McSwain surprised at release from Gibbs

Michael McSwain was aboard a Komatsu D41 bulldozer Wednesday morning, grading land on his remote North Carolina farm and digesting the fact that he'd just been released from Joe Gibbs Racing.

As he chugged along, the phone wouldn't stop ringing. Media. Concerned fellow crew chiefs. Job offers.

"I've got some friends with Mitchell Equipment Company, and they were going to let me use a bulldozer all week. I was planning on being out here doing that, but I wasn't planning on the phone ringing off the hook while I was trying to do it," McSwain chuckled.

	Bobby Labonte (left) with McSwain

"I'm out here on the bulldozer, answering the phone. I need me one of those headsets. That way I can keep bulldozing while I'm answering all these calls. It's alarming to us all, you know? I'm disappointed, of course. But it's the nature of the beast. What're you going to do?"

McSwain plans to take a week off to further evaluate his options and determine why he was let go. He says he simply doesn't know.

"It's no different than anybody else -- we've had good weeks and bad weeks, but it was a big surprise, I'll give you that," he said. "It really was. I can't say we didn't do good together, because we did. We had some success together.

"Sometimes, though, things work out and sometimes they don't. It was as big a shock to me as it was the rest of the world. If we were 25th in points I probably wouldn't be so disappointed. But being in the position we were in (sixth), it's disappointing."

McSwain released  HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. -- Joe Gibbs Racing released Michael McSwain from his duties as crew chief of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nextel Series.  McSwain joined Joe Gibbs Racing in December 2002 and served as Bobby Labonte's crew chief for the 2003 season and the first 18 races of the 2004 season.

During his 54-race tenure at Joe Gibbs Racing, McSwain led Bobby Labonte to two victories, one at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the other at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Both wins came during the 2003 season. The Interstate Batteries Chevrolet has yet to win in 2004, but has tallied five top-fives and nine top 10s in 18 starts.

"I've tried to pride myself over the past five or six years - the teams I've been with, we've been in the top-10 in points every year. It was no different here," McSwain said. "It was that way last year and was going to be that way again this year, it looked like. So to take all that and put it by the wayside was pretty tough.

"The thing I want to emphasize is, out of every situation you always want to move forward. Whether it's forward together or forward separately, you always have to move forward. I want everyone to have success - just not as much success as I (have)."

McSwain doesn't anticipate he'll be out of work long.

"I wouldn't think so. I don't know. It's a funny business," McSwain said.

"I think I've done pretty good at what I do. Crew chiefs are like drivers - we believe we're the best at what we do or we wouldn't be as intense as we are.

"But when things like this happen, it's definitely not an encouraging thing. I hope not to be out long. I'll probably take a week or so just to clear my head, because I'm pretty startled.

"Sometimes it's hard to solidify chemistry between two people. It doesn't mean you don't have some, and we didn't have any unbearable disagreements or conversations.

"I don't want to get really deep into it, but I think, far as I was concerned, we got along professionally well. I'm pretty startled that it happened the way it did."