SHR crew chief Gibson pondering a change of role

Having put in over 30 years on the NASCAR circuit, Tony Gibson is starting to look toward a change in pace.

Monday morning, Gibson – the crew chief for Kurt Busch at Stewart-Haas Racing – told "The Morning Drive" on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio he would like to transition to a different role sometime soon. Gibson, 52, has been a full-time crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series for the last nine seasons.

"I'd like to but it's like I told them from day one, I'll do whatever the company wants me to do," Gibson said of looking to spend more time with family, including a new grandson. "Stewart-Haas Racing has been great to me. They have bent over backward for me and gave me a great job, surrounded me with great drivers, crews and supported my family. It's a great place to work.

"I'll do whatever they need me to do, but I would very soon like to take a lesser role and still be involved and help all four teams, but be able to spend more time at home while my health is somewhat good to be able to do some of those things. But I'll do whatever these people ask me to do. I'm game for whatever but I am getting old, and the grind will get you. After 31 years it will absolutely wear you into the ground."

In February, Gibson and Busch won the Daytona 500, the first victory in the prestigious race for both. Gibson has been paired with Busch since the last three races of the 2014 season. The two have won three races together.

In 428 starts as a crew chief in the premier series, Gibson has six career wins. The Daytona Beach, Fla. native has worked with drivers such as Busch, Danica Patrick, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. just to name a few. His first start as a crew chief came with Jimmy Hensley in 1994.

Gibson has also been a crew chief for 58 races between the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.

"Maybe in the next year or two I can come off the road and be able to support Stewart-Haas in some role and let these young guys go and do it and spend time on the road," said Gibson. "It's tough nowadays, I'm telling you. With all the new rules and all the things going on, it's just really, really tough.

"The grind gets frustrating and dealing with all the rule changes and stuff like that and the tech inspection, man, it'll just wear you down and wear on your nerves and everything else. I just want to be able to try and enjoy and see what a normal life is a little bit."

Gibson moved from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009.