tool name
closeStewart is in position to call the tune, maybe set tempo, too
THATSRACIN.COM OPINION
DAVID POOLE
The Charlotte Observer
Friday, Apr. 25, 2008
TALLADEGA, Ala. – All of a sudden Tony Stewart is the hot “free agent” on the NASCAR market. And, quite frankly, he is enjoying the attention.
“We’re going to look at all the options,” Stewart said at Talladega Superspeedway. “It’s pretty exciting as a driver to be in this position and when you see the offers that have been presented to us. ...It gives me a perspective of where I fit in this series and what the car owners think of me.
“It’s just a matter of trying to figure out what we want to do and just being smart. We’re just going to look at everything that’s out there. A wise person told me that it never costs a dime to listen, so right now we’re all ears.”
Sound familiar? It should.
A year ago another driver was singing a similar song.
“We’re going to listen to everybody. I’m going to want to hear what everybody has to say,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said last May. “…I’ll just have to see what’s out there for us. We’ve got to sit down and decide what we want to. So we’re going to listen, and it doesn’t cost anything to listen.”
Their situations aren’t exactly the same.
Earnhardt Jr. was coming to the end of his contract at Dale Earnhardt Inc. after the 2007 season. Stewart’s current deal with Joe Gibbs Racing runs through the end of 2009, and team president J.D. Gibbs said he expects Stewart to be around at least that long.
While it took Earnhardt Jr. until early May to confirm he would not re-sign with DEI, there was very little doubt all along that’s what would happen. With confirmation this week that Stewart is at least window shopping for a new deal, it’s easy to assume that he’s already as good as gone, too.
That may not be so. The last time Stewart re-upped with the Gibbs team he weighed other offers. His talent and resume gave Stewart considerable leverage then, and he used it to get a good deal. Stewart certainly appears to have more options this time around, but again he could find what he’s looking for right where he is.
Earnhardt Jr. is in a unique position to appreciate where Stewart is.
“Tony has several options, and staying is a great one,” Earnhardt Jr. said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, where Aaron’s 499 qualifying is set for Saturday.
“Joe Gibbs is going to be around and be competitive for a long time. But Tony could become his own Joe Gibbs if he wants to. Tony has networked his entire career and he has a lot of relationships that would suit him well. It’s really up to Tony what he wants to do.”
Stewart said the prospect of owning a Cup team has appeal, but also said he has no interest in starting his own.
He indicated Friday that the impetus for all of this is Chevrolet’s desire to have him back in its cars in NASCAR, but Stewart also said the more he listens the more his options open to include other manufacturers.
Chevrolet supports Stewart’s open-wheel operations, and it would be easier if all of his business was on one side of that street. But he used to field Mopar cars for Dodge in the U.S. Auto Club, too, and Chrysler’s new major domo is Bob Nardelli, who once ran The Home Depot and built a friendship with Stewart in that job. He’s tight with Kevin Harvick, and Richard Childress has a car coming open next year, a Chevrolet at that.
In other words, Stewart’s in a pretty good spot.
“There are items that have been brought up that I never even thought would be options, let alone what an ideal situation would be,” Stewart said.
“We’re in a position now where we’re trying to figure out what is that perfect scenario.”
