Smack: Former champs in danger of missing Chase (cont'd)

2. Tony Stewart says he's exploring other options for when his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires after next year. Will the two-time champion actually leave?

Joe Menzer: After listening to him and both Coach Gibbs and J.D., I think it's a very real possibility that he will be leaving. It sounds like he wants to set himself up to own a team, and that isn't likely to happen at JGR.

Smoke and Coach

Tony Stewart has won 32 races and two championships in the Cup Series for Joe Gibbs.

• JGR wants Stewart to stay
• Caraviello: Any loyalty?
• Menzer: This year's Junior
• Business: Talk not cheap
• Stewart has offers, options
• Head2Head: Drive and own

Raygan Swan: I hope not. It would be painful to watch a two-time champ like Tony run mid-pack at a second-tier operation.

David Caraviello: As things stand now, I just can't see it. Stewart working for a Haas CNC team that struggles to just make races? Not unless his competitive edge has evaporated, and that hasn't happened.

Raygan Swan: But I can understand why he wants to diversify his portfolio.

Joe Menzer: In fact, J.D. Gibbs said ownership of a JGR car is "probably not going to happen." He did say they would be willing to discuss setting Stewie up with a team of his own that he could start from scratch. Stewart indicated that isn't really what he's looking to do.

Raygan Swan: With all of that said, I don't feel Tony is doing this to better his negotiating powers like certain groups are speculating.

David Caraviello: They want to keep him, they ought to consider doing something like Jeff Gordon did at Hendrick with Jimmie Johnson's car. Maybe Tony becoming name owner of their fourth vehicle when that becomes a reality. I guess they've already ruled that out.

Joe Menzer: Well, I guess you can't say they've totally ruled it out. But J.D. said "probably not," and made it sound like it's a real long shot at best.

Raygan Swan: They have a new favorite in Kyle Busch. I feel JGR loves Tony and will do what they can to make Stewart happy but he's getting older.

David Caraviello: I still don't get where this fascination with ownership comes from. He's always said he's had no interest in owning a NASCAR team, that his USAC ventures were enough to keep him busy, and that he didn't want to have to worry about 38 weeks a year after he finished driving. I wonder what changed his mind on that.

Joe Menzer: Somebody offering it to him is what apparently changed his mind.

David Caraviello: But do you go to Haas just to get an ownership share? I just cannot see that happening.

Raygan Swan: Yeah, and it never hurts to listen, Joe. If someone offered you a job in the circus like you've always wanted, you would listen, right?

Joe Menzer: Raygs brings up a legitimate point. Tony is about to turn 37 and has said he doesn't intend to drive much past 40. With youngsters Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin tearing it up right now, and supposed phenom Joey Logano waiting in the wings, JGR might be OK in their driver pool even if Tony leaves. Or better than OK.

Raygan Swan: Has anyone stopped to think maybe Tony is tired? His frustration last season was reaching a boiling point, and he said he was going to retire. Of course it was after a crash, but he said it wasn't fun out there anymore.

David Caraviello: OK, so he has one, final, four-year deal to put together. But you can't tell me this dude can't win races up until 40. You can't tell me his competitive edge isn't there. Hey, if RCR or Hendrick were offering something -- and they may be, we don't know all the players right now -- that would be one thing. But on the surface, everything here just seems strange.

Joe Menzer: The other thing that is hard to gauge right now is Tony's loyalty and fascination with the Chevrolet brand. Both he and the Gibbs duo downplayed it again at 'Dega, but you keep hearing rumblings that there is more to it than what they're saying, that Tony really does want to get back into a Chevy if the deal is right.

David Caraviello: I cannot fathom someone having more allegiance to a manufacturer than a car owner.

Raygan Swan: Good point David, and Joe Gibbs is likely the best in the business when it comes to personal relationships.

Joe Menzer: That's sort of what J.D. said, that at the end of the day, Tony's loyalty lies more with JGR than any manufacturer. I say at the end of the day in just about any deal, the loyalty lies in who offers the best deal.

David Caraviello: But isn't the best chance to win part of that deal? There's only one team who can trump Gibbs in that category, and they don't have an open seat for '09. Not yet, at least.

Raygan Swan: Watching Tony race for another team would be like watching Gordon race for another team. It wouldn't be natural. It would be awkward at best.

Joe Menzer: The bottom line answer to the question is that, while this may be a negotiating ploy to see what the best deal he can get from JGR is, he could indeed go elsewhere if someone tells him what he wants to hear.

Raygan Swan: True, but I think Tony is ready for a change, to be honest. He's 37 years old and still single. It's OK to look at something outside of racing. Quality of life. Tony moved home some years back and enjoys the simple life. Maybe this is his way of scaling back and looking to the next chapter of his life -- marriage, kids, etc.

Joe Menzer: Sometimes change is good. I found that to be the case when I got out of the newspaper business.

David Caraviello: There's got to be another player in this, a bigger fish. Because the Haas thing just doesn't sound like Stewart.

Joe Menzer: As for Haas, forget that. The whole Haas thing, in my mind, was leaked by somebody just to get this rolling in the public forum. It was an opening salvo and nothing more, signaling the entry of the real players in the deal. Now all the heavy hitters have entered the game, and negotiations all around have begun in earnest. Don't forget that at the beginning of the Dale Jr. negotiations last year, Ginn Racing was reportedly going to be a player.

David Caraviello: And we all know what happened to them. (Continued)