Imagine buying your first car and your Dad won’t let you
drive it. There is some insurance and legal stuff he says needs to be wrapped
up first. In the mean time he says “You can drive my Hot Rod until we can get
you cleared to drive your fixer upper.”
That’s the position Tony finds himself in right now, I guess it could be
worse. A writer suggested that should Smoke fail to make the chase Gibbs should
release him so he could get a jump start on next year in his new cars. I don’t
see either of them happening. Tony will make the chase so the latter won’t and
he will finish the year in the Home Depot #20.
The idea of Tony getting in a Hass car this year made me
wonder since it seems no one asked him yet.
Has he even taken one for a hot lap around the
parking lot?
Would JGR let him drive the Hass cars in an un-sanctioned
test?
He has already said he would be hanging around the “new shop”
even more now that it’s official. It’s not like he hasn’t spent quite a
bit of time there this year already. After all you don’t spend the kind of
money it takes to get half a NASCAR team without checking it out top to bottom.
Oh never mind; Tony only invested his Reputation
and Legacy. Money can’t buy that, so
don’t think for a second he got in on the cheap. The soft side of Tony has
spoke about marriage and kids but felt it would be unfair with the demand on
his time. I suppose this puts off Smoke JR’s debut in Sprint Cup until after 2030
or so.
Somebody that can give some good feedback that Tony
understands will help decide who is in the #70 the rest of the year. While his
choices are limited whoever is in the seat will be there because Tony thinks he
is the best available choice to give him the best feedback not necessarily
results. A lot has been said about Hass and the Hendrick association mostly why
Hass doesn’t run better. The two dollar part failure has been breaking hearts
and costing racers wins forever but having the best parts and pieces is no
guarantee of success. It is going to take a little time to find all the people
to make the pieces fit. Every owner knows where the top is and most know how
close they are and Tony fully understands how far the team needs to climb. If I
was currently employed at Hass racing I would make sure my resume was up to
date.
I don’t expect the second driver to be announced at Indy
this weekend along with Tony’s sponsor and car number so as not to dilute the
media impact. It would be foolish to break all the news at once despite the
temptation of the location. If Ryan Newman truly is the other driver all the
more reason to make the Big Splash at Indy with the 2 hometown boys but the
second team’s sponsors and driver deserve
their own time in the limelight and most likely will wait and rightly so.
Best Brickyard Quote
Dale Sr. after winning the second year NASCAR visited Indy
in 1995 – “now there's been two Brickyard races and I've won half of
them."
Great read, Wish you post more HH.
Alot on Tony's mind thats for sure, and a championship to try and win this year or would he try to win it? He could use the money.
Cheers
Yep, although he has owned "race" teams, this will be unlike anything he has ever encountered. He does have a lot of insight into how the sport is run from the driver/owner/sponsor point's of view. But will he be able to handle all of that at once? It's not just about hiring the right people, as Joe Gibbs say. It is about putting those "right" people in the right positions. Vendors and sponsors are vesting into not only the Tony Stewart name, but Tony Stewart the person. It will be fascinating to see how he handles that.
As Moseby said, it will be fasinating to watch. I have nothing but respect for what Tony is trying to do and hope he can buck the trend and get the owner/driver teams back in business but I fear there is a reason the sport is becoming more and more specialized...there are just too dang many details to keep track of.
He is missing one KEY piece...we all know behind every good man is an even better woman! LORI!!
Hey Kristin, you might have a chance at Stewart. He seems to be on a roll everywhere but the track.
I would think being a wife to a racer, is even worse than being a wife to a cop. My wife lived from portal to portal. Meaning she died when I left the house, and came alive if I came back each day. Not a very good life. My wife took it for 32 years. Good woman.
Agreed HH, Tony will make the chase and therefore not drive a haas car this year.
Also so true, Tony didn't put up cash just his reputation and you can't buy that back if the deal goes sour. S-H will get quite a influx of cash starting out so it will be up to Tony and whoever he picks as #2 driver to finish well to keep the money comming in.
Good quote, suppose Gordon will say he has won 1/4 of them? lol
Ahh...Yes... Smoke before the fire. You can bet its burning inside Tony to take his NEW car for a race. Yet the man he is and the friendship he has with Gibbs he will honor his last year.
