, growing up understanding Grandma and Grandpa are in heaven, but when you have someone, your beloved that is there, I wanted to understand every part. What is he seeing? What is he under? You know, what. What's going on? And it counts so much more. And I think my kids have seen, you know, like, this is a moment that we're here. Work hard, be relentless in everything you do. Show compassion to everyone. But. But this isn't forever. So it counts what you're doing here now. And I think that's what I want them to see. I want them to see that it's funny. People are like, it's okay. Cry in front of your kids. And I'm like, no. Nobody wants your mom to cry in front of them. They want to see strength. And I remember those first few days of waking up and putting makeup on, and finally my daughter's like, are you all right? Because weekends I have no makeup, my hair is a mess. And so. But I wanted, you know, just to be able to show up and show them we are going to get through it. And right now it's going to be hour by hour, and then it's going to be day by day, and then it's going to be week by week. But. And remembering. Remembering Coy. We tell funny stories all the time. We want to be happy. We don't want to be sad. And we want to celebrate him and remember him. So it's in everything. I mean, he is kind of a. A, you know, once in a lifetime. And so I think our kids, you know, so many times will be like, okay, what would dad do? And, you know, Ty's like, dad's gonna kill you. You know, what. What are you thinking? So I. I love seeing that in
- [67:16]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
all of them keeping that at the front and center. Yeah, that, you know, the, the faith is. Is big. I, you know, same thing. Growing up, went to church, didn't really matter. My, My grandparents and all that were. Some were already passed and this, that and the other. So I didn't have like that modeled. You know, I just. Our parents sent us to church. It was the thing to do. We were in church every Sunday, even when they were on the road and all that. And, And I'm kind of got. Didn't get away from my belief in God and everything, but. But kind of got away from the practice of every day. Right. You go to college, you do this and that and, and, and honestly, my mother's death in 2019, it was just like. I mean, it just came as an aurora. Like, you have to give this up and to have that peace about it because you're right, you will be bitter, you will be angry, you will have the regrets. You will, you know, ask question why and all those things. And that was the, that was the time for me whenever that really resonated, to just hand it over and, you know, have that faith that, you know, I said earlier, God, God's wrote the story. Yes, we're living it. And that. That belief helps you through worry. It helps you through the unknowns and all of those things, you know, that we just, Just, you know, we can't. And it's hard. It's hard for driven people. It is to, you know, relinquish kind of that control. It's so hard.
- [68:59]
Heather Gibbs
It is. I. So hard so many times. I'm like, God doesn't want my perspective or opinion. I'm like, if we did it this way, I feel like it would be,
- [69:08]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
you know, and, and we joked last night. We were talking about some decisions we were working on for Wyatt, and my husband goes. He goes, I'm just. I've got to let go of this. I've got to turn over to God. And he turned and he just made a little quip and he goes, God, can you just please give me an answer by tonight?
- [69:26]
Heather Gibbs
That's exactly right. It. Sometimes the timing doesn't work.
- [69:29]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I'm like, I don't think that's how it works.
- [69:31]
Heather Gibbs
It's, It's. It's. It's so true, though. You know, I mean, I think with all the kids, with all my, you know, my, My boys. He's case has just finished his freshman year, went into the transfer portal. We've been praying about the right place. They just committed to college of Charleston, which I'm so excited to be close by. But it's. It's a huge leap of faith and. And a. And a huge, you know, like, there isn't coy to be there to walk us through. And. And even though they lost, you know, their earthly father, they have a heavenly father that cares about him more than even I. I care about them. And it's hard to wrap your head around that.
- [70:07]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Absolutely.
- [70:08]
Heather Gibbs
But I think our. Our family kind of verse was that even Elle used. It was, you know, going back to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and what they went through and that we know no matter what. But if not, you know, it was the verse that God is with us, whether he answers it the way that we want to, whether the story comes out the way we want. And we know with losing Coy, it absolutely wasn't the story we wanted. It wasn't what we want, but we knew that God was with us and is and continues to carry through. You know, some days. Some days are tough, you know, and. And my kids are like, sometimes we don't act like Christians. And I'm like, it's okay. We're not perfect, but. But. But we know that that's our foundation, and that's. That's the most important part.
- [70:56]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah. And the days they. There. There are tough times. And you guys are going to experience more, you know, because your kids are younger and you're gonna. You know, the things I think about, like, in the loss of my dad and the loss of your dad and loss of your husband are so completely different. But the loss of your dad, of just, you know, seeing my kids accomplish things and do things. Dale's children, you know, what. What we built here and what that looks like, you know, because we lost him so soon. And your kids are going to have those, you know, that's the weddings, the babies, the grandkids, all of those things that. Where it's going to pop up and your. You're gonna say, what would dad think? You know, but there's a sadness to it at the same time. Right. That your kids can't experience what Coy was like or what JD Was like and all of those things, but except through your memories and stories, it is.
- [71:46]
Heather Gibbs
And I think, you know, it's hard because, like, now the pictures, they don't go on. They end. So when you're, you know, it's the next holiday and you want to repost a birthday, and I'm like, these are the same. There's the, you know, those memories with photos here kind of end. But it is it though. That's the hardest thing I think for me. My youngest is going to college next year, Jet. And so I'm going to become an empty nester of like what does that look like? So I'm, I'm in the process of got land and I'm going to build a farm.
- [72:18]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Okay.
- [72:18]
Heather Gibbs
So I come home to my, my animals. I was like, I want to come home. I was like, I want a tractor. I'm gonna learn how to. I was like. And my kids are like. And I'm like, no, I want, I want to go home and be busy and have hard work to do at home and stay busy and I love animals.
- [72:33]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
I feel like we as moms, we still need things to care about, care for, not care about, but care for. You know, that makes it's.
- [72:40]
Heather Gibbs
And I don't want my kids to be like imagining me sitting at home watching Netflix all night, you know, I mean like I need to have, be busy and want them to know they go on. We've raised them to launch them and I want them to go on and be successful in whatever they're gonna do and not to worry about me, that I'll be okay. Yeah. And, and I think hopefully they see that.
- [73:01]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That's awesome. Well, let's switch gears just a bit and, and kind of wrap up nascar. We're in an incredible place this year. Sold out crowds, some of the broadcast numbers are looking great, especially as we moved into the prom races here. You've, you know, we've got the, the media deal out of the way, we've got the charter deal out of the way and we're just looking forward. What would, what does it look like for you for new investment in the sport, for new owners? You know, what would, what would you tell them about the sport right now and where we're at?
- [73:37]
Heather Gibbs
Well, I think what's so unique, I mean, I think having such a close community that most of the people all live in the same area. And so we're all, we all are working towards the same point, you know, to grow the sport, to bring in new fans watching, you know, the O'Reilly series, these drivers coming up through the ranks, trying to get a younger demographic, finding a different demographic, you know, with our pit crew members. I think that's, that's one thing that NASCAR is, they're open minded, getting to see Ben Kennedy at the track all the time or Steve od. I mean like, I think having those people there and Wanting really to hear the teams. We're. We're the show. We're the circus. We're the traveling circus. And listening to us and wanting to, you know, kind of work together to grow the sport, I think is really important. I love seeing. I love seeing the fans. I love watching, you know, when they sing the national anthem and hearing the fans chirping and yelling and, you know, the flyovers that, you know, and us owning who we are. We're. We're an all American. You know, we started, you know, bootleg, you know, running from the. You know, doing that. So I think that that's. That's our roots.
- [74:50]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Being who we are and not trying to be something that we're not.
- [74:52]
Heather Gibbs
For sure.
- [74:53]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Absolutely.
- [74:54]
Dirty Mo Media Host
We're.
- [74:54]
Heather Gibbs
We're not. We're not other. We are in. Our experience is outstanding.
- [74:58]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It's.
- [74:58]
Heather Gibbs
It's fun. They, you know, the guys, they're. They're tough drivers, and it's a. It's a. It's a cool sport. And I love watching. Watching the fans engage, growing. Growing it with a younger demographic. Watching college kids. Even my kids age right now, you know, and having all these young kids. Kids, and they. They love the sport. They identify with the, you know, like, watching my kids getting to meet Brent Cruz and being like, this kid is my age, you know, so that part, I think, is really exciting and fun.
- [75:28]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That is really cool. So, you know, we've talked about being a baker, being a realtor. What has running the NASCAR team taught you that. That your previous experience hasn't?
- [75:39]
Heather Gibbs
Well, so. Previous experience, I was an independent contractor. It was up to me. I was with real estate. I never had an assistant. So I was the, you know, the front of the house, in the back of the house. I did the inspections. I went to the closing table. You know, with baking, it was, you know, like, ordering, doing, you know, working through it and delivering the cakes. And I made the decisions. I. And it was up to me. And if. If we failed, it was because I failed. If a deal didn't close, it's because, you know, of those circumstances. So I carried that weight where coming into Joker's Racing and this community, you're. Now, you're part of a team. So learning to become a team player was really. It's hard. And, you know, I'm like, wait, we're having another meeting about this? Like, why don't we just make a
- [76:24]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
decision about the meeting?
- [76:25]
Heather Gibbs
A meeting about the meeting. I'm like, we have to do that again. So it was learning to be a good team. Player and taking, you know, being more collaborative and listening to the group and obviously, you know, know you're surrounded by all these great people that have good opinions and, and it doesn't all fall on your shoulders. And I think that's probably been, you know, the, the biggest change for me.
- [76:48]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, delegation's always been tough for me.
- [76:51]
Heather Gibbs
Yeah.
- [76:51]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
You know, I'm like, you want to teach, you want to mentor and you want to do all those things, especially as you're setting it up for the next leadership group and so on and so forth. But man, delegating is like so hard for me. I'm like, man, I can get this done so much quicker that I just get it done my way and you know, I could just have it completed, but this doesn't work like that. All right. This has been just amazing, you know, kind of getting some insight onto Jacobs Racing, your culture, what things are really about, how you've come in. What's some of the best business advice that you've been given that you can turn around and maybe give to, to our listeners?
- [77:29]
Heather Gibbs
I think the best business advice I've been given is when coming into this organization, 450 people is, is form your own opinion. Don't take the opinion of others. Take it with a grain of salt. So if, if someone's like that person's like this, they operate like this. Find out for yourself. Go take time, spend time with that person and get to know them and get to know all 450 of them. But, but don't take the opinion of others. I think has been, and I, I've tried to kind of share that with my kids as they're, you know, going through different circumstances. And I've learned it, you know, hands on at Jokers Racing is just get to know that person, get to understand them and, and then you can under, you know, form your own opinion and, and everybody may have an agenda. So you have to kind of look at that, you know, and, you know, overall and, and kind of take a bird's eye view at that and, and see where they're coming from because it, you, you get that in every single department. And then if they're the last person that suggested something and you jump on that bandwagon, it may, you know, hurt a different group. So I think being able to take all the different opinions form your own and kind of look at it from a bird's eye view is, is that's the biggest thing that I've learned.
- [78:41]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Yeah, great advice. I know. You know, one of the things Here, like when we're having conflict or we want to change something or, or whatnot, you know, I always do exactly what you say. I go talk to this person, you get this side of the story, you get this information, you go talk to this person and man, sometimes they hate it. But I bring us all together and it's like if, if, you know, you really want to get to the root of something, let's all get in the same room and talk to each other because we'll say different things, you know, to different people or this, that and the other. So let's work this out and hash this out and, and fix this. So I love that advice and it's, you know, it kind of leads us back to what I talked about with Ty and, and you know, an opinion that I had that I was able to, to make different and be different because of talking to somebody face to face and seeing them in an environment that I hadn't seen them before and things like that. So spot on. Well, Heather, this has been fun. I hope our listeners have enjoyed it. I really appreciate your time and come in to, to speak with us and a big fan. I need more, I need more ladies in dresses lining up beside me for sure. But, and it's, you know, our sport is fantastic. We wouldn't still be here sitting here talking about it if it wasn't. And there's a lot of Runway, a lot of opportunity and a lot of growth that we can pass on to the next generation of fans, the next generation of leadership and so on and so forth. So really appreciate you being here.
- [80:08]
Heather Gibbs
Well and thanks for having me and thanks for sharing people's story. I think that's important and, and I appreciate all that you do and I appreciate it.
- [80:15]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Thanks for joining us for business and motorsports in the RV studio. Don't forget about Arby's new meat and three box more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats.
- [80:26]
Dirty Mo Media Host
Check out, check out Dirty Mo. Check out Dirty Mo Media. Twitter, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
- [80:39]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Our trip up the coast was perfection.
- [80:42]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
With my Sapphire preferred card we earned three times the points on gas, online grocery and dining.
- [80:46]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
It was amazing.
- [80:47]
Chase Sapphire Cardholder
Chase Sapphire preferred the card that's preferred for a reason. Cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.