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Stewart owns up

Tony Stewart, right, looks at the future of Haas-CNC Racing at a news conference with general manager Joe Custer. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By Chris Jenkins Associated Press
Tony Stewart, right, looks at the future of Haas-CNC Racing at a news conference with general manager Joe Custer. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

JOLIET, Ill. – Tony Stewart knows he’s taking a gamble by leaving NASCAR’s elite Joe Gibbs Racing team to join one that usually runs in the middle of the pack.

But Stewart also can imagine what it might feel like to be in victory lane at the Daytona 500 both as a driver and a car owner, so it’s a risk he’s willing to take.

Having recently negotiated a release from his Gibbs contract at the end of this season, the two-time Cup series champion announced Thursday that he will join the team known as Haas-CNC as an owner-driver in 2009.

“There’s no guarantees that this is going to be successful,” Stewart said. “But after sitting down and evaluating what the potential of this team is, I wouldn’t have made this decision if I didn’t think it would be successful and if I didn’t think it had the potential to be great.”

Stewart will be given a 50 percent ownership stake in the team, which will be renamed Stewart-Haas Racing. The two-car team fields the No. 66 car for Scott Riggs and the No. 70 car for Jason Leffler, and both cars are outside the top 35 in owners points going into Saturday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway.

The move had been widely anticipated, but Stewart confirmed it to his crew members and other Gibbs employees at the team’s race shop Wednesday.

“I wondered how it was going to feel,” Stewart said. “I wondered how everybody was going to react.”

But Stewart said after he spoke, several employees stood in line to congratulate him.

“We could never be mad or hold that against him,” said Stewart’s longtime crew chief, Greg Zipadelli. “His success, our success as a group, would not be possible without him.”

Stewart said the hardest part about his decision to leave was the fact that Zipadelli isn’t coming with him. Zipadelli will stay with Gibbs, and may end up being paired with 18-year-old racing phenomenon Joey Logano on the No. 20 team next year.

“For myself, I think you’ve got to look at what’s best for me, where am I most comfortable, and where are my obligations,” Zipadelli said. “They’re with Joe Gibbs Racing. My guys have supported me and most of them have continued to work with me for 10 years or more. That’s important to me.”

A plan to stay involved in NASCAR after he’s done driving is important to Stewart.

Stewart and Haas-CNC general manager Joe Custer did not directly confirm the financial details of Stewart’s ownership stake in the team. •With a line of strong storms moving through the area, NASCAR officials canceled Thursday night’s Sprint Cup series qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway. The field for Saturday’s race will be set according to car owner points, putting series points leader Kyle Busch on the pole position and Dale Earnhardt Jr. alongside him on the front row.