| It's official. After weeks of hints and speculation, | | | | in '09, with "Smoke" driving one car full time and an |
| Tony Stewart will leave Joe Gibbs Racing following | | | | unnamed driver in the other. Rumors have fellow |
| the 2008 Sprint Cup Series season. He had another | | | | Hoosier Ryan Newman, the '08 Daytona 500 winner |
| year left on his contract with JGR, but like Casey | | | | for Penske Racing, coming on board when his |
| Mears, NASCAR pacts are made to be broken. | | | | contract expires after this season. |
| The new Toyotas at JGR were rumored to be the | | | | As a two-time Cup series champion who is widely |
| main problem, but Stewart, 37, wanted control of his | | | | considered one of the top two or three drivers in |
| future above all else. He got it when he reached an | | | | NASCAR, Smoke had 32 career wins-never the |
| agreement with Haas CNC Racing to buy a | | | | Daytona 500-at the Cup level before Chicagoland, |
| 50-percent stake in the tenderfoot race team. The | | | | and was mired in a 32-race winless streak. |
| team name next year will be Stewart Haas Racing. | | | | Teammates Kyle Busch, 23, and Denny Hamlin, 27, |
| Equipment and technical support will still come from | | | | have been well ahead of him in the '08 point |
| Hendrick Motorsports, and sponsors and other details | | | | standings. |
| are forthcoming. | | | | Stewart won the 1997 IndyCar Series championship |
| Stewart will finish the current Sprint Cup season | | | | while running five Busch Series races that same year |
| behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. | | | | for JGR. He drove in 22 Busch events in '98 before |
| He will drive in one more Nationwide event for JGR, | | | | entering the Winston Cup Series full time in '99. After |
| piloting the No. 20 Old Spice Toyota on August 16 at | | | | a rookie record three wins in '99, he has won at least |
| Michigan. His successor in the 20 car(s) will likely be | | | | three times in every season but two-winning twice |
| teenage prodigy Joey Logano, who now drives the | | | | each in 2003 and '04. His championship seasons came |
| No. 20 GameStop Camry for JGR in the Nationwide | | | | in '02 and '05. |
| Series. Logano became the youngest winner in series | | | | One of the more intense competitors in racing |
| history when he took the checkered flag in June at | | | | history, Tempestuous Tony has had his share of |
| Kentucky. | | | | scrapes and scuffles and is always quick with a good |
| Stewart already owns some sprint car teams as well | | | | quote or candid comment. His oft-cited statement |
| as three racetracks. Gene Haas, the Cup team's | | | | that Dale Earnhardt Inc. would become a museum |
| current owner, began serving a two-year jail | | | | upon Dale Jr.'s departure is still widely circulated. |
| sentence in January for tax evasion. His wife, | | | | The reasons for Stewart's parting are amicable, if not |
| Margaret, serves as interim owner. Current Sprint | | | | mutual. He wanted to be an owner-either full- or |
| Cup drivers for Haas CNC are Scott Riggs in the No. | | | | partial- -which wasn't an option at JGR. He therefore |
| 66 Chevrolet, with Jason Leffler and Johnny Sauter | | | | sought, and obtained, a release after pitches toward |
| sharing the No. 70 car. Team general manager Joe | | | | an extension by the Gibbs family went unheeded. |
| Custer owns a piece of the No. 66. | | | | The rest, we can say, is future. |
| Stewart Haas is expected to be a two-car operation | | | | |