Relationship with crew chief fuels Stewart

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Winston Cup officially went back to work Friday, amid mild, overcast conditions that cooled with an approaching front.

	Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli have been together on the No. 20 team since 1999. Creidt: Autostock

Although Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout is a non-points warm-up event for last season's pole winners and former Shootout champs, Friday's two practices at Daytona International Speedway marked the unofficial beginning of Tony Stewart's Winston Cup title defense.

Repeating is a tall task, accomplished most recently by Jeff Gordon in 1997 and 1998. If it happens, one of the major factors will likely be the strength of Stewart's relationship with crew chief Greg Zipadelli.

Wearing a champion's bulls' eye is one thing. Repeating under similar circumstances, quite another.

"I don't think we could ever have much harder of a year than we had last year," Zipadelli said. "So in that aspect, it could be easier."

Partners since 1999, both he and Stewart survived an at times hellish, yet triumphant 2002 season. The driver's temperament and off-track incidents are well documented. Fatigue, a merciless media spotlight and a few mechanical glitches, notably the second-lap engine failure in the Daytona 500, magnified the normal heartburn incurred during a 38-race schedule. That grind, plus the pressure of a fishbowl performance, wore on both men.

But it didn't tear them apart.

"He's one of my best friends," Stewart said. "If I quit driving today, he would still be one of my best friends, and we'd have a great, close relationship."

"We did what we set out to do," Zipadelli said. "It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't easy, but we got it done."

THE THRILL OF VICTORY  The highlights of Tony Stewart's 2002 championship season:  •  March 10: Wins at Atlanta  •  May 5: Wins at Richmond  •  Aug. 11: Wins at The Glen  •  Finished first in the point standings, earning his first Winston Cup championship and becoming the only driver to win the title while on NASCAR probation. Did it despite a last-place finish in the Daytona 500, which put him in 43rd in the standings at the start of the season. Rallied in the week after he punched a photographer in Indianapolis to win at Watkins Glen.

In the workplace, they're one of the top driver-crew chief combinations. Through four seasons and 140 races, Stewart and Zipadelli have produced 15 wins, 54 top fives, 87 top 10s and six poles. Saturday night, they'll go for a third consecutive Bud Shootout victory. Stewart was third fastest in Friday's final practice at 188.198 mph.

As indicators go, those made-for-TV Shootout wins have forecast the No. 20's fortunes rather the Daytona 500. Stewart finished 36th in the 2001 season-opener and 43rd last year. But he finished second in the points in 2001 and first in 2002.

"The rest of these guys are out here gunning for us now," Zipadelli said. "They want the title, so you have to work harder, you have to think better, be smarter. It'll be harder this year for us."

Viewed as his team's glue, Zipadelli will have some extra help this season. Joe Gibbs Racing beefed up its engineering corps during the offseason, both at the shop and at the track. Bobby Labonte's former crew chief, Jimmy Makar, is now team manager for both the No. 18 and No. 20. Makar's new role is particularly important given Joe Gibbs Racing's switch from Pontiac to Chevrolet this season.

"A lot of our development stuff that we were trying to split up last year, he's going to do for both teams," Zipadelli said. "And just be there to lean on when you got problems [and] you got questions."

As for Stewart and Zipadelli, their bond apparently has never been stronger. Stewart gave Zipadelli a cherry red Corvette as a gift for winning the championship. Stewart also participated in Zipadelli's charity snow mobiling weekend in New England in January.

In fact, they'd like to interact more without firesuits and racecars. Both are workaholics, according to Stewart, who also says Zipadelli has committed to spending time away from the JGR shop.

"There's life outside appearances and races, and all that," Stewart said. "We want to spend time with each other. I don't have a family yet or even a wife yet, so I get to be his kid for the weekend or something. I'll be his adopted child for the weekend or whatever he wants."

"That's the Tony that most people don't see or get to spend time with," Zipadelli said of the relaxed, buoyant personality that Stewart has displayed so far.

A champion's peace and introspection from past turmoil have seemingly made a difference.

	Stewart is driving a Chevrolet instead of a Pontiac this season. Credit: Autostock

"It's like, I know him [in] a whole different way," Zipadelli added. "He really is a great guy. I can sit here and say that over four years, some of the things that he's said get blown out of proportion because all he did was speak his mind."

"Granted now, he's not been an angel," Zipadelli said. "He's done things that he shouldn't have, but a lot of times, I think a lot of things that he has done and said, there have been reasons for it. We're trying to help him, teach him and help him understand that there are other ways to handle it."

"This'll be 24 years in racing for me," the 31-year-old Stewart said. "I can count on one hand the amount of guys that I have the relationship and the chemistry that I have with Zippy.

"When you get something like that, you protect it. If you could put it in Fort Knox, you'd put it in Fort Knox."

The connection was instant, too.

Makar mentored the unknown Zipadelli when Stewart and his now-35-year-old crew chief were Winston Cup rookies in 1999. Makar's clairvoyance has reaped championship dividends.

"I'm sure Zippy knew who I was, obviously, before he took the job," Stewart said. "But I went on just Bobby's, Jimmy's and Joe's recommendation on the crew chief. We probably spent a half-hour talking to each other and you'd have sworn we'd been around each other six or seven months at that time. It's a pretty comfortable feeling."