Full Throttle

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. - (KRT) - Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs went back to being Joe Gibbs the racing team owner again for a day, but both sports were clearly on his mind Tuesday.

Addressing the NASCAR Nextel Media Tour at the Joe Gibbs Racing headquarters, Gibbs took a moment to remember Reggie White, the retired Green Bay Packers great who died last month. He also announced that with the blessing of White’s widow, Sara, Reggie White Motorsports would live on.

“I’ve got to tell you, Reggie White, to me, was somebody who helped change the people around him,” said Gibbs, the National Football League Hall of Famer who came out of retirement to return to the Redskins last season.

Gibbs first got to know White through football, and White sought advice from Gibbs about changing the face of racing. Last season, Reggie White Motorsports in partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing began fielding a two-car short-track stock-car team set up to help minority drivers and mechanics get a foothold in the sport.

The team will continue and both cars will carry the number 92 this season in memory of White, who wore it on his Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers jerseys.

Chris Bristol, a 27-year-old African-American from Columbus, Ohio, will again race at Carraway Speedway in Ashboro, N.C., where Gibbs driver Bobby Labonte won the 1987 championship. Aric Almirola, a 20-year-old Hispanic from Tampa, will compete in select late-model specials around the Southeast.

“We’re excited about that,” Gibbs said on continuing the diversity program. “It’s helping the sport and taking it in a direction we think it needed to go.”

Gibbs and White were friends in retirement and in their shared faith.

“He had a great wit and a great testimony,” Gibbs said. “The whole time I was in football, I wish I had a chance to coach him.”