Photos by Bob Brown, Steve Gibbs Collection, Bobby Bennett
Throughout his tenure as one of the most admired NHRA drag racing officials, Steve Gibbs learned how to compartmentalize. When he walked through the gates of the drag strip, whatever issues hounded him in real life, they disappeared once he stepped foot on the hallowed grounds of the drag strip.
Friday, as Gibbs strolled through the gates at Irwindale Raceway for what will be the final Nitro Revival at the track, things were different for the 85 year old drag racing legend.
Days earlier, Gibbs and soon-to-be-wife Marge, lost everything in the Camarillo Fire. The Camarillo Fire, more commonly referred to as the Mountain Fire, has claimed more than 130 structures. The majority of those lost were houses, and is being regarded as the most destructive the Southern California neighborhood has seen in years.
A post by the family on Facebook revealed that Gibbs had sold his house a couple months ago, they combined their lives into Marge’s Camarillo home of 50-plus years.
“We’re going through ups and downs,” Gibbs admitted. “One minute we’re strong and the next is realizing it is just a total, total, total, loss. Our house is nothing but rubble. And it sucks. Marge has several years of collections and memories in that house. I had an amazing amount of stuff I had accumulated, and its gone. My old Ford is gone, and you can’t replace that. We had no choice, we have to move on, we are moving on, and we’ve had unbelievable support.”
Then Gibbs, being Gibbs, paused as put the situation in perspective.
“We’re going to be okay, and we’ll get through this,” Gibbs explained. “There’s worse things in life than losing a house like… losing a child. We’ll get through this.”
It’s the same way Gibbs approached his job at NHRA, one he held for nearly 48 years, and before that running a drag strip. As many will attest, Gibbs always tried to make the best decisions based on the facts he had before him. Gibbs admits sometimes he was right asnd sometimes he was wrong. But in his heart, his intentions were to deliver the best for the sport and what he deemed as the beloved drag racers.
“You have to be resilient,” Gibbs said. “You can’t always be so strong. When we think about the stuff that is irreplaceable, absolutely irreplaceable. We try to say, ‘Well, damn it, I had it, for a really long time. It was mine for a long time.”
“That’s never for the best, something like that. I try to be positive about it, it’s hard. It is really, really hard to accept the act that that stuff is gone. And it can not be replaced. I can replace credit cards, I can replace birth certificates.
“The plaques I’ve received, the autographed posters. Can’t replace that.”
In a sense, Gibbs will be with his second family, the drag racing community as they gather at the Nitro Revival to celebrate the history of drag racing. And, for Gibbs, it will be welcomed therapy considering he had begun the steps of a succession for the event, handing the reins of the event’s heavy lifting to his daughter Cindy, whom he described as “eaten up” with the love for the event he created.
Gibbs believes the same resilliency that he’s maintained has been passed on to his nect generation.
“Cindy has been doing the heavy lifting since last year,” Gibbs said. “I just went down last year with fatigue and she had to pack up. So, speaks to how it’s happening again, but It might be the best time [to transition].”
The classic and modern drag racing community revers Gibbs, and his dedication to the sport. While there has been no official GoFundMe set up for Gibbs, at his request, that hasn’t stopped those around him from giving to the one man who has given so much to the sport. In fact, on Friday of the Nitro Revival, an effort spearheaded by Don and Margie Roberts, walked the grounds of Irwindale with Home Depot buckets collecting donations for Gibbs and Marge. According to Cindi, $7000 was raised in the first day.
A mail-in fundraiser has been created by friends Bob and Sharon Muravez.
Checks may be made out to Steve Gibbs and mailed to:
Steve Gibbs c|o Bob & Sharon Muravez
530 Delaware Road
Burbank CA 91504
Gibbs said he is touched by the outpouring of support by his drag racing family.
“We’re sitting here having lunch with some friends talking exactly about this, about sometimes we both need to let it out,” Gibbs said. “We let it out, get over it, and deal with it and not try to hold it all in. It’s a huge process. We’ve gotten so much help, so much support. I can tell you stories for an hour about things that are happening, it’s almost beyond reason. People that have helped us. It’s incredible. All the while a lot of good is coming out of a lot of bad, and were going to be okay.”
And, as long as Gibbs has a day to spend with his friends, there’s a few hours that the process will really be okay.
