Mitch Gibson has served as a pit crew member in all three NASCAR national series. Now, he will attempt his ARCA Menards Series debut at Daytona International Speedway driving for Rise Motorsports, the team announced on Jan. 25.
Gibson will pilot the No. 31 Chevrolet with an SB2 motor under the hood. Team co-owner Tim Goulet will serve as the crew chief and Rick Goodale will be the eyes in the sky atop the spotter stand.
Gibson will be sponsored by C&S Construction Services, Inc., Cabinet Designs, Wytheville VA, Nelson Brothers Racing, Brigitte Easterling and the #playwithheart Trevor Easterling Memorial, Scottie Nichols Memorial, Gibson/Barker Motorsports and Amsoil Authorized Dealers Dealer Barry Gibson. Team sponsors National Police Association and Back the Lane will also be onboard the racecar.
“Ed Nelson and his brother, they’ve been a big part of putting this deal together,” Gibson told Frontstretch. “I’m going to have a few people as I’m running a memorial on my car.”
Unlike at Michigan International Speedway in 2023 when Rita Goulet served as a one-person pit crew when her husband Tim piloted the racecar, the team will have UNOH pit crew members at Daytona.
With his support and the opportunity to make a lifelong dream come true, Gibson is not nervous.
“I hope it’ll all work out and you never know where we may end up,” he continued. “I don’t know if I’ve got a lot of emotions. I’ve worked for NASCAR Cup Series teams a lot over the years. I changed tires for Ward Burton in the Cup Series and worked in the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. I worked for Ben Rhodes as his tire specialist at ThorSport Racing so I’ve got a lot of background in racing. I was one of the last 20 members who got laid off from Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 2008. So I’ve been around the sport a long time and been gracious enough to work around a lot of great people. I’ve always raced and always enjoyed racing. I have a lot of friends that I’ve made in racing.”
Yes, Gibson’s racing history dates to when he was a youngster racing at his local racetracks. He went to high school with former NASCAR driver Danny O’Quinn. Gibson then worked on O’Quinn’s race team in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, now known as the zMax CARS Tour. When O’Quinn got signed by Jack Roush, Gibson went to work for Henderson Motorsports in the Trucks. Afterward, he went to work for Morgan-McClure. He was the front tire charger for Burton when he drove the State Water Heaters car for Morgan-McClure in 2007.
“When it comes to emotions when you’re working in a sport this big and the things that go on in this sport, the more experience that you got in there and the more that you’ve been around it, every year your nerves get a little less and your patience gets a little better,” he added. “So based on my experience, I feel like my patience is going to pay off a lot. There’s a lot of young guys who will be in this race and they’re all going to be digging to make a name for themselves.
“For me, I’ve been racing for 23 years. I’ve won everything from a 4-cylinder to a V8 late model car. I was able to go to Bristol Motor Speedway in 2008 and won the support race in a crate late model car. We got a good opportunity, we just got to stay out of trouble and finish the race. Everybody knows that you cannot win a race if you cannot finish. That’s the key.”
Flash forward almost 15 years from that Bristol victory to 2022 when Gibson won the Limited Late Model championship at Lonesome Pine Raceway.
Now the 35-year-old Gibson is ready to debut and run well at Daytona.
“I expect to finish the race for one,” he said. “Two, not make any mistakes. I’d like to be able to get with five or six cars and just be able to ride to the end. If five or six of us can get together and survive to the end, then we all have a chance of winning the race. I’m willing to team up with anybody. I’m here doing it because I love the sport. I’m not a full-time racer. And so I’m a teammate to everybody out there. You give me help, I’ll give you help and if I can put myself in the right spot there on the last lap, and I gave you help earlier in the race, hopefully you’ll pay that back to me and we can get a good finish.”
“If we have a 10th-place car, then we have a 10th-place car,” Tim Goulet added. “We’re going to go out there and we’re going to learn and see what we got. We’re not looking to set the world on fire but we’re going to go out there and give it hell. Keep the car in one piece and hopefully we can build on this for our superspeedway program and we’ll have many more runs after this.”
Gibson is open to running more races but only Daytona is set in stone for him thanks to his racing partners. He will run some late model races, splitting the season with a friend, at Kingsport Speedway. Gibson’s son races the Legends car at age 10 and his daughter races bandoleros at Shenandoah Speedway. “It’s nice to be able to go out and do it with the family,” he noted.
While he has been involved in racing for about two decades, Gibson works full time as an Environmental Health and Safety Specialist and Manager for Kerry Food Group in Harrisonburg, Va. The company is the largest stock and broth maker in the United States, far different than the racing industry but good employment that allows Gibson to continue his love of racing.
With sources indicating to Frontstretch that the season opener might have more than 40 entrants, thereby resulting in DNQs, Gibson has the Rise owner’s points to fall back on as well. Rise finished 18th in the national series owner standings with three top 10s, all earned by Brayton Laster.
Gibson is the second driver announced to drive for Rise. Rita Goulet will compete full time in the ARCA Menards Series East.
“We’re excited,” Tim Goulet said. “We’ve been having a lot of things come together. When you and I originally talked about this, it was all about the long term. If you look closely, all overnight successes take a long time. Our original conversation, it was what I wanted to highlight. So I think it is coming together. And now we have people beating down our doors and we are excited about this year. We’re more excited about this year than we ever thought.”
On its Facebook account, Rise has teased it will run a few more races in addition to Daytona and the East events, including possibly going to Phoenix Raceway, but no further announcements have been made yet.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.