Nascar team co-owner Coy Gibbs’ heartbreaking final interview paying tribute to son Ty

This is when proud father Coy Gibbs shared how impressed he was with his 20-year-old son Ty’s determination to win the Nascar Xfinity Series, hours before his sudden death at age 49.

Coy, the vice chairman of Nascar’s Joe Gibbs Racing, died unexpectedly Saturday night after visiting Phoenix Raceway in Arizona to witness his son’s championship with his wife, Heather.

A few hours later, on Sunday morning, Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed that the racer’s father had died in his sleep. A cause of death has not been confirmed.

Now footage has surfaced of Coy’s latest interview, in which he spoke about his “proud” of his son at a press conference on Saturday night.

Ty had won the Xfinity Series championship and held off Noah Gragson in Saturday’s 200-mile race to take the title in his rookie year. But his win came under controversial circumstances after he pushed teammate Brandon Jones out of the lead at Martinsville Speedway last week.

He was then booed in Arizona, but Coy was proud of the way his son overcame the heat on him.

“I’m absolutely proud of him, I’ve always had his support as a father, it’s clearly heartbreaking to go through difficult things,” Coy said Saturday night.

“It’s actually even more heartbreaking to see him go through it. I don’t care, I’m old and I don’t care. To see your child hurt, he knows he screwed up and to go through that as a parent is hard.

“It was to watch today, just to see his determination and I think he has skills and he is determined, it definitely made me proud.

“My wife and I, we were both proud because he just hammered hard and did his job and if he wants to do this for a living he has to learn how to do it.”

He added: “It’s been a tough week for sure. When you started this day, I was like, “I just want this day to pass,” that’s my mindset because I want to move on and get past it. But I’ve been through this before, Ty hasn’t, so it was more like watching him and seeing how he would react.

“He just doubled down and did his job after making a big mistake last week – so it was nice to see that.”

A statement from Joe Gibbs Racing on Sunday read: “It is with great sadness that Joe Gibbs Racing confirms that Coy Gibbs was with the Lord in his sleep last night. The family appreciates all thoughts and prayers and asks for privacy at this time.”

Coy Gibbs was the son of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, who won three Super Bowl titles with Washington and won 154-94 with the team in 16 seasons.

He then ran a top NASCAR organization with the help of his two sons, but he has now lost them both.

His other son, JD Gibbs, died just three years ago — also at age 49 — after battling a neurological illness. He led the team until his death in 2019.

He had undergone treatment in the years leading up to his death for symptoms affecting parts of brain function.

Nascar chairman and CEO Jim France also paid tribute to the co-owner. He said in a statement: “We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Coy Gibbs.

“On behalf of the France family and all of NASCAR, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe, Pat, Heather, the Gibbs family and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing for the loss of Coy, a true friend and racer.”

Nascar held a minute of silence before the Cup Series final on Sunday after Gibbs died.

His son was replaced by driver Daniel Hemric just hours before the race was due to start.

Denny Hamlin, one of Joe Gibbs Racing’s most successful drivers, paid tribute to the late racer, saying: ‘Today we will do what we don’t want to do, but we will unite as a family and race for the name on our chests. . @JoeGibbsRacing’.

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, who concluded his 15-year career with Joe Gibbs Racing in the same race, said: “Words cannot describe this day. Today would be hard enough, but it’s even more heartbreaking now. Heartbreaking.’

His wife Samantha also paid tribute to Gibbs, describing the “utter disbelief” that he was “no longer with us;

‘Our hearts hurt so much for Coach’ [Joe Gibbs] and Pat has yet to lay down a son, Heather, Ty and the rest of the children for such a sudden and devastating loss.”

Gibbs had played as a linebacker at Stanford University in the early 1990s before moving to NASCAR.

He made his Truck Series debut in 2000, sharing the driving duties of the Chevrolet No.18 with his late brother, JD Gibbs.

In 2004, he returned to coach the Washington Commanders of the NFL until 2007. His father coached the Washington Redskins as it was previously known.

And a year later, he later founded the JGRMX team before becoming Vice President and COO of Joe Gibbs Racing in 2016.