Say It Ain’t So… Tony Stewart Leaving Joe Gibbs Racing
The man in orange, “smoke”, Tony… whatever you like to call him, Mr. Stewart is on his way out of Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 years together in NASCAR. Reports surfaced yesterday and confirmed today that Tony Stewart, NASCAR’s current “meany”, will be leaving the JGR team to start his own team w/ Haas CNC Racing. The new name will be Stewart/Haas reportedly.
Stewart is my favorite driver, so I am quite upset that all my lovely orange merchandise will have to be thrown out… ok, it’s UGLY orange, so thank god he’s switching to another color. I wish he was keeping the #20 car, but that’s not likely.
Tony will be an owner/driver for the new organization, so there’s a lot riding on the deal. A familiar sponsor for Stewart, Home Depot, will remain w/ Gibbs racing and the #20 car will likely be filled by Joey Logano, a rising Nationwide driver and potential racing superstar.
JGR is definitely headed in a different direction than w/ Stewart, as evidenced by their switch to Toyota this year (Stewart is a Chevy guy) and the success of both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin this season. Their success has almost pushed Tony Stewart into the “3rd guy” role. Unfortunately, Tony is a “me first” guy, so that philosophy at JGR wasn’t vibing w/ him in my opinion.
Other drivers have moved to the driver/owner role in the past, including Michael Waltrip (unsuccessfully). Tony will certainly have his work ahead of him as he tries to field a competitive team w/ a lower-profile racing team. While the new team is a partner w/ Hendrick Motorsports, they will still be at a disadvantage w/ equipment and come race time. Stewart hasn’t really struggled to qualify in the past, but Gibbs racing is probably at least partially responsible for Tony’s driving success. No matter how good the driver, and Tony is good, you can’t win w/ a crappy car.
Other News…
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Nationwide team has lost NAVY as it’s sponsor. Not a good sign for JR Motorsports.
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