Tony Stewart proud of Joe Gibbs Racing and the driver who replaced him, Joey Logano

By SceneDaily Staff
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Stewart-Haas Racing driver/co-owner Tony Stewart (right) congratulates Joe Gibbs Racing's Joey Logano after Logano won the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing driver/co-owner Tony Stewart (right) congratulates Joe Gibbs Racing's Joey Logano after Logano won the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Chris Graythen
Getty Images

LOUDON, N.H. – Stewart-Haas Racing's Tony Stewart was quick to offer congratulations to winner Joey Logano Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

After all, Logano was the driver who took over the Joe Gibbs Racing team, with crew chief Greg Zipadelli, that Stewart took to two NASCAR Cup championships. So he was quick to applaud Zipadelli's pit call that left Logano on the track long into a fuel run as rain threatened to shorten the NASCAR Sprint Cup Lenox Industrial Tools 301. When the rain did cause first a caution on lap 268, then the red flag and then the race being called with 273 laps completed, Logano became the series' youngest winner.

"I’m happy for Zippy and Joey and all the guys on The Home Depot team," Stewart said. "Man, you take ‘em any way you can get ‘em. That’s as much as a strategy as shocks and springs and everything else. They still had to work to get themselves in that position, so they did a good job."

Stewart was pleased with his own effort as well. He finished fifth, maintaining his points lead by 69 over Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon, who finished second. Stewart started the race in a backup car after an incident in practice on Friday.

“I’m really proud of our guys," he said. "We were just a little bit off, but we had sparks of brilliance during the day where we were really decent. So we can’t be too disappointed with that.

“I’m a big, big fan of this double-file restart stuff because it’s so much fun restarting with the guys that you’re racing with and are used to running up front with and not having to deal with some of these other guys on the restarts that you sometimes have to deal with.”

As to Logano, Stewart pointed to his victory as vengeance of a sort – for the race a year ago when Stewart led 132 laps but lost out on pit strategy when that race, too, was shortened by rain.

“It’s been a hard learning year for Joey, and he’s done a great job, and it’s like I told him, I said 10 years down the road nobody’s ever going to know how this win came, but the thing is, they still had to earn it," Stewart said. "They had to put themselves in position to be in this spot. They did a good job strategy-wise. For them, it makes up for the one that we lost here last year because of the rain. I’m happy with our run, but proud for those guys, too."

Comments

9 responses to "Tony Stewart proud of Joe Gibbs Racing and the driver who replaced him, Joey Logano". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Anonymous said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 7:34 AM

    I believe Logono is going to be good. J.G.R. should have kept him in Nationwide this year maybe with limited cup starts. But then how do I know what the big picture is with thier goings on. Anyway with Smoke going over and congratulating him like that, it probably means Logono is in the big picture
    some how. Maybe Hindricks or Stewart/Hass has plans for him down the road. Wonder what J.G.R.'s take is on that?

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  2. 2
    4wide said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 2:42 PM

    Tony shows why the fans love him and he is a winner. Good Move Smoke

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  3. 3
    SheilaLovesNASCAR said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 3:38 PM

    Tony has been a class act since Gibbs had him go for anger-management. Maybe he should do the same for Kyle. Tony's a better driver. And a class act.

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  4. 4
    Werner said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 5:53 PM

    geez Tony!!!...10 years into the sport...what's got into you...i liked your bad boy image...lol

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  5. 5
    rwilliamhayes said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 6:12 PM

    Good job Logano.Win,win win and dethrone Mr. Jr. as the most popular driver.

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  6. 6
    sportznut5150 said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 7:14 PM

    Class move by tony, congratulations to joey logano on his 1st win .

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  7. 7
    bbhs65 said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 7:40 PM

    That move shows how classy Smoke is.

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  8. 8
    azfreebird said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 8:22 PM

    The media always hypes Tony's bad temper.
    It was a nice, refreshing change to see him potrayed in a better light!
    I doubt Tony's anger management class had a whole lot of impact on him. I think he's just calmed down a bit since he moved from JGR and went out on his own.

    Congrats to Joey, I think as he gets more time out on the track, he's going to come into his own

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  9. 9
    SS396Chevelle said:
    Jun 29, 2009 at 9:33 PM

    Tony has changed a lot since leaving JGR. He is racing well, and proving he still has what it takes. He wasn't happy the last year at Gibbs and wasn't pleased with his teammates, plus his love for Chevy was evident.

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