The partnership produced 32 victories, two Cup championships and more than $68 million in winnings. It also survived a flurry of storms created by one of the most tempestuous drivers in NASCAR history.
It was the perfect union, yet it left Stewart wanting more.
More than he could ever get at Gibbs, where an ownership stake wasn’t an option and Stewart was simply the driver.
So Stewart secured his release from the organization Wednesday, paving the way for him to purchase his own NASCAR team.
“While this moment is bittersweet, we’re parting on good terms and we know that each of us has benefited greatly from the other,” team president J.D. Gibbs said.
The remarkable and often emotional 10-year run will end for Stewart and JGR at the end of this season.
Gibbs had hoped to sign Stewart, 37, to an extension that would keep him in his seat past 2009 and until he retired, but Stewart stalled during contract talks. He wanted to examine other options, and given the opportunity to buy majority ownership in fledgling Haas-CNC Racing, he couldn’t resist.
Stewart scheduled a news conference for today at Chicagoland Speedway to discuss his latest venture.
Stewart, who owns several sprint car teams and a trio of race tracks, likely will model his NASCAR team after the Gibbs team.
Joe Gibbs has supported “Smoke” unequivocally through a tumultuous 10 years during which Stewart punched a photographer, engaged in run-ins with fellow drivers, fans and the media, and often fell on NASCAR’s bad side through his jaw-dropping candor and sharp wit.
He thanked the organization for sticking by him and teaching him much of what he knows as a businessman.
“I’ve learned so much from them and have a tremendous amount of respect for what they’ve built,” Stewart said in a statement. “I’ve modeled my teams the same way they built their NASCAR team, and I made it a point to find good people to run those programs.
“If I’ve learned anything from my time at Joe Gibbs Racing, it’s that Joe Gibbs saying of ‘You win with people’ is incredibly true. They always surrounded me with not just good people, but great people, and the results speak for themselves.”
Now Stewart will have to find the same quality of people to help him revamp Haas’s two-car team. Current owner Gene Haas began serving a two-year prison sentence for tax evasion in January, and the team is not competitive.
Haas currently fields one car for Scott Riggs and a second entry that’s been piloted by several drivers this year. Neither team is in the top 35 in points, and the organization was devastated by stiff penalties in May for bringing illegal cars to Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
But Stewart loves a challenge, and this newest one also will secure him a spot in NASCAR long after he quits driving. He’s expected to pilot one of the cars, and fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman is in the running for the second seat. Newman has been noncommittal on his future, and the Daytona 500 winner is in the final year of his contract with Penske Racing.
Stewart joined JGR in a developmental role in 1997 while he was still competing in the IndyCar Series. He ran five races in the Busch Series (now the Nationwide Series) for JGR that year and won the IRL championship. He expanded his Busch schedule in 1998 to 22 events in preparation of his move to full-time NASCAR in the Cup Series.
His arrival helped JGR expand to two teams, and Stewart made an immediate impact on the Cup Series. He set a rookie record with three victories in 1999 and was rookie of the year. It began a 10-year run with Stewart winning at least two events per season.
Stewart finished seventh or higher in the season standings in all but one season - 2006, when he failed to make the Chase but still won three of the final 10 races used to determine the champion. He finished 11th in the standings.
Now Gibbs hopes Stewart has one last championship run in him for their organization.
“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,” Gibbs said.
But it’s been a rocky season for Stewart, stuck in a 32-race winless streak dating to last August at Watkins Glen. He lost the Daytona 500 on the last lap, the Coca-Cola 600 when his tire went flat while leading late and several other races because of a bizarre streak of bad luck that has plagued him all season.
Stewart’s departure means the end of the longest active driver-crew chief relationship in the garage. Greg Zipadelli helped build the No. 20 team around Stewart at inception, and “Zippy” likely will stay at JGR to help groom 18-year-old protege Joey Logano into NASCAR’s next superstar.
Joe Gibbs said the future of that team is bright, even without Stewart.
“The 20 car has been one of the all-time great partnerships in NASCAR for the last decade with the combination of Tony, Zippy, The Home Depot and Joe Gibbs Racing,” Gibbs said. “While we are losing one piece of the puzzle, we think the No. 20 team will remain strong for many years to come.”
With or without Stewart, JGR is on solid footing. Kyle Busch leads the Cup standings with a series-best six wins this season, while Denny Hamlin is seventh in the standings with one win.
