There certainly has been much rumor and speculation that Tony Stewart will leave Joe Gibbs Racing (either after this season or after the 2009 campaign) to either drive for another team and/or owning or co-owning a NASCAR team with support from Chevrolet. Whatever offers lie before him, Stewart is carefully weighing his options.

“There’s a lot of drivers that come in and they race and when they’re done they leave the sport,” Stewart said Thursday at Talladega Superspeedway. “And this is an opportunity to stay in the sport and follow in the footsteps of a Richard Childress or a Rick Hendrick or somebody like Joe Gibbs, who was involved in drag racing, that wanted to be part of NASCAR and be a part as an owner.

“I have that potential to have that opportunity now and that is something that makes this a little different contract negotiation vs. a normal deal that we have done in the past.”

Stewart, in his 10th full Cup season with Joe Gibbs Racing, said he never thought he would have offers to be an owner of a NASCAR team.

“In 2001, I started ownership in a World of Outlaws team, and I have to admit I enjoy that challenge, I enjoy the challenge of trying to help to be part of something that grows,” said Stewart, who also started a USAC team in 2002.

“We’ve been a part of that as a driver at Joe Gibbs Racing, and the idea that there’s that potential that we might have the opportunity to be a car owner is very exciting.”

But part of the building process could mean not contending for a championship right away. Is Stewart really interested in driving for a building program as opposed to owning a building program?

“I didn’t say I want to run 15th anywhere,” Stewart said. “That’s why we have to do the due diligence. We have to think about those things and we have to think about is that something that could be a byproduct of whatever decision we make.

“There’s still a lot of decision making that has to happen.”

Stewart said that he knows owning a NASCAR team would be a tough challenge.

“There’s no guarantees, there’s nothing that says that if that’s the route that we decide to go that it’s going to be the right decision for us or it’s going to be successful,” Stewart said. “That’s the part that makes it exciting is the unknown, the what-ifs and the what can happen or not happen.”

Haas CNC Racing is one of the teams that is interested in possibly having Stewart as an owner. Stewart would not reveal what other teams he is negotiating with and said the number of offers is closer to five than to 10. He also would not say if JGR has offered him partial ownership.

“That [Haas offer] is not the only offer that has been presented to us,” Stewart said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. Nothing has been decided today. … We’re going to take the time we have to take – the rest of the season – to figure out exactly what our game plan and long-term goals are going to be. That’s the hard part.”

Stewart, who uses Cary Agajanian’s Motorsports Management International to manage his affairs, would not divulge who is advising him on the offers. He also said he hasn’t talked with Dodge CEO Bob Nardelli, a good friend and former CEO of The Home Depot - Stewart’s current Cup sponsor.

A former Indy Racing League driver, Stewart said an IRL ride or an Indianapolis 500 ride is not part of any deal.

So what kind of owner would he be – would he be more like one of his idols, A.J. Foyt, or one of his mentors, Joe Gibbs?

“It’s not a new deal to me,” Stewart said. “The biggest thing that I’ve learned from Joe Gibbs as a car owner, and what I’ve tried to apply to my teams, is put the right people in the right positions and let them do their jobs.

“My specialty is driving. I’m not somebody that goes to the shop and says, ‘Do this, this, this and this and this is going to be successful.’ I try to give our teams the right resources and try to get the right people to do the right jobs.”

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