It wasn't the ideal father-son relationship. But it was the only one Coy Gibbs knew. So in that respect, it was fine ... sort of the same way black-and-white television is great as long as you don't know color TV exists.

Dad coached football. Dad was never home. If Gibbs wanted to see him, he could turn on ESPN.

"That was all I knew,'' Coy said. "You don't realize there is anything different until you step out of that world and say, 'Hey, you know what? Most kids' parents come home at 5 p.m. Isn't that crazy?'"

Coy Gibbs, of course, is the son of former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs. And he, along with brother J.D., is the main reason the father of two is officially retired from the sport in which he won three Super Bowls. Joe Gibbs is now owner of the NASCAR team that bears his name.

Coaching football took Joe away from his family. NASCAR does just the opposite. That alone made the career change a sensible move.

"I just know that I want to spend more time with my family,'' Joe said in March 1993 as he announced his surprise departure from the Redskins. With a sentimental tone in his voice, he added that he wanted to do "things normal fathers do.''

Whether "normal fathers'' actually start a race team on which their sons participate is up for debate. But either way, the whole thing has worked out pretty well for the Gibbs family, which will have its No. 20 Chevrolet, driven by Coy, running in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park.

While Joe was coaching the Redskins for 12 years he would often work 100-hour weeks and rarely see the kids. Now, he still puts in the hours but most of them are alongside Coy, the driver for, and J.D., the president of, Joe Gibbs Racing.

"When I was growing up we didn't spend a lot of time together because he worked so much,'' said Coy, whose three top-10s in his last three races have helped overcome a shaky start to the season and place him 14th in the standings. "I think (during the season) he was home like one night a week. He slept at work the whole time. So I definitely enjoy being around him now and understand how fortunate I am.''

If Coy were a little more fortunate he, by his own estimations, would be three inches taller and playing linebacker in the NFL the same way he did at Stanford for four years. But that's not the case. And because of it, the 29-year-old is living out his back-up dream as a driver.

So far, so good, as Coy finished 10th in the points in his first full season in a truck. His best finish was a fifth-place showing at Memphis last year.

So coming back offers a legitimate chance to have another good race.

"We struggled early more than I thought we would,'' Coy said. "But I would love to win a race.

Gary Parrish writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.