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What's Next?
Who will Joe Gibbs put in Greg Zipadelli's car fulltime to replace Tony Stewart?
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Joe Gibbs is looking for a driver to replace Tony Stewart.
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Published: July 18, 2008
Car owner Joe Gibbs is pondering his next move amid Tony Stewart's pending departure, trying to decide who to put in that car for 2009 as a teammate of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.
Gibbs seemed shocked and surprised that Stewart would want to leave, and he wasn't alone.
"To be quite truthful, we would have liked this to continue with Tony … thinking back on all the great things we've been able to enjoy over the last 12 years. Great victories, 32 of them. Two Cup championships," Gibbs said. "All the fun things and experiences we've had together…."
Gibbs also hinted that Stewart might be in for a rude awakening.
"I think all the way back to when I was thinking of getting into this (in the early 1990s)," Gibbs recalled. "I went to visit Richard Petty … because he is a big Redskins fan, plus he's the icon.
"I said to him ‘I'd really like to get into NASCAR.' He looked at me and said ‘Why?'
"That was a great statement -- and probably the same thing I'd say to Tony."
After all, NASCAR racing is a very humbling sport.
"The struggles you have in all pro sports … it's very humbling, and I've never felt I could relax," Gibbs said. "Stay humble and hungry … feeling like someone is always breathing down your neck.
"We have 450 people working for us, and they're part of our family. Every single thing we do is to focus on what's best for them and this sport, and what's needed to run up front and be fast. But, hey, it doesn't mean you're always going to be there."
Nevertheless Stewart has decided to move on, and Gibbs has finally given his OK.
"Tony came in and said he wanted to leave," Gibbs said. "We had a contract through next year, and we talked about that, and my initial reaction was we'd race through next year.
"The more we talked it over, this was brought to a head between Tony and us. The further we went with it, the more we talked, we just reached a conclusion it would probably be best to let Tony pursue another option … let him get started and let us get started in a different direction."
And Gibbs' next move?
"It's probably early to say exactly what's going to happen," he said. "This has come on us kind of quick."
Had Stewart stayed, Gibbs probably would given Logano, 18, a partial Cup schedule with a fourth team. And the jury is still out on whether it would be wise to throw Logano right to the wolves next year by putting him in Greg Zipadelli's car full time.
Zipadelli's crew is a championship-level team and probably deserves a championship-caliber driver, rather than a "project," no matter how talented Logano is. But Hamlin's quick success has made Gibbs look at Logano seriously.
"For me, personally, Joey is a candidate for anything," Gibbs said. "We've tried to put him in everything we can, a total of 32 tests.
"He is 18, but he's very mature as a racer, and we've tried to give him every bit of experience since he's been with us. Obviously he's a huge part of our future.
"We've had numerous conversations with him and his dad, and we know what they feel. We're just working through a process here. We've had some conversations with NASCAR, too."
Partly at issue is a bit of concern about moving Logano up too fast. A lot might depend on how he does in a few Cup races later this year.
Another point -- Gibbs would like to expand to a fourth Cup team, logically with Logano and probably crew chief Dave Rogers, who has been remarkably successful on the Nationwide tour this season. But then he has to figure out what to do with Zipadelli's team.
There is also the sponsorship issue. Money is tight, and Home Depot, the long-running sponsor for Gibbs and Stewart, is reassessing its position in racing.
"We certainly have hopes of what we think is going to happen, but Home Depot is going through a process," Gibbs said.
One question: would Home Depot commit to a long-term renewal with Gibbs if Logano were the driver? Home Depot hasn't said much about its NASCAR plans, but there are reports that the company would like to scale back by 50 percent, which means Gibbs would have to find another sponsor to pick up the slack -- which could be $11 million to $15 million. That's perhaps one reason Gibbs has held out hope for so long that he could keep Stewart for at least one more year.
"We've been very, very productive," Gibbs said. "Tony had never won a race when we first signed up with Home Depot….
"You build relationships over long periods of time. They're going through a process; it's something they need to work themselves through. We'll just be patient and wait for them."
Note: Even on an off weekend for the Sprint Cup series, there's no rest for Kyle Busch, NASCAR's hottest driver. He'll be at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday racing for his third Truck series victory this season -- and his 14th NASCAR win overall.
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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