Tony Stewart Rumors Continue to Circulate
April 14, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
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Rumors are once more rearing their head in the NASCAR garage area, and once again the center of attention is NASCAR’s most controversial driver, non-other than Tony Stewart – or, the man we’ve come to know as “Smoke”.
It’s become public knowledge that Tony’s contract with Joe Gibbs Racing expires at the end of 2008, but when posed with the question as to whether or not he had any interest in driving RCR’s newly added no. 33 Chevy Impala next year, Stewart implied that he was quite happy at JGR and had no intention of leaving the organization.
Now, there is another rumor … one that insinuates that Stewart could potentially have interest in a partnership with Haas CNC Racing as a driver/owner. Such a venture wouldn’t mean necessarily that Stewart would have to stop racing for Gibbs, but the interesting factor in this equation is that while JGR has made the jump to Toyota this year, Haas CNC is currently committed to General Motors.
While Stewart has joked that he doesn’t feel as though he’s politically correct enough to be a team owner in NASCAR’s highest ranks, many in the garage area feel that he’s exactly the kind of owner that NASCAR needs. One veteran driver felt that since the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr, there hasn’t been a driver/owner in the garage that could stand up for the drivers’ concerns in a manner that NASCAR would take seriously.
In Other News:
- Anticipation in the media is that Penske Racing will announce on Tuesday that David Stremme will take on the task of being their new test driver. Stremme currently drives the no. 64 car for Rusty Wallace Inc. in the Nationwide Series – a team that still has strong ties to the Penske organization – but, hasn’t driven in the Cup Series since being relieved of his ride in the no. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge in favor of rookie Dario Franchitti. Many people feel that Roger Penske may decide to field Sam Hornish Jr, the driver of his no. 77 Cup entry, into the Indianapolis 500, which could open the doors for Stremme to drive the Cup car that weekend.
