Tony Stewart Granted Release from JGR
July 9, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
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*UPDATED*
Sources are reporting that two-time Sprint Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart, has been granted his release from the final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart is expected to make the announcement on Thursday at Chicagoland Speedway his plans to move to Haas CNC Racing as a driver and 50% owner next season, and the company will reportedly change its name to Stewart Haas Racing.
The deal will also make Stewart the highest paid driver in NASCAR, and Office Depot will be named as the car’s primary sponsor for 2009. A deal may also be in the works to add Old Spice and possibly Jack Daniels as associate sponsors, but they have yet to nail down a sponsor for the team’s other car.
Additionally, Haas CNC Racing, which currently features the no. 66 and no. 70 cars driven by Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter, may change their car numbers. Though no numbers have yet been settled on, some believe that they may opt to change one of the car numbers to no. 14, the same number as former racing legend, AJ Foyt. Ryan Newman – in the final year of his contract with Penske Racing – is rumored to drive the car opposite of Stewart, and that deal is also expected to happen sometime in the coming weeks.
As for Joe Gibbs Racing, they have not yet named a driver for the no. 20 car next year, but popular belief is that it will be Nationwide Series rookie standout, Joey Logano. Greg Zipadelli – Stewart’s longtime friend and Crew Chief – is already locked up to a long-term deal with Gibbs, and has stated that he will remain the organization, despite his disappointment with Smoke’s departure.
We will continue to track this story as it develops throughout the day.
And another domino falls! lol Just a bit more to hear from this year’s silly season.
I hoped to see Zippy with Stewart next year, but we don’t know if it’ll happen.
All we can do is hope Smoke wins the championship this year so he can go out on a high note.
I guess this could count as a retirement announcement, since there is little chance that he will win a race after he leaves Gibbs. Not that he isn’t a great driver, but it will take a while for his new team to get what he needs.
And the most important fact… back in a bowtie.
I dunno, Jim. I’m not naive enough to believe that this will all translate into immediate success, but we all sorta said the same thing when we first heard Gibbs announce their move to Toyota. The fact that they’ll still be getting engines and chassis from Hendricks is a huge plus, and if they get Newman in that other car, they’ll have more than enough sponsorship to get them the rest of the equipment they need.
He’ll win again … it’s just a question of how long it’ll take.
Newman’s #1, as you can see, I’ve updated this post to include Zippy’s status. He is, in fact, remaining with Gibbs.
Thanks for reminding me, Tim! I must have scrolled by that. Well, with him or not, Smoke’s still gonna bring the competition to the table.
Actually, I had originally posted that Zippy’s status was still up in the air. Once they determined he was remaining with JGR, I updated the post. Sorry ’bout that.