Zipadelli: Heat of moment often burns visible Stewart

JOLIET, Ill. -- Perhaps no one knows or understands the enigma that is Tony Stewart more than Greg Zipadelli, the crew chief on his No. 20 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing.

"His greatest asset is his biggest liability, and that's his emotions and his passion. But that's what makes him a fierce competitor and a guy who is going to give everything he has inside of him to go out and run like he does on Sunday," Zipadelli said even before Stewart earned his first victory of the 2007 Nextel Cup season by capturing Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. (watch video)

Hamlin, on Stewart

"Yeah, we talked. I told him that there was no way I was going to be convinced that I was wrong in that whole deal last week. He just vented his frustration, saying that it was many weeks coming, that he felt like I did things that agitated him. So I wanted to know what they were, and he told me -- and I tried to defend myself in those aspects as well. For the most part, I think we're going to be stronger now than what we were -- because we know how to race each other from now on."

The driver's emotions and passion also are, as even Zipadelli would admit, what make it difficult for Stewart to contain himself oftentimes in the heat of a moment at a racetrack -- such as after he and Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin got tangled up and ruined both of their chances in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7. Hamlin was running first and Stewart second at the time of the incident, which had gotten lots of publicity for all the wrong reasons, according to Zipadelli.

"I think what the public sees is the very emotional passion inside of him -- because every time something doesn't go right, somebody is standing there with a microphone or a tape recorder five minutes after he gets out of a racecar or an incident happens," Zipadelli said of Stewart. "I think what they don't see is if it's a half an hour later and he sits there and thinks about things and gets to talking about things, he's completely different and much more reasonable.

After the Daytona incident, Stewart blamed Hamlin for the wreck and accused his Gibbs teammate of trying to wreck him the day before during a Pepsi 400 practice as well. Then he openly wondered if Hamlin even knew the definition of "teammate."

Hamlin fired back Friday at Chicagoland (read more), when he contested that the Daytona wreck was his fault and insisted that Stewart owed him an apology and an explanation for "throwing him so far under the bus." The two finally met and talked Saturday afternoon, with the meeting lasting long enough that both drivers missed the first 20 minutes of their final USG Sheetrock 400 practice session.

Team owner Joe Gibbs flew in to Chicago on his way to Colorado, where he was planning to begin a vacation, just to preside over the meeting between his feuding drivers. Team president J.D. Gibbs, Joe's son, said Sunday that he couldn't attend the meeting himself but that he heard from his father and all parties involved that it went well.

"It was just behind closed doors, just like a family type atmosphere. We said, 'Let's address it, let's do it the right way, and let's move on.' I think it was fine," the younger Gibbs said. "[Joe] came out here, he said, so he could enjoy the rest of his vacation."

Hamlin said after Sunday's race that he witnessed a cameo appearance of Coach Gibbs of NFL fame, rather than the usually more mild-mannered alter-ego that serves as the owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. (Continued)