Perhaps one of the incentives that lured Joe Gibbs back to the NFL sideline was the opportunity to help his two sons pursue their career goals.

Gibbs' oldest son, J.D., has been Joe Gibbs Racing team president since 1997. However with his father at the track on Sundays and in the shop most of the work-week, J.D.'s leadership role was always somewhat divided. Now, J.D. will have complete responsibility and will have a chance to prove his individual worth as a team leader.

Gibbs' younger son, Coy, will now have a chance to chase his lifelong dream of having a career in football. According to sources close to the race team, Coy -- a former Stanford University linebacker -- will join his father on the Washington Redskins staff. It is unclear at this time what his role will be.

Extracurricular driving
In light of Gibbs' return to the NFL, JGR driver Tony Stewart was asked if this meant he would be allowed to race outside of Nextel Cup more often. Stewart jokingly responded by saying he, "pretty much does what he wants anyway."

Stewart's recreational racing outside of NASCAR is legendary. Besides winning two Winston Cup races last season, Stewart won in a sprint car, winged sprint car, big block modified, SK modified and in an ARCA dirt race.

So, it should come as no surprise that Stewart skipped Thursday's testing session in Daytona so he could head to Tulsa, Okla., for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, an event he won in 2002. While Stewart was away, Mike McLaughlin served as test driver of the Home Depot Chevrolet.

What does come as a mild surprise was Stewart's statement Tuesday in which he ruled out any possible return to the Indy 500 while he was still competing in the Nextel Cup series.

"I'm not going to run the Indy 500 until I'm done with Nextel Cup. It's not fair to the team," Stewart said. "Just the threat of something happening is what is keeping me from doing it."

Baker Boy
Testing at Daytona began with news Tuesday that Penske-Jasper Racing had hired Brendan Gaughan as driver and acquired sponsorship from the Eastman Kodak Company for the 2004 Nextel Cup season.

During two full seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series, Gaughan won eight races. He finished fourth in the standings in 2003.

As he prepares for the leap to Nextel Cup, Gaughan is being tutored by former Winston Cup star Buddy Baker, who also helped coach Ryan Newman as he transitioned to NASCAR.

"Somebody came up to me and said the other day, 'Ryan didn't know a lot, so he needed Buddy. What do you need Buddy for?'" said Gaughan. "Go up on the spotters stand and listen to him yelling at me or listen to him at lunch time when we sat down and he gives me his afternoon critique. There's a lot of stuff."

Baker has two Daytona wins including the 1980 Daytona 500.

"I'm not going to say no to him," continued Gaughan. "The man has knowledge. He proved he can win, and he's proved he know how to train somebody. Look at Ryan. So I say yes sir and shut up for a change. You guys might not believe it but I swear that's what I do."

Gaughan's father Michael will continue to operate Orleans Racing's truck team. Replacing Brendan behind the wheel will be Steve Park, who had run full time in the Winston Cup Series since 1998.

Fast time
Michael Waltrip is making early claim to the title of "favorite" for the 2004 Daytona 500. Despite breaking an oil line and hitting the wall during the week's first session, the two-time and most recent winner of the Great American Race went on to post the fastest lap of the test at 187.731 mph. Waltrip swept the three-day Daytona testing session by being the fastest car in each of the six sessions.

"We have had a terrific test even though it got off to a rocky start when we crashed one of our cars on Tuesday, but it just shows you how prepared this team is," Waltrip said. "(The Napa Team) had two cars here that were going to be strong, but we'll go home and fix the other one and go to Talladega with it. We'll practice more, which means we will practice more with the car we ran for three days and make it faster yet."

On thin ice
Dodge, Evernham Motorsports and the National Hockey League have joined forces for this year's Budweiser Shootout. To promote the 2004 NHL All-Star Game, to be held Feb. 8 in Minnesota, Jeremy Mayfield will be running a special paint scheme during NASCAR's pre-season all star race under the Daytona lights Feb. 7.

Mayfield is excited about the promotion but hopes all they ask him to do is drive the racecar. "Hopefully I don't have to ice skate because I'm not very good at it," he said.

Mike Massaro covers NASCAR for ESPN and ESPN.com.