Coach Gibbs estimated that his son has been dealing with the condition for approximately six months. Because of his sports-oriented lifestyle — which included occasional participation in NASCAR national series events — Coach Gibbs said physicians have been unable to pinpoint a single cause for his symptoms.

"J.D. through his entire life has probably been the craziest person that I’ve ever been around or knew," Coach Gibbs said. "Basically, his situation medically – there’s very few answers. We’ve been dealing with this for about six months and basically what the doctor’s say is that they really don’t know. J.D. has lived a very active lifestyle. All the things that he’s done in his life physically he’s loved all sporting events and it’s everything from football to snowboarding, racing cars, racing motor bikes — he’s lived in a lot of ways for him, he loved all those things.

"We can’t point to any one serious thing that happened to him. Certainly any injury is a possibility that led us into some of the symptoms that he’s experiencing now."

Coach Gibbs said that he expected J.D.’s appearances at the race track going forward to be limited, but that he would remain involved in the team’s daily operation. He also hinted that his other son, Coy, who oversees JGR’s motocross operation, to become more involved with the NASCAR side of the company.

"I think very few people have noticed anything or any difference in the way we operate with the race team," Coach Gibbs said. "The good thing there is that J.D. and I share the same responsibilities. If I’m not there for a particular reason, J.D. will be there and if J.D. is not there for some reason, I’ll be there. As he goes through treatment, he will probably be doing less at the race track because he has a full week that demands quite a bit from him as he goes through treatment. You will probably see less of him at the race track, but he’ll be there on a day-to-day basis with the race team and be in all of our meetings and all of the key decisions that we make, J.D.’s going to have a huge impact on that."

Carl Edwards, who joined Gibbs’ operation in the offseason to make JGR a four-car stable, said that the team has rallied to show its backing.

"Everybody has been 100 percent supportive," Edwards said. "I had the chance to go in and talk to J.D. the other day, and it’s just business as usual. He’s working through everything and everybody is behind him 100 percent. He’s a really good person and a really tough guy. I’ve never heard him complain about anything. Hopefully he’ll just battle this the same way he would battle anything."

Denny Hamlin, Gibbs’ longest-tenured driver, said Friday that J.D. Gibbs’ outlook was overwhelmingly positive when he saw him at the Sprint Cup Series’ most recent race, at Auto Club Speedway.

"Really, he seems upbeat about it," Hamlin said. "I saw him last weekend at the race track and he seems fine. It’s not something that he really harps on, but obviously it’s something that’s very serious and you have to treat it seriously. I think that they’ve got some of the best doctors in the world trying to help him and trying to figure out what’s going on and I think they’re still in the process of figuring out what all is going on so that will be ongoing I’m sure for a little while."

Coach Gibbs lauded his son as "courageous" as he faces this battle with the unknown. He said J.D. Gibbs’ son, Taylor, has fought against a leukemia diagnosis since age 2, a bout that Coach Gibbs said has only strengthened their family’s faith as they enter this next chapter.

Ever thankful for the thoughts and prayers, Coach Gibbs closed with a note of gratitude.

"I just want to kind of finish by saying this is a personal thing for us," he said. "We appreciate the way you guys handle everything and we certainly will appreciate all the prayers going forward."

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