Stewart listens to several suitors

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tony Stewart has several offers to leave Joe Gibbs Racing, and the two-time champion is considering every option – including ones that could make him the owner of his own NASCAR team.

“We’ve got multiple offers on the table right now, and there’s a couple in particular that really have caught our interest,” Stewart told reporters Thursday after Nationwide Series practice at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

“We haven’t made a 100 percent decision yet on what we’re going to do, but we’re going to look at all the options. And the options are exciting, all the way around.”

Stewart’s deal with JGR runs through 2009, and he said last summer he was interested in signing an extension with the team he’s driven for since 1998. But contract talks moved slowly, with Stewart saying in January he was in no rush to get a deal done.

But a pair of internet reports Wednesday said Stewart was in negotiations to purchase at least a portion of Haas CNC Racing in a deal that would require him to leave JGR.

Stewart said he has not ruled out staying with JGR, but when he began negotiating a new contract, other teams approached him with new opportunities. The same thing happened back in 2003, when Stewart was able to leverage several deals – including one from Chip Ganassi – to secure a more lucrative contract with Gibbs.

“A wise person told me it never cost a dime to listen, so right now we’re all ears,” Stewart said of the latest offers. “Right now it’s just a matter of figuring out what we want to do, and being smart. We’ve had a great run at Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn’t mean it’s over. We’re just going to look at everything that’s out there.

JGR president J.D. Gibbs indicated the team intends to hold Stewart to his contract, and Stewart said he’s not asked to be released from it early.

“We’ve got Tony signed through ‘08 and ‘09, and we want to go full bore and win a bunch of races and championships together,” Gibbs said. “Our hope is that if you do that, then long term this will be the spot he chooses to retire.”