Official: JGR Releases Tony Stewart From '09

There is to be no more speculation, no more rumor.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Tony Stewart jointly announced today that they will splitting after the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November to allow Stewart to move to greener pastures in 2009, ideally owning his own Sprint Cup team.

And no, the "greener pastures" line is not a sideswipe at Stewart's -- uh -- robust figure.

From the release:

"We've had a lot of success with Tony in our 12 years here at Joe Gibbs Racing," said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR. "While this moment is bittersweet, we're parting on good terms and we know that each of us has benefited greatly from the other.

"We grew to two teams in the Sprint Cup Series with Tony and The Home Depot in 1999, and two championships and 32 wins followed. While our time together is coming to an end, we know there's still a lot of racing left this season and we plan to make the most of it. On behalf of everyone at JGR, we're proud of everything we've accomplished together with Tony and we wish him the best in pursuing his dream of NASCAR team ownership."

You know, it's one thing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to leave a race team, but when Tony Stewart leaves a race team that he's won two championships with, a crew chief in Greg Zippidelli that he is extremely close with, and an owner who has stuck by him through everything, that's a big deal.

Interestingly enough, The Home Depot -- who hasn't exactly had the best year financially and has closed several stores -- commended Tony for being an "ambassador" for the company but said "Details regarding our future plans will be announced at a later date" in the release.

So, that means one of two things in my mind. Either The Home Depot is leaving the sport altogether or is coming with Stewart to his new team, because it sure as heck doesn't sound like a commitment to Joe Gibbs Racing.

The wait shouldn't be too long, however, on what Tony's exact plans on ownership will be, though its highly likely that it will involve Haas-CNC Racing. I'd say expect an announcement by Tony in two weeks at his most favorite place in the world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In the mean time, Stewart will continue to compete with Gibbs in the remaining Sprint Cup schedule and for two races on the Nationwide Series schedule, including in this weekend's Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-09-2008 @ 7:02PM

Kim said...

Hey Geoffrey!

I read on ESPN.com earlier today that Tony is supposed to announce additional information regarding his new team tomorrow afternoon at Chicagoland, so hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer for specifics. This is all very exciting! :-)

Interesting about Home Depot. I wonder too if they will go with Tony, but I suspect they may just leave the sport all together. Like you said, they are losing tons of money and closing stores, never a good sign. They must pay out millions to be a primary sponsor in NASCAR, so I am sure that money would help them out if they didn't have to spend it anymore.

So, you don't think Zippy will go with Tony? Does he have an existing contract with JGR that he cannot get out of? More information, I've got to have more information! :-)

Kim

7-09-2008 @ 8:16PM

anna seitter said...

I think that if GREG ZINFANDEL (yes, the wine) doesn't leave with tony this year end, he will be on tony's door steps at HAAS as soon as his contract is over at JGR. No doubts, ZINFANDEL will be a crew chief soon or later in 1 of the stewart owned team and very likely it will be the car runned by TONY.Works for me..

7-09-2008 @ 8:24PM

KIM, you were right about TONY leaving; congrats to your predictions. I too hoped that he end up at HMS
but that does'nt seem the case. Oh well, lets just hope that it will not take him ages to get those HAAS CARS in the top 5 every week. I KNOW HE CAN DO IT. WHEN? hopely yesterday.Works for me ....... but it may not in future,who knows?.

7-09-2008 @ 8:48PM

Hey Anna!

Thanks! I am actually becoming a Stewart fan! Shocking, I know. I have read a lot about him, all the things he does for charity and for others, and have just come to realize, he's a stand up guy. I find myself rooting for him each week now. I never thought I would be a fan of his, but I have become one. I wish him all the best. I just wish he had ended up at Hendrick, too. He still may in a couple years, you never know. :-)

Take care,

Kim

7-09-2008 @ 9:25PM

Susan said...

I would be willing to bet that part of the Gibbs release included no hiring of Gibbs employees for a certain number of years.

7-10-2008 @ 10:13PM

Tommey said...

Lets just hope he doesn't turn into Kyle Petty. Or M. Waltrip. Although Mikey was never that good. But when your an up and coming team, things are tight. Too easy to watch your metal. I bet he never thought about HMS. He would have never left Gibbs, if it wasn't for his freedom. OR maybe he doesn't respect JD like he does BIG JOE.

7-11-2008 @ 2:54AM

Run a car on water said...

I never thought that I would see the day that Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing. i think that he dislikes Toyota and that has a lot to do with it.

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7-11-2008 @ 5:43PM

Jack said...

I will bet Tony will not win a race at Haas CNC racing
I never seen a driver go down hill as fast as Tony Stewart has.

7-11-2008 @ 5:56PM

Jena said...

I do not think Tony cares about what type of car he drives. If it is Toyota or Dodge or Chevy or a Ford, he does not care. He started driving go-carts powered by old lawn mower motors. Do you think he hated to leave lawnboy power to race midget cars? Racers are racers. Earnhardt drove fords and did not seem to care. I know that is bad news for all you chevy rednecks. Toyota is the only American made car racing Sprint Cup now.
As far as Tony going to race for Haas and running all of Hendrick Motorsports junk that they sell that team. Good Luck Tony driving Hendrick Junk
Tony should have asked Joe Gibbs why Gibbs Racing started their own motor program. Gibbs used to get Hendrick motors that were junk motors and under powered. A crook like Rick Hendrick does not sell good race equipment to other teams. Just ask Joe Gibbs and Bobby Labonte about Hendrick motors.

7-11-2008 @ 5:59PM

Ed said...

You are right Jena Rick Hendrick was not convicted for a felony because he is honest

7-12-2008 @ 3:43PM

Debbie Grubb said...

I usually post my Nascar comments on my SU page but what the heck. As for Tony Stewart's move,hate to say it,love him as a driver,but he is a bit of a Prima Donna. Think maybe the talent pool at Gibbs was getting a little deep for him.Don't know if he's a chevy redneck but brand loyalty can't be all bad.As for the Daytona finish under caution just a question-Am I the only fan that noticed that Kyle Busch was below the yellow line at the time of scoring? Not worth the controversy for NasCar I'm sure but why are the rules only the rules when it's convenient to their agenda?