Smoke signals: End of the line for Stewart at JGR? (cont'd)

Stewart, winless this season, is tied for sixth in the Sprint Cup standings. In nine full seasons with Gibbs, he has won 32 career Cup races, championships in 2002 and '05 and more than $67 million in prize money.

As Stewart sat and talked to the media at Talladega, however, he sounded intrigued by future possibilities that did not include Joe Gibbs Racing.

"There's a couple groups that have thrown some ownership in the mix," Stewart said. "We didn't go out and say we're looking to leave Joe Gibbs Racing. We haven't made a hundred-percent decision yet on what we're going to do, but we're going to look at all the options -- and the options are exciting all the way around.

"It's pretty exciting as a driver to be in this position. For me, it's been a huge honor to get these offers, because it kind of gives me a perspective of where I fit in this series, and what the car owners think of me."

But Stewart has more options now -- he said the offers are mounting and he received a new one Thursday morning -- and there's even more at stake for the driver: He turns 37 next month and likely is negotiating his final contract.

"The good thing is we have a year left on our contract, we're not in a rush, there's nobody putting any pressure on us to make a decision next week," he said. "Right now we're going to do our due diligence on all the offers and try to figure out the best option for us."

He long ago set in motion an aggressive business plan that centers around his love of grassroots racing, and the former sprint-car star owns several lower-level race teams and has ownership in a handful of race tracks, including full ownership of famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio. Moving into an ownership of a Cup team would complete his portfolio.

There's widespread speculation that General Motors is trying to lure Stewart from Gibbs, which left GM at the end of last season after 16 seasons with the manufacturer. JGR now fields Toyotas, and the Japanese automaker allowed Stewart to continue his Chevy deals despite the conflict of interest.

GM heavily supports Stewart's many race teams, and Stewart acknowledged in February that the move to Toyota was difficult for him. Haas is a GM team that has a support alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, the leader of the Chevy teams.

Lee White, senior vice president of Toyota Racing Development, said the manufacturer is thrilled with Stewart on its roster and is hopeful the former series champion stays with JGR.

"We are extremely happy with Tony. We love being involved with him, and we hope to continue the relationship with him for a very long time," White said. "Now what he chooses to do with Joe Gibbs Racing, that's a team issue and we have no involvement in that."

Stewart said Thursday his relationship with GM is still special, but that he'd built solid ties with Toyota since joining that manufacturer in January.

"It's not that there's anything wrong there," he said. "But I have a lot of strong ties to Chevrolet, obviously."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.