Notebook: Gibbs doesn't regret move

Joe Gibbs has no regrets.

From returning to the NFL four years ago to retiring for the second time two weeks ago after the Redskins’ playoff loss to the Seahawks, Gibbs said he would do it all again.

“We prayerfully went going to Washington, and we prayerfully decided to get back to racing,” he said Tuesday night. “Obviously, we would have liked to win a championship again in Washington, but we got things going in the right direction.

“But I’m excited to get back to racing. We knew football was going to be for a limited amount of time, but racing is going to be forever for our family.”

Gibbs was in good spirits, even trading jabs with his son, J.D., the team’s president, who joked about locking the doors to keep his dad away and giving his father a pay cut.

“He dishes it out, so he has to take it. Trust me. I grew up with it,” J.D. said. “We will have our battles. We always do, but we are going to be stronger for it.”

The elder Gibbs’ role with the company will change a bit. He will let J.D. handle the racing and technical aspect of it, while he handles the sponsors.

Joe also will have a big say on personnel decisions.

“You win here with people,” he said. “Whether it’s football or racing, you get the right people, you are going to win.”

Winds of change

Windshear Inc., a company formed by HAAS CNC racing, is opening a $40 million state-of-the-art wind tunnel near the Concord Airport.

The 40,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in April for all forms of racing.

The facility will feature a rolling road where the wind can get up to 180 mph, the only wind tunnel in North America with that kind of technology.

“We know the limitations of the other wind tunnels and were asked to come up with something that’s better,” Windshear business manager Peter Zierhurt said. “It made sense to build a full-time wind tunnel here.”

Zierhurt said IRL teams already have scheduled time for the tunnel and one NASCAR manufacturer also signed a deal. It costs $3,500 an hour to rent the facility. Each team is scheduled for a 10-hour minimum.

Root of the problem

Former NASCAR driver and current ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace said the point where NASCAR began to lose its primary fan base was when Dale Earnhardt died from a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.

Wallace said the sport lost its identity and began doing things out of the norm, which he believes NASCAR regrets.

“It was like someone turned on a switch,” Wallace said. “The sport changed and we went after the new fans and forgot the old ones. They couldn’t figure out how to do both and did just one. NASCAR realizes that now. They made their mistakes and are going to come out of it now.”

New Bud man

Kasey Kahne knows he has big shoes to fill.

Kahne’s No. 9 car is in its first year with sponsor Budweiser, which was the primary sponsor for Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his entire Cup career.

But Kahne doesn’t feel there will be a big backlash.

“I don’t think they will boo me too,” Kahne said. “Junior is still out there and still going. He went and did his thing and they weren’t upset. So I don’t think they will be upset with me.”

Eye opener

Dario Franchitti said he was blown away on his first trip to Daytona 10 years ago.

The Ganassi driver, who is making the move from IRL to NASCAR this season, was at the track to watch to Rolex 24-hour race and went up in the stands to look late at night.

“I was sitting in the grandstands about 1 a.m. and couldn’t believe the size of the place. It’s pretty amazing,” Franchitti said.

‘Big Mo’ hits stores

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s candy bar, “Big Mo,” has hit the shelves in most retailers nationwide.

The chocolate bar is available in peanut butter or caramel filling and is named for his hometown of Mooresville, N.C.

They said it

“I got to be nice to J.D. You know what they say, ‘You got to be nice to your kids, because they pick the (nursing) home.’”

— Joe Gibbs on his son, J.D.

“We could talk all we want about what we did in ’07. But it doesn’t matter a friggin’ difference. It’s all about ’08.”

— Kyle Petty