Stewart to leave Gibbs at season’s end, will buy 50% of Haas
Quote selected text Published July 8th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart has been granted a release from the final year of his driving contract with Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 seasons with the team, sources close to Stewart confirmed for ESPN.com Tuesday night.
Stewart will formally announce his departure from the team Wednesday.
On Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway, Stewart will formally announce a move to Haas/CNC Racing as co-owner and driver, sources close to Stewart said.
Haas/CNC, which currently fields the Nos. 66 and 70 Chevrolets, will be renamed Stewart Haas Racing in 2009.
Sources close to both sides told ESPN.com the deal will make Stewart the highest-paid driver in NASCAR.
Sources also said the Stewart Haas cars will carry different numbers. The No. 14, made famous in IndyCar racing by Stewart’s hero, A.J. Foyt, is available, but sources would neither confirm nor deny that as his choice.
Sources said Stewart will own a 50 percent stake in the organization, but his financial investment in attaining it was not disclosed.
As ESPN.com’s David Newton initially reported, Office Depot will have a role in sponsoring Stewart’s car.
Ryan Newman remains the lead candidate to drive Stewart Haas’ second car, sources said, though no deal had yet been finalized Tuesday night.
Stewart Haas will continue to receive chassis and engines from Hendrick Motorsports.
- Logano likely to run Cup races for Gibbs this year
- Could Stewart leave Gibbs if they move to Toyota?
- Gibbs says Stewart will not be offered ownership in team
- Stewart could partner with JR Motorsports?
- Newman has three serious options for 2009
I hate to see that. Home Depot / Tony Stewart just belong together. I hope it works out , Ryan Newman as a teamate will make that team better than it has ever been. Mr. Lagano , ready or not , its showtime!
well no surprise here huh.
Ok I called it with the Stewart Haas racing thing, everybody else was making up stupid names but I called that one… l0l
Personally I usually wish the drivers the best when they leave teams, but really He had a contract through 2009, he should have been a man and honored that contract. To me buying out the final year of your contract really shows nothing more then you are in the sport for the money and not the actual sport itself and that you have no sense of how lucky you really are to be in that sport.
I’m sure Howie will probably agree with me on this, I know tons of drivers from all the local tracks in this area as well as regional touring series, who would take Smokes seat for less then 1% of what Smokes salary is, and it wouldn’t matter what sponsor, or manufacture the team had because they love racing and would do anything to move up, and to me drivers that have that attitude are more respectable drivers then ones that do it for the money and cry when things don’t go their way.
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I don’t think this is a matter of chasing the money so much as it is a need to seek new challenges. He wants more control over his professional life. He wants to call the shots. And he’s probably tired of dealing with talented but immature teammat And his move does open a seat for a hungry younger driver.
Will he have the driving success on his new team that he had at JGR? Probably not. But I don’t think tha’s what Tony is after.
If his team is successful, NASCAR will have to listen when Tony’s unhappy. I wish him luck.
Well yeah any local driver would gladly take 1% of what Smoke makes to do his job… I think that goes without saying.
The whole contract thing is funny. Nobody cares when a team feels a driver is under-performing and buys them out of the remainder of their contract, but if a driver feels the team isn’t providing him with what he needs/wants and gets bought out of the contract, either on their own accord, or by a new team or manufacturer, the driver is a selfish jerk.
The fact is Smoke’s not getting any younger and there’s a small window of opportunity for him to own and drive his own car at the Cup level. The opportunity was here now, so he seized it. Haas may have been gobbled up by someone else later this year or next year for all we know. I imagine Gibbs certainly could have held him to his contract if they had wanted to, but they’ve got Logano, so why not toss him in there or make a bid for Truex to replace Smoke?
im kind of upset that stewarts doing this….
#1) he should have stayed at GIBBS
#2) he could still have owned his own team unless JGR prohibited it b/c they are with Toyota and HAAS is a chevrolet
#3) i hope he has more success driving for his own team than Michael Waltrip has…granted Waltrip has always sucked but yeah..u get the point
Jeff wrote:
I agree with what you say I mean joe doesnt have to honor a contract with anybody he could can tony any time he felt like it,I dont really agree with what hes doing as far as being a owner/driver but thats his chose.
well he can forget about winning another championship. CNC/Haas just dont have the the people it takes to build winning cars. they dont have the great chassis people, fab people and evryone knows that even with Ricks engines you need it all. and i dont think he is taking anyone from JGR so maybe he plans on stealing some from DEI like Michael did. I dont even think they have a 7 post shaker. I wish him luck.
As far as Joe letting him out of his contract, thats just the kind of guy Joe is, if you not happy and cant get along with JD he understands and does not want anyone to be unhappy. they will always be great friends and Joe wont forget the Championships Tony gave him . All good things come to and end and after 10 years of hard work it was time to leave.
Howie Motorsports Photography wrote:
Howie Motorsports Photography wrote:
Thats true and I wasnt meaning joe would do that to tony,was just saying drivers get fired all the time with years left on contracts so tony isnt doing anything different than what owners do,if a owner doesnt have to honor a contract then a driver shouldnt have to either.
Howie I think Smoke will get HIGH QUALITY folks to the organization. I don’t think he gives a rat’s hind end about winning a title anyway. Does he need another one for validation? HELL NO! He has more championships in multiple disciplines than any current driver. Smoke will make this work and successful as he has Eldora. I think he’d take more pleasure in his other driver winning than him at this stage of his life. Forty is knocking and his health hasn’t been good of late so it’s time for the second half of his life to begin.I also believe this will allow him more control of his personal life as well. Good luck Tony and life does indeed begin once we get past 35! It has for me and it will again.
sweet maybe next year gordon will go back to bill davis racing
ROWDY BUSH wrote:
can u imagine how horrible gordon would be if he stayed tih BDR? he wouldnt have 20wins….but that HMS equipment has given him opportunities
wonder if smoke will havve some nationwide cars or trucks
??? Who Gives a Damn ???
Mare wrote:
Everyone except you. lol
It tales a lot of ball$ and cash to be an owner/driver nowadays. When you look at Waltrip, Robby and the Petty teams you gotta think that Tony won’t struggle a much as an owner/driver. When it comes to business, he always gets the right people in place. He’ll probably clean house and possibly hire some of the Ganassi guys that got cut loose. Unless they’re worse than the current guys on the payroll. He’ll have to find some top executive officers and a really good GM. Hopefully people that know racing. I’ve had enough of these record producer types.
I hate that now I have to switch out EVERTHING I own with orange, home depot or a 20 on it. $^#&#^@& !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EVERYTHING I own has a 20 on it
I’d like to have just the interest on the money it cost Chevy to buy his contract from Gibbs. You know it had to be big. But in the overall scope of things, Joe Gibbs has got to be relieved to be out from under the constant pressure he faced from working with a driver like Stewart. Never knowing when he was going to drop another bombshell that required weeks of PR to undo the damage he caused (the Goodyear incident) or trips to the NASCAR hauler to help him extract his foot from his mouth (NASCAR officiating as WWF).
Ever since JGR announced the switched to Toyota (which history will show to be one of the most prescient moves in the sport, err, I mean business), you knew this was coming. Even as Stewart swore his allegiance to Gibbs & Toyota at the press conference, you had to remember his other lapses of character. After all, a contract is just a contract; a promise is just a promise; either is made to be broken, especially for a man of small character.
And in the last few months, as fast as the rumors surfaced about Stewart wanting to leave JGR and Joe quashing them one by one, there Stewart would be resurrecting them the next day or the next week. Any owner has got to get tired of that, especially one the age of Joe Gibbs. So Gibbs has got to be saying, “Just five more months, Lord, just let me last five more months.”
And isn’t Stewart paying a helluva price for his so-called freedom? He’s giving up his sponsor, his crew chief and his car number. And he’s going to be so far in debt to Chevrolet Motor Division for bailing him out that if he doesn’t deliver big time right off the bat, the pressure on him will be enormous.
Tony appears to like dealing with jailbirds. Larry Curry went to the joint for stealing from Menards Indy car operation. Tony was found not to have knowledge of it at the time it occurred. Now he partners up with a guy that cheated the government. Hey Tony, I heard Paulie Walnuts wants to get involved with a Cup team! You interested or what?
Sushstewart20 wrote:
Hey, don’t worry. I’m sure it will only take a second to replace your #20 merchandise, a second mortgage that is lo, Sorry about that horrible joke
…Anyway, I wonder is this Stewart Haas thing will be effective immediately or will Tony just wait for the off season to change everything? Either way I wish him luck in what he is doing. Maybe for comical effect Old Spice will sponsor Tony and force him to use the #47
well i like the new STEWART HAAS logo, well not like getting 50% of a company as a gift. Tony didnt put up one dime of his money for 50% of a team. not bad for a days work.
just like what they did with jr
every merchandise 50% off