Joe Gibbs Racing Honoring Legacy of Coy Gibbs with New Alternate Team Logo

When Joe Gibbs Racing soft-launched a new team logo in the offseason, which the team has begun utilizing with its NASCAR Xfinity Series program, NASCAR fans picked up on it. But what most didn’t realize was that the logo is more than just a logo. It’s a tribute to the life and legacy of a man who meant so much to so many within the walls of the Joe Gibbs Racing organization — Coy Gibbs.

In an exclusive interview with TobyChristie.com, Eric Schaffer, Joe Gibbs Racing’s EVP/Chief Commercial Officer laid out the lineage of the logo, how it ended up attached to the team’s NASCAR Xfinity Series program, and what the future holds for the logo.

To understand it all, let’s rewind to a little over a year ago.

Eric Schaffer was hired by Joe Gibbs Racing as the team’s EVP/Chief Commercial Officer in January 2023. Schaffer entered the building as the race team and Gibbs family, were freshly mourning the sudden and unexpected loss of Coy Gibbs, the organization’s Vice President, and the son of team owner Coach Joe Gibbs.

Schaffer, who spent 17 years working with the Washington Commanders in the National Football League – four of which were with Coach Gibbs in his return to coaching from 2004 to 2007 – instantly began getting to know his new organization. As Schaffer was doing a deep dive into the history of one of the most prolific teams in NASCAR history, something in the archives from outside of JGR’s NASCAR umbrella caught his eye.

It was a logo that he had never seen before, which featured big-bold JGR lettering. The logo was so striking that it compelled Schaffer to ask around the campus to find out more about it. What he would learn was how precious the logo truly was.

“I saw an old motocross logo, and I found out from David Evans who is one of our salespeople that [the logo] was Coy’s idea,” Schaffer recalled. “It was a motocross team, and [Coy] was really passionate about it. It was a big deal.”

Schaffer was already infatuated with the logo, but after learning the significance of the history of the logo, the wheels began turning in Schaffer’s head to find a way to use the logo to honor the late Coy Gibbs, who was the head of the JGR MX team from 2008 to 2020, and to also give the team more flexibility when it comes to advertising and merchandising efforts in the future.

Schaffer’s long career in stick and ball sports led him to an idea as simple as it was brilliant — alternate team logos.

“Certain teams have alternate logos. Baseball teams, basketball teams. Sometimes you’ll have two or three different logos,” Schaffer explained. “And I thought it looked cool. I thought it looked different than our traditional logo, and something a little bit different. So I kind of asked around about it.”

As he worked his way up the ladder gauging the interest in repurposing Coy Gibbs’ old JGR MX logo as an alternate logo for the JGR NASCAR program, Schaffer was met with little to no resistance. But there was one step left, the most important step; Schaffer would take the idea to the Gibbs family himself to make sure they felt the idea was a tasteful choice, and to also obtain their blessing to use the logo.

According to Schaffer, Coach Gibbs was on board with the unique tribute to his son.

Schaffer also spoke with Heather Gibbs, the widow of Coy Gibbs and co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, who told him that seeing the logo again gave her a warm feeling. That’s all Schaffer needed to hear.

It was officially decided that Coy’s old logo would be revived. After the idea was given the green light, Schaffer says that Heather Gibbs had a request for him heading into the 2023 holiday season.

“For Christmas, [Heather] wanted the logo t-shirt that all of the Xfinity drivers wore. She wanted it for all of her kids and that kind of thing. It’s a big deal,” Schaffer stated. “If it makes them smile and get think about Coy, it’s a great add-on in addition to being something that is hopefully good for our company, and fun and new and hopefully adds something.”

Not only has the logo provided some comfort to the Gibbs family, but Schaffer says that the mood around the JGR shop is much more upbeat as seeing the logo more and more has helped remind team members about their fallen friend. It reminds them of the good times, and makes them smile. The logo has become a true healing tool.

In addition to the healing that it has provided, the logo has already become an attractive option for sponsorship partners. Several partners have expressed interest in using Coy’s logo in their marketing campaigns going forward.

While the alternate logo has only been seen to this point in association with the Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Xfinity Series program, Schaffer says that there are bigger plans in the near future. The logo will start blending into other aspects of the company, including the NASCAR Cup Series team.

“When I talked to our licensing group we decided to, with Heather’s blessing and with Coach’s blessing, that we would put it out as an alternate logo,” Schaffer said. “We’re using it right now in Xfinity, but we’re also going to be using it more and more in Cup, and our merchandising and other things. We liked how it looked, and it’s an ode to Coy.”

The alternate logo is a good-looking logo, and it’s an incredible tribute to Coy Gibbs.