With Stewart Haas Racing official, what’s next?
by Doug Turnbull ~ July 11th, 2008 @ 4:23 pmFastCar Newsdesk for Chicagoland, week of 7/11/08
This week, one of the biggest Silly Season rumors in history came to fruition, as Joe Gibbs Racing officially granted Tony Stewart his release from his contract for 2009 and Stewart then announced his new partnership and 50% ownership of Stewart Haas Racing. Still, pieces of the puzzle were missing from the big announcement.
Many wonder who the sponsors of the two teams will be and who will be the 2nd driver of the two-car operation. Ryan Newman’s name has been atop the rumor pile as the candidate to be Stewart’s driving teammate and sponsors like Office Depot, Old Spice, UPS and Jack Daniels have been rumored to be among those that Tony has talked to.
One person not traveling to Stewart Hass Racing will be Stewart’s long-time crew chief, Greg Zipadelli. Stewart and Zippy have been together since Stewart began in the Sprint Cup Series in 1999. Together on the No. 20 Home Depot team, they have scored 32 wins, 124 Top 5s, and 199 Top 10s, and two championships, in 338 starts over almost 10 years.


