Bittersweet weekend on tap for Tony Stewart at Homestead
A long, successful tenure at Joe Gibbs Racing will come to an end for Tony Stewart with Sunday’s 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
For Stewart, who is leaving to become an owner/driver next season at the new Stewart-Haas Racing, the occasion figures to be a bittersweet one.
The driver has earned all 33 of his NASCAR Cup victories and both of his Cup titles with the team, where he has spent each of his 10 seasons at NASCAR’s highest level.
“I’ve tried to not think about it,” Stewart said in reference to his emotions surrounding the race. “We’ll deal with it when we get there and kind of take it as it comes. This is the longest relationship I’ve ever had with any car owner, so that’s why this situation is so different than anything else I’ve ever dealt with.”
Stewart has worked with crew chief Greg Zipadelli at JGR since his rookie season of 1999. Zipadelli will remain with the team next season to oversee the effort of newcomer Joey Logano, who is assuming driving duties of the No. 20 Toyota.
Stewart will be paired with a new pit boss, Darian Grubb, at Stewart-Haas.
Zipadelli says he has tried not to think a lot about Sunday’s race being his last with Stewart.
“For me, obviously, it’s going to be disappointing,” he said. “Somebody you spend a lot of time with, somebody you’ve had a lot of success with, somebody you respect – Tony’s been really good to me over the years – and it’s a big change. Not a lot of people are fired up over change. It’s like it’s been a marriage and now we’re getting a divorce. I spent so much time with him, working with him, working for him over the last 10 years that I don’t know what to expect this weekend. Not to be corny or anything, but it’ll be sad. It’ll be disappointing.”
Zipadelli has been atop Stewart’s pit box through all of the driver’s wins and his championships in 2002 and 2005.
“I still wish that we were staying together and finishing out our time here at Joe Gibbs Racing, but obviously that’s changed,” Zipadelli said. “We’re going in different directions now.
“In the times where I’ve looked at potentially doing something different, I’ve always found that this is where I need to be. I feel like this is the path that God really, truly wanted me to take, so I’m going to continue what I started. I’m content with that. The unknowns are what you worry more about.”
Stewart is also facing some unknowns as he will try to turn the team now known as Haas CNC Racing into a contender after many years of struggles. Stewart and fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman will compete in Stewart-Haas’ two Chevrolets.
“There’s not really going to be an off-season,” Stewart said. “We’re going to work from Monday after Homestead all the way through until we get to Daytona, and then the work’s not going to stop after we get to Daytona either. We’re going to be pretty busy for the next year. We’re going to stay real busy.”
But this weekend, the mood surrounding Stewart’s team will likely be more reflective than forward-looking.
“Our time together really has gone fast,” Team President J.D. Gibbs said. “And what’s amazing is that this team, it’s pretty much the same crew, the same crew chief and the same driver. So to see it come to an end is bittersweet. We’re all looking toward the future now, but we also appreciate what the past has meant to us.”
