Why Does Silly Season Hinge on Tony Stewart’s Decision?
June 24, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
Seriously … I would like somebody to answer that question for me. Silly Season started way back in the first month of the season when Richard Childress announced that he would field a fourth race team next season, and it’s been hell ever since. But, once the media caught wind that Tony Stewart had expressed interest in ownership at the Sprint Cup level and that he’d been approached by Haas CNC Racing with such an offer in mind, the writers have had a field day with it, and rightfully so. The problem with it, though, is that Stewart’s under contract until the end of 2009 and JD Gibbs - president of Joe Gibbs Racing - came out and said straight up that under no circumstances would the team let Tony out of his contract early. Yet, everytime a name comes up as a possible candidate for Silly Season, Smoke’s name still seems to wind up in the mix. What gives?
Just the other day on ESPN2’s broadcast of NASCAR Now, Marty Smithson was asked about the situation brewing over at Hendrick Motorsports involving Casey Mears and the no. 5 team, and then about Mark Martin’s status for next year with DEI and if he could be making the move over to Hendrick. Marty stated that we should not expect to see Casey return next year with Hendrick and that DEI was looking to field Aric Almirola in the no. 8 car next season, but where Mears and Martin would wind up largely depended on what happens with Tony Stewart as “that decision still hasn’t been made”.
In the article I referenced the other day from Lee Spencer over at FoxSports, she, too, found it necessary to include Stewart in all of the Silly Season ramblings and possibilities. What gives, people? I mean, are we thinking that just because Joey Logano has come into the Nationwide Series and had the success that he has that all of the sudden Gibbs is okay with letting go of their two-time Cup Series champ? Newsflash: The team expected Logano to be this good, so that’s really not a factor in this decision. Besides, they must have all missed the part where Gibbs stated that their intent with Logano is to have him field a fourth Cup car.
I dunno … I just don’t get it. It seems to me like some of these folks are having a bit of trouble following the story all the way through. In my mind, Tony Stewart has absolutely nothing to do with what happens in the 2009 Silly Season, and why should he? This is a banner year for Gibbs in the fact that they’re the most dominant team on the track. They’ve got two stout young guns in the series with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, and those two are going to bring them a ton of wins for years to come. They’ve got Logano coming up through the ranks with a very promising road ahead of him. But, Tony Stewart is still the guy that completes this team. He’s the guy that’s won them the titles, and he’s the guy that the garage raves as one of - if not the best. Even if Gibbs did decide to flirt with the notion of running Logano full-time next season, would their chances of success suddenly increase with Stewart not in the lineup? Gimme a break.
No, Tony Stewart will not dictate, nor will he headline this year’s Silly Season, but Ryan Newman will. Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears are both very likely candidates to get released from their teams, and Newman’s an excellent candidate to fill either seat (though I still think a move for Martin to the no. 5 makes the most sense). But, if Newman decides to leave Penske - which he will - then, whether it’s Childress or Hendrick or Roush-Fenway, wherever he winds up, that team’s just going to get that much more potent.
That’s what I don’t get! The media frequently tries getting as much information as possible to get a final answer from him, a yes or a no. They put so much pressure on him to get him to talk, but if you’re smart like Tony you’d tell them to get off your back and stay out of it…he’s not scared to do it either! When the time comes he’ll give you a relevant answer! We don’t know what’s going on in the garage or wherever this discussion is taking place…so we’ll just have to wait…and so will the media!!
The media just needs stuff to right about since the racing hasn’t had to many conflicts this year and tony is always seems to be the one they want to right about good bad or ugly he seems to be in the spotlight more than any other driver maybe besides jr. I think they have write articles people will read and they have the chance to throw stewart name in thier title their more likely to get people to read them.
Ryan’s #1, my biggest issue with the whole ordeal is that as of right now, there’s no decision for Tony to even make. He’s under contract and the organization is holding him to it … simple as that.
Roc, you’re definitely right about that. The media tends to stick Smoke’s name in the headlines at every opportunity it seems like.
BECAUSE TONY STEWART IS DA MAN!!!!
See? It works like this….I came to your blog because of Tony Stewarts name! lol BTW…did you hear the latest that Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart may be teammates at Haas? Go Smoke! Go Newman! Indiana boys team up…gotta like it man!!
It could be true, Greg, but I’m not believing everything I hear until there’s some proof of the actual driver saying it himself.
Greg, Smoke’s actually my favorite driver in the series … has been since he first came up in ‘99. So, obviously I don’t mind writing about him, but I get pretty tired of routine stories with no substance behind them, such as those that have been fabricated from time-to-time over at ESPN.
Fact is that I could see Stewart heading to somewhere like Haas CNC in 2010 with ownership options in mind, but that’s 2010 … Gibbs would be crazy to let him go a year early, which they’ve already said that they won’t. And, I could see Newman joining a subpar organization if they already had a name like Stewart in their ranks, but again … that’s 2010, and Newman’s contract expires at the end of this season. So, the cards don’t stack right in my mind for the both of them to wind up there. I do think, though, that Newman’s gone from Penske after this one. He hasn’t been happy there for awhile, and it’s beginning to show.
Under contract or not, I believe Stewart still has a say in this. If he can’t leave the organization, then his decision is to stay with the team, for now. This subject can be dropped once and for all, until the end of ‘09 it can be mentioned again.
Well, unfortunately, we’re probably gonna keep hearing about this crap until Smoke finally comes out and says he’s there through at least next season.
I agree with you, Tim. And I get mad every time ESPN pushes the story, which they did again during the Nationwide Series race. It is just a matter of going with a story that is meant to keep people tuning in, whether it has credence to it or not. There can be nothing to the story until after the 2009 season.
For right now, I am sticking with what Stewart said in 2004, after he signed his current contract–that this will likely be his final contract and he has other things he wants to do in his life that do not include NASCAR.
Hmmm. I dunno. I really believe that the whole talk about what Tony does next year is much adieu about nothing, but at the same time, I don’t see him exiting out of NASCAR anytime soon. I think that the prospect of owning a Cup Series team has opened his eyes to a whole new world and that’s the path he’ll eventually head down, but it just won’t happen until 2010.
Sorry RevJim but you just dont know what ur talking about on this one. Smokes not gonna retire anytime to soon!
Adam C, are you calling Smoke a liar? I know he throws loops, just to mess with the media’s heads, but when he said that back in 2004, he seemed sincere.
He may have seemd sincere way back then but that was long time ago way back in 2004. Now he wants to win a 3rd title and prove to evryone that young punks like kyle busch got nothin on him!!!