Tony Gibson began his racing career working with his father, Bo Gibson, who fielded cars for legendary drivers such as Lee Roy Yarboro and Tiny Lund. When Gibson's brother Mark began racing Late Models in Florida in 1974, he joined the team as a mechanic and went on to help his brother win the track championship at New Smyrna Speedway in 1978.

Eventually Gibson took his racing career to North Carolina, where he first went to work for Rob Moroso as a road mechanic and then as a car chief and road mechanic for Alan Kulwicki and his 1992 Championship team.

The following year Gibson joined Bill Elliott's race team, where he stayed until his move to Hendrick Motorsports in 1998. He spent six seasons as won two championships as the car chief for Jeff Gordon.

Gibson joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in 2003 and served as crew chief for drivers Steve Park and Michael Waltrip before becoming the car chief for the No. 8 team in 2005. Gibson, a Daytona Beach, Fla.-native, served as crew chief for the No. 8 team in five races early in the 2007 season before taking over the position permanently in the fall.