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It's official. Soon after weeks of hints and speculation, Tony Stewart will leave Joe Gibbs Racing subsequent the 2008 Sprint Cup Collection year. He had another year left on his contract with JGR, but like Casey Mears, NASCAR pacts are manufactured to be broken. The new Toyotas at JGR had been rumored to be the main problem, but Stewart, 37, needed manage of his long run over all else. He got it when he reached an arrangement with Haas CNC Racing to get a 50-% stake in the tenderfoot race crew. The crew name up coming yr will be Stewart Haas Racing. Equipment and technical support will nonetheless come from Hendrick Motorsports, and sponsors and other particulars are forthcoming. Stewart will finish the current Sprint Cup year behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. He will generate in 1 much more Nationwide occasion for JGR, piloting the No. 20 Outdated Spice Toyota on August 16 at Michigan. His successor in the twenty auto(s) will likely be teenage prodigy JoeyLogano, who now drives the No. 20 GameStop Camry for JGR in the Nationwide Collection. Logano became the youngest winner in collection heritage when he took the checkered flag in June at Kentucky. Stewart already owns some sprint auto teams as nicely as a few racetracks. Gene Haas, the Cup team's existing proprietor, began serving a two-year jail sentence in January for tax evasion. His wife, Margaret, serves as interim proprietor. Latest Sprint Cup motorists for Haas CNC are Scott Riggs in the No. 66 Chevrolet, with Jason Leffler and Johnny Sauter sharing the No. 70 car. Crew common supervisor Joe Custer owns a piece of the No. 66. Stewart Haas is anticipated to be a two-vehicle operation in '09, with "Smoke" driving a single car entire time and an unnamed driver in the other. Rumors have fellow Hoosier Ryan Newman, the '08 Daytona 500 winner for Penske Racing, coming on board when his agreement expires soon after this time. As a two-time Cup sequence champion who is widely regarded as 1 of the leading two or a few drivers in NASCAR, Smoke had 32 occupation wins-by no means the Daytona 500-at the Cup level prior to Chicagoland, and was mired in a 32-race winless streak. Teammates Kyle Busch, 23, and Denny Hamlin, 27, have been nicely in advance of him in the '08 point standings. Stewart won the 1997 IndyCar Sequence championship even though working 5 Busch Sequence races that very same 12 months for JGR. He drove in 22 Busch activities in '98 before entering the Winston Cup Series full time in '99. After a rookie document a few wins in '99, he has won at minimum a few periods in each and every period but two-profitable twice each in 2003 and '04. His championship seasons arrived in '02 and '05. One particular of the a lot more powerful competitors in racing background, Tempestuous Tony has had his share of scrapes and scuffles and is usually fast with a great quote or candid comment. His oft-cited statement that Dale Earnhardt Inc. would become a museum upon Dale Jr.'s departure is still extensively circulated. The factors for Stewart's parting are amicable, if not mutual. He wished to be an owner-possibly entire- or partial- -which wasn't an choice at JGR. He as a result sought, and obtained, a release soon after pitches toward an extension by the Gibbs loved ones went unheeded. The rest, we can say, is long term.
Gene Haas
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