Joe Gibbs Racing notched four victories and 24 top-five finishes this year, as drivers Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the championship points standings.

It was a down year, for sure, but don't be too hard on the boys. It was a transitional season as the team had just switched from Pontiacs to Chevrolets. They'll bounce back next year; back to meeting their lofty standards.

The 2003 campaign marked the first in five years that a Joe Gibbs Racing driver didn't finish first or second in the championship battle. And though neither team was disappointed in its season, it is apparent that both are looking for more in 2004.

"We didn't come into the season with a top-10 (points finish) as our goal," said Labonte, the 2000 Winston Cup champion who sent a surge of momentum through the crew of his No. 18 Monte Carlo with a victory in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. "We want to win the championship. We know we have the potential. We've got everything in place, from the driver to the crew chief to the crew. Joe has done everything to get us whatever we need. ... We want another title."

After winning the Winston Cup Championship in 2002, Stewart came into this season knowing his team might be a little bit behind. After all, although he doesn't like to points race, he admits that his team wasn't trying as many new setups or strategies toward the end of the 2002 season, instead playing it safe trying to lock up the title. Meanwhile, the rest of the competition was experimenting, and ready to employ some of the more successful tests to get ahead in 2003.

But just because Stewart was expecting to start off with a little ground to make up doesn't mean he has lowered his standards, either.

"I would have said top five," Stewart said of what his goal was at the start of the season.

Still, even though neither team met its own expectations, with two titles and 40 victories and both drivers signed at least through the 2008 season, the Gibbs Racing camp has never looked stronger. The very fact that a season like 2003 was subpar for this group is proof, indeed, of its competitive health.

"Joe says it's all about people," Labonte said, "and he's right. He's got the right people in the right places and that's why it all works. It comes down to the details of knowing what everybody is good at and what everybody's strong suit is and isn't."

	Gibbs, right, and Stewart won the 2002 Winston Cup championship.

Gibbs' strong suit is reading people. He knew the first time that he met Bobby Labonte that he'd found a smart driver with patience; a guy who wasn't going to tear his equipment up. In 2000, Labonte won the title by completing all but nine laps of competition that season.

Gibbs knew when he first met Tony Stewart that he'd never seen a guy more passionate about racing, and that that would bring Stewart a lot of success -- as well as a little bit of trouble. In 2002, Stewart won the Winston Cup title while on NASCAR probation.

Gibbs' two drivers, the calculating, patient Labonte and passionate, instinctive Stewart, each have their crew chiefs and most of their crews returning next year and will both have a year in the Chevrolets under their belts.

Labonte's crew has already said it's going to spend much of the off-season building new cars. Stewart's crew will likely do the same. From talking to each, Gibbs said he believes his stable is going to come out strong in 2004 and once again contend for the title.

"I'm really looking forward to next season," Gibbs said. "Every year it seems like I think we've got a shot at a championship, but I feel good about next year. I feel good about both teams."

That's a luxury Gibbs said he hasn't had for a few years, now. Ever since the 1999 season, when Labonte finished second in the standings and Stewart finished fourth as a rookie, Gibbs said he could tell when one team was going to perform a little better than the other.

Right now, though, he says it's anybody's guess.

"I would love to see them battle each other for the championship," Gibbs said. "And there's no reason it couldn't happen."

Rupen Fofaria is a freelance writer living in Chicago and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at rfofaria@espnspecial.com.