Couple Makes NASCAR Career With Gibbs
By Eric Powell
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Tonja and Jeff Koons spend practically 24 hours a day, seven days a week together, and they wouldn't have it any other way.
For the two natives of New Palestine, Ind., an Indianapolis suburb, love of marriage and work go hand-in-hand as they live a life most racing fans can only dream of: traveling around the United States while working for one of NASCAR's premier teams.
The Koons have worked together at Joe Gibbs Racing since December 1996, and since then they have logged thousands of miles of traveling around America, been part of three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship-winning efforts for the Gibbs team (Bobby Labonte and the No. 18 Interstate Batteries car in 2000, Tony Stewart and the No. 20 Home Depot entry in 2002 and 2005), and shared every moment of it together.
Their paths came together at New Palestine High School, where they met and dated through school. They were married in September 1995.
Jeff trained to become an auto mechanic, and Tonja attended a beauty college, but the desire to "go racing" was too great. Tonja grew up in a family of race fans and raced quarter midgets for several years, beginning at age 5. Her father, Bud Bullock, worked on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Safety Patrol staff for a number of years before her parents moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., where both now work in event-staff positions at Daytona International Speedway.
Jeff and Tonja submitted applications in August 1996 to a number of racing teams, just trying to get a foot in the door. That door cracked open soon after when they interviewed with the Gibbs team to become show car drivers. They were excited about the opportunity because it meant they would be on the road together, logging miles all over the United States to numerous appearances.
"We had a team meeting when we (were hired) and after the team meeting, Joe Gibbs personally called Tonja and I into the conference room, sat us down and actually thanked us for coming to work for him," Jeff Koons said. "That says a lot about him. What he says (in public), that you win with people, that's truly his philosophy, and it shows in the organization."
But after eight years of hustling show cars representing Bobby Labonte's No. 18 Interstate Batteries car and Tony Stewart's No. 20 Home Depot car from one end of the continent to the other, the couple found an opportunity to get off the highway and take to the air – literally – with roles on the competitive side of the team.
"We came off the road as the show car program grew," Tonja said. "It went from being one show-car rig with a Bobby Labonte car, which is what Jeff and I took around. Jeff came up with the idea to put two cars on one trailer, and we carried around both Labonte and Stewart's car, and now it has grown."
Jeff and Tonja work together during the week to manage Joe Gibbs Racing's extensive show car program, which today features several cars each for sponsors such as FedEx, Home Depot, Vigoro and Interstate Batteries, and the team also manages the show car program for Hall of Fame Racing's No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet.
But on the weekends, they still get to satisfy that racing fix that brought them into the sport. Jeff is in the pit of the No. 18 car of J.J. Yeley, doing tire preparation work before the race and catching tires during the race. Tonja serves as the scorer for the No. 20 car of Stewart.
As Tonja put it, it's the best of both worlds because they still get to travel all over the country together, but by air.
Despite living near Joe Gibbs Racing's Huntersville, N.C., headquarters for a decade, the Koons' agree that coming home to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an emotional, exciting experience each year, a weekend they eagerly await despite its spot in the middle of the NEXTEL Cup Series' grueling 36-race schedule.
It's exciting," Jeff said, "it's like a dream come true. As a kid watching the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard, to come there and be a participant in it, and be involved with a team that has won it twice, it's just unbelievable. To come back and see our family and see how the city has grown a little more, it's incredible. We can't wait for August to roll around and experience that."
For Tonja and the rest of the No. 20 team, the 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard has important implications for two reasons: becoming the first team to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in back-to-back years, and qualifying for the 2006 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup so Stewart can attempt to win back-to-back NEXTEL Cup championships. The team is 10th in points, so a spot in "The Chase" is far from secure.
Despite the pressure of The Chase this year, memories of Stewart's emotional victory last year at Indy still are fresh, Tonja said.
"Just the sense of happiness for him (Stewart) and the whole team, it was incredible," she said. "We actually got to kiss the bricks. We've got a ring from that race and a ring from when we won the Brickyard with Bobby Labonte. Those are treasures: The pictures, the memories are treasured."
While some married couples would consider the idea of spending every day at the office and nearly every weekend on the road together a bit tiring, the Koons say they're living a dream together and wouldn't have it any other way.
"A lot of people can't imagine we do that, we literally spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week together," Jeff said, with a laugh. "I have enjoyed it because I've got to share a lot of special moments with her. A lot of the guys (crew) don't get to share the wins and excitement with their spouse, and I think it's pretty darned cool to do that."
Said Tonja: "Whenever we do have free time, the question is always, 'What are we going to do together?' Being at the racetrack is about as far apart as we get. We're sitting next to one another on the plane, at the office, (and) for eight years we were sitting together in a truck. Getting to be together all the time is our choice. It's always fun to get back together on Sunday nights to hear about what happened during the race. It's one big family out there, in NASCAR, so it's always fun to get together."
Not lost on either Jeff or Tonja is their good fortune over the last decade, from being an Indiana couple that could only dream of "going racing" to their present positions with Joe Gibbs Racing.
"It's incredible just walking into this race shop everyday, because you have to pinch yourself that you get to work here," Tonja said. "To work anywhere in racing, we would have been thrilled, but to work at Joe Gibbs and knowing what we know now about the place, it's just the biggest blessing. We had no idea at the time how much we were being blessed."
***
Tickets: Tickets are on sale for the 2006 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 6 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Fans can order tickets online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com, by calling the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, or at the ticket office at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Parking and camping information also can be obtained through the ticket office.
Hours for phone orders and the ticket office are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday, while online orders can be made at any time.
Reserved seats start at just $35.
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