Tony Stewart says expansion unlikely for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2010
Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart says he does not foresee his team fielding a third car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010. // LaDon George, NASCAR Scene
FORT WORTH, Texas – Owner/driver Tony Stewart says he doesn’t foresee his Stewart-Haas Racing organization expanding to include a third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team in 2010.
Stewart-Haas currently fields the No. 14 Chevrolet for Stewart as well as the No. 39 Chevrolet for teammate Ryan Newman.
“We’re at a point in the season right now where we’re getting close to the Chase [For The Sprint Cup], and we’re focused on that,” Stewart said Tuesday while hosting the second annual Smoke Show fantasy camp at Texas Motor Speedway.
“We would pretty much have to have the decision, the agreements on all that already done. We’d have to have the driver, the sponsor; we’d have to have that done by now to be able for it to be feasible for next year.”
Stewart, who departed Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 years to become part-owner of Stewart-Haas following last season, leads the Cup point standings and has two wins this year. He won Cup championships in 2002 and 2005 while at JGR.
While Stewart has previously said that he would be open to adding a third team in the future, he said Tuesday that expansion wouldn’t come “at the sacrifice of performance.”
“I made Ryan the promise, [crew chiefs] Tony Gibson and Darian [Grubb], Bobby Hutchens [director of competition], everyone … the goal is to be a four-car team one day,” he said.
“But we’re not going to have them just for the sake of having them. We want to make sure we’re running well before we add a third team and have all three running well before we add a fourth.
“The good thing is that I feel like we’re in a position to where we can at least [consider] that now.”
