Tony Stewart has only had one crew chief for all 338 of the Cup series races in his career, Greg Zipadelli, but that appears likely to change next season.
As part of Joe Gibbs Racing’s announcement Wednesday that Stewart will leave the team at the end of the 2008 season, a news release also said his parting “will end the longest active driver/crew chief relationship in the Sprint Cup garage.”
“No matter what, Tony and I will remain close friends,” Zipadelli said in the release. “I know when it comes to the No. 20 team, things will obviously be a lot different next year, but I remain as committed as ever this year to winning races with Tony and securing our spot in the Chase [For The NASCAR Sprint Cup] to contend for a third championship.”
- Zipadelli likely to stay at JGR if Stewart leaves
- Zipadelli thinks Stewart has made decision on his future
- Frustrated Stewart leaves Phoenix without talking, could be penalized by NASCAR
- Frustrated Stewart falls short at Charlotte
- Stewart teaches driving tips for charity
Somewhat surprising, unless Zippy finally decided he doesn’t like getting cursed at non-stop over the radio every race.
If Tony’s smart, and I think he is, he’ll check the availability of Dave Rogers, who’s done such an amazing job with the Number 20 Nationwide team for JGR this year. Nine victories with four different drivers.
Greg is got 338 starts and 2 championships left in him with the young lad Joey ,and then a nice big retirement check and a helicopter ride home to Nan and the kids and some fishing.
Zippy’s got it made at JGR and isn’t apparently that dumb to throw it all away for a risky venture. The owner-op thing hasn’t been terribly successful the last few years.
Zippy not going with Tony I think says a lot of what he thinks of Tony’s latest whim.
Im hearing dave rogers is moving up from the nationwide series to be with logano so i wonder who zippy will be with
you can bet that Greg and Joey will be together in the Cup series, they both grew up in the same part of Conn. and they communicate in the same way. All the teams at JGR are in good shape and i dont think Greg is ready for a desk job.
Is Zippy under contract thru 2009 or beyond? I’d be surprised if his terms didn’t match Tony’s.
Zippy is a lifer.
From what I hear by a very very reliable source Zippy has a clause in his conract that if SMOKE leaves his contract is null and void not sure how true it is just what I hear, I also heard in the meeting this morning one of the stipulations of tony being let go early from gibbs was that he couldnt take anyone with him.
Bdeholl wrote:
ROWDY BUSH wrote:
their should not even be any talk of Greg leaving, he is going to retire with JGR. he has a grat package for the remaining years and his retirement.
Zippy knows he has it good and he’s not about to tempt the hand of fate. I think he can mentor and win with a Logano or a Truex. i think that Tony will find a crew chief that speaks his language. What is Darien Grubb up to?
If Tony wants Greg as crew chief bad enough, contracts have a way of becoming null and void when necessary. Look at Tony right now…….Nothing is set in stone with Nascar.
I think Zippy will be good with Joey or any driver. He is so patient and I will always be a fan of Greg. He’s not just a great crew chief but a super human being.
The agreement is Tony cannot hire any current JGR employee. Doesn’t mean he won’t get some of them down the road. I think he may keep Bootie or get someone high caliber from some of the other teams. It appears DEI may have some employees looking and Ganassi dumped 70 employees. I heard Elledge has gone to Red Bull so I don’t see him going to Tony.
observant bystander wrote:
Greg already has had a press conference stating that he is not going anywheres, its a done deal that he is staying at JGR until he retires