Stewart's gamble at team ownership admirable one

This had been coming like a runaway freight train since the Sprint Cup Series visited Talladega in April.

And perhaps Tony Stewart had at least subconsciously decided to jump the tracks at Joe Gibbs Racing even long before that, like the summer before when JGR made the switch from Stewart's beloved Chevrolets to Toyotas.

Whatever the case, it became official Wednesday that Stewart, one of the most successful and popular drivers in NASCAR history, is leaving JGR after a 10-year run at the organization that produced 32 Cup victories and two championships. The formal announcement will come Thursday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway, where Stewart will race this weekend in his familiar No. 20 car sponsored by Home Depot.

Next year all that will change. Stewart could be in a No. 14 car -- that's a number that is available and was made famous by his racing hero, A.J. Foyt -- and apparently will be sponsored by some combination of Office Depot and Old Spice.

Or he could be driving the No. 66 or the No. 70 car. It will be his choice. Those cars will be owned by him as he moves into a new role as co-owner of what will be called Stewart Haas Racing in 2009. Haas CNC Racing currently fields the No. 66, driven by Scott Riggs, and the No. 70, driven unsuccessfully by several different drivers.

Much of Stewart's immediate future is cloudy now, but some of it is not. You can bet that both Riggs and the driver-by-committee arrangement of the No. 70 will be gone next year if not by the next minute, likely replaced in the long run by the far more formidable combination of Stewart and probably Ryan Newman.

That in itself and all alone will take Stewart Haas Racing to a level of competitiveness that the organization never achieved as Haas CNC Racing.

Smoke on the move

Tony Stewart will leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of this season to become driver and part owner of newly named Stewart Haas Racing.

• Complete story, click here

Why do it?
Stewart could have signed a lucrative long-term contract extension and played out the remainder of his driving career at JGR, so why make the jump to claim 50 percent ownership in an organization that has never won a single Cup race? Furthermore, why go into business with a guy, Gene Haas, who currently is serving jail time for tax evasion?

Why? Because Stewart likes owning things; he likes more control over the events around him. Just watching him drive the tractor after a hard rain at Eldora Speedway, the dirt track he owns in Rossburg, Ohio, is confirmation enough of this.

But it also could be simply because this was too good a deal for him to pass on.

Stewart reportedly will be paid a driver's salary that will be the highest in the sport. That wasn't likely to happen if he had stayed at Gibbs, although he could have pulled in well more than $5 million a year there, too.

In addition, he receives what sources have said is a 50 percent stake in a race team that suddenly will have the kind of sponsorship dollars to make itself a player in the sport. The Haas CNC operation already was getting its engines and other technical support from Hendrick Motorsports -- an arrangement that almost certainly will get even more cozy now that Stewart will be sitting in the director's chair.

Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, has long held great respect for Stewart. Plus they share a passion for Chevrolets. Sure, there is infrastructure that must be built on and improved -- but ultimately it means that the equipment at the new Stewart Haas Racing should be good coming right out of the gate. And now the right drivers should be in place to take advantage of that.

Stewart is taking a chance, no doubt. But you don't win 32 races and two Cup championships without gambling now and again when the time is right -- and sometimes when you're not even sure it's right, but you play a hunch.

This is Stewart's rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his mark in NASCAR beyond simply being a top-notch driver. To say he had to take it would be wrong. But to say it was an offer he couldn't refuse -- at least in the end -- proved to be correct.

What's next?
Where does Stewart's defection leave Joe Gibbs Racing? Well, with the hottest young driver in the sport still in the fold in current points leader Kyle Busch, who has won a series-high six races already this season, the team should get on down the road just fine.

Also remaining in JGR's stable of talented young drivers are Denny Hamlin, who is as good as it gets when his head is on straight (not always a sure thing), and Joey Logano, the obvious heir apparent for the No. 20 car.

Sources insisted Wednesday that it's too soon to say for certain that Logano will be in the No. 20 machine. But who else can fill Stewart's ample seat? Despite the fact that Logano's experience is limited -- he's driven in only four Nationwide Series events and no Cup events to date -- Logano appears to be, by everyone's measure, the next great Cup star in the making.

That discussion, what little of it there will be before the formal announcement, is for another day "way down the road," according to one source.

For now, Stewart and current crew chief Greg Zipadelli plan to chat with the media at length Thursday (WATCH LIVE). Joe Gibbs and J.D. Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing are scheduled to follow suit prior to Saturday's Chicagoland 400.

It fits that Stewart, who hasn't won a race this season, is defending champion of the Chicagoland event. This is his weekend, his time in the spotlight as he embarks on a new phase of his life and his career.

Only additional time, and perhaps lots of it, will tell if he has made the right choice. In the meantime, you have to admire the guy for at least being willing to make the leap when he could have played it much safer with his legacy.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.