Tony Stewart may be asking many questions about his future in the coming weeks. Credit: Autostock
By NASCAR.com staff
July 11, 2003
11:18 AM EDT (1518 GMT)
It may be summer on the calendar, but at NASCAR.com, it seems to always be Silly Season.
The latest rumor, offered by no fewer than two respected publications, has Tony Stewart leaving Joe Gibbs Racing for Chip Ganassi Racing.
However, Stewart still has more than a year remaining on his contract with Gibbs, and if he's frustrated with his current employer, he's made no public remarks to that effect.
But many questions come to mind:
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| Credit: Autostock |
Could Dodge be behind this? What's Home Depot's take? Would Greg Zipadelli go as well? And what about Stewart's burning desire to win the Indianapolis 500?
Well, let's begin to build a case, all hypothetical at this point, for just such an scenario.
Stewart's resume shows a driver with tremendous talent in a variety of cars and disciplines, but unable -- or unwilling -- to put down any roots.
In 1995, Stewart held three USAC open-wheel championships concurrently. He left that for the Indy Racing League.
In 1996, he was named that series' rookie of the year, then won the IRL championship a year later. By 1999, Stewart had left both the IRL and Busch Series for Winston Cup, where he was named rookie of the year.
Having finished no worse than sixth in the Winston Cup standings in his previous three seasons, Stewart swept to the 2002 Winston Cup championship.
However, Stewart's 11th in this year's standings, mainly because of a terrible three-race stretch that saw him finish no better than 40th. With just one victory -- at Pocono -- and eight top-10s in 17 races, could he be ready to resume his nomadic wanderings?
"I'm not even looking at the points," Stewart said in a press release before the Pepsi 400. "As a matter of fact, I stopped doing that a while ago. We just need to go out and race hard and win races -- plain and simple. You do that and the points take care of themselves. I said that last year when I was running for a championship and I'm saying it now. That's just the way you have to look at it."
Stewart has mentioned on more than one occasion that his ultimate career goal is having his likeness added to the Borg-Warner Trophy as winner of the Indianapolis 500.
In five starts in the May classic, he's finished in the top 10 three times, but no better than fifth.
Out of deference to Gibbs, Stewart turned down an opportunity to pull double duty in 2003.
"With all the new employees at Joe Gibbs Racing (we have over 200 employees now), when the Coca-Cola 600 rolls around I want to be as prepared as best as I can be," Stewart said. "I am looking out for my team and just putting my personal dreams to the side until I stop racing Winston Cup."
Would the situation be different at Ganassi? Most definitely, since not only does Chip -- a former open-wheel driver himself -- own a two-car team in the IRL, but he's as driven to win the 500 as anyone.
Stewart currently owns a World of Outlaws sprint car team and has been a co-owner of an IRL team. It's no secret that he remains loyal to his open-wheel racing roots.
Right now, Stewart is helping series president Ted Johnson find someone to take over ownership of the series -- perhaps as a new title sponsor.
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| Credit: Autostock |
"We are trying to sell it for Ted, but who knows what will happen," Stewart said in a recent chat on NASCAR.com. "We are trying to do what is in the best interest of the series. Ted is a good friend of mine and I just want to help."
Stewart has also hinted that he wouldn't mind getting back into the IRL as a team owner.
"You never say never, but I would have to do a lot of homework to start an IRL team," he said during his chat. "The technology in that series has gotten away from me a little bit. But I enjoyed my ownership in the IRL, and I would enjoy being a part of it again. You never know what may happen down the road."
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| Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli have been together on the No. 20 team since 1999. Credit: Autostock |
Stewart has made no secret of the fact that most, if not all, of his success in Winston Cup can be directly linked to crew chief Greg Zipadelli. Certainly, the reverse is true.
"It is just one of those fate things, it is like a marriage -- we were lucky to find each other!" Stewart said in his chat. "We just have the same views on how we like to race and the same intensity level. When you find that kind of chemistry you want to protect it with your life."
If Tony Stewart's in at Ganassi and Home Depot stays put, would Casey Mears be the odd man out?
For Gibbs, do you promote veteran Mike Bliss or son Coy into the No. 20? Or could another veteran with star power -- Dale Jarrett, perhaps -- be enticed into switching from Ford to Chevrolet?
There's the case. It's up to you to determine if there's enough evidence to prove the rumor -- or if it's just plain silly.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writers.
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