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Gibbs on WSJ NASCAR report: "Nothing could be farther from the truth"

Joe Gibbs spoke out against a recent Wall Street Journal report on the state of NASCAR.

Championship contenders press conference: team owner Joe Gibbs

Championship contenders press conference: team owner Joe Gibbs

Eric Gilbert

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford, talks with team owner Roger Penske in the garage area
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Joe Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Joe Gibbs, team owner of Carl Edwards, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, looks on while waiting for the race to be called due to rain
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Brian France, CEO and chairman of NASCAR
Monster Energy signage
Lesa France Kennedy, CEO, International Speedway Corporation
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series signage

The WSJ report, titled NASCAR, Once a Cultural Icon, Hits the Skid, talked about the decline in ratings and attendance in NASCAR, and went into detail about the relationship between NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and his sister Lesa France Kennedy, the CEO of the International Speedway Corporation. 

The story got several people within the industry talking with highly successful team owner Roger Penske disputing the claims made in the story, declaring that the sport "is in great shape."

One day later, another iconic team owner in Joe Gibbs commented on the WSJ article, revealing that he was interviewed for the story and that none of his quotes were used.

Gibbs expresses displeasure

"For me, I really would like to address this," he said during a Toyota press conference at Daytona International Speedway. "I'm glad you asked that question. I was interviewed for that article, and there wasn't one comment I made that was in that article, or there was no slant to anything in there. And so think about this for a minute: What was brought up in that article is that the management team, Brian France, Lesa and everybody, it's hard for them to make good decisions, fast decisions. I think nothing could be farther from the truth."

'Coach' Gibbs later added onto that when answering a separate question, saying, "My personal opinion. I just kind of felt like this thing was already going in a direction, and it was like when I was asked questions, it was, we're headed one direction, I don't care what you say. Now, maybe that's not fair and I know that, but I felt it. I felt that. I felt it personally. And I take it because this is all my family, J.D. (Gibbs), Coy (Gibbs), all of us, all we do is race every day, and I think our sport is healthy, and with our sponsors, I think we're proof of that. I think Barney (Visser) and the people that came on board with him this year, and I think when you've got companies you're sitting next to somebody like a Toyota, the biggest and strongest companies in the world are in our sport, I really think that could have been written in a totally different way. But you're never quite sure what the objective was.”

Disputing the idea NASCAR is in a decline

Gibbs specifically refuted some of the negative themes in the story, citing recent changes and announcements in the NASCAR world as evidence. "Think about our sport. Three years ago we completely changed the Chase. Huge, big decision. We now have charters. In one year working with Brian France, NASCAR, the owners were able to put together charters. Huge deal for us. We come back this year, and in a short period of time, we now have stage racing. I would say that that is so far off, nothing could be farther from the truth. I think everybody is engaged. I think everybody from Brian (France) on down. We've had meetings with owners and with our OEMs and everybody. I don't know of anything that's ‑‑ where a sport has tried to reach out, please the fans, and make huge decisions.

"The second thing I would say on that, we announced FedEx the other day, a new extension for them, a long‑term extension. There's three other sponsors that we also did that with our race team alone. We saw Shell come in and make a huge decision with Roger. We also have two new sponsors coming in that we can't announce right now that will probably be announced within the month, okay. We have seven at Joe Gibbs Racing, us alone, and I said this in that statement to the Wall Street Journal, we have four Cup cars that are well‑funded, going to go like mad with some of the biggest and best sponsors in the world. We have three XFINITY cars, okay, well‑funded, going to go like mad and race like mad."

"Our sport, as far as I'm concerned, has a bright future. I think you don't get the biggest and best companies in America involved in our sport and going as hard as they are and re‑upping and signing unless you've got a sport that brings value to the table. So thank you for asking that question. I felt strongly about it. I wanted to say that," he concluded.

WSJ responds

A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal later told Motorsport.com, "The Journal stands by its fair and accurate reporting."

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