tool name
closePartnership ending, Zipadelli slightly more reflective than Stewart
By David Poole
dpoole@charlotteobserver.com
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008
Tony Stewart has raced nearly 13,000 miles in his Sprint Cup career, all of them for the team he'll run his final race with Sunday.
Stewart closes out 10 seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 20 team in the Ford 400. Next year he will drive the No. 14 Chevrolets for Stewart-Haas Racing as a driver-owner in NASCAR's top series.
There's a lot for Stewart to do in the days ahead as he builds race teams for himself and Ryan Newman, but for now he'll focus on ending what has been a brilliant run. Stewart starts 13th Sunday in his 356th career Cup start.
"It has been a lot of fun," Stewart said. "We've been through a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but at the end of the day, we've had a lot of fun and we've won a lot of races (33) and won two championships. I think we've had a very successful 10 years."
Crew chief Greg Zipadelli has been with Stewart every step of the way, but Zipadelli will stay at Joe Gibbs Racing to work with Joey Logano, the new driver of the No. 20 Toyotas, next year.
"Tony has been really good to me over the years - and it’s a big change," Zipadelli said. "Not a lot of people are fired up over change. It's like it’s been a marriage and now we're getting a divorce. I spent so much time with him, working with him, working for him over the past 10 years. ... Not to be corny or anything, but it'll be sad.
"It'll be disappointing. I still wish that we were staying together and finishing out our time here at Joe Gibbs Racing, but obviously that's changed. We're going in different directions now.
The two have weathered their share of storms over the year, most of them Stewart-inflicted. The temperamental driver has had numerous run-ins with other drivers, fans, media and NASCAR that at times threatened to destroy the team.
But the organization always stood behind him, and Zipadelli believes Stewart has grown from every experience.
"I think he's certainly way more mature, way more understanding of what it is to be a team instead of 'I.' And when he first came here, it wasn't that way," Zipadelli said. "And there was a good two to three years that some things were just pretty stupid. But you knew all along, he didn't do things - in my heart I believe this - he didn't do those things to be destructive or hurt people.
"It was just his way of dealing with things, and it was the wrong way."
"We both did our job over the years," Zipadelli said. "It was great. I appreciated it, but it's just not what we're going to be doing anymore."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.