Rob D'Amico from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio gives his opinion why he thinks Tony Stewart is have all this bad luck in 2008.

Tony Stewart couldn’t finish Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He became dehydrated and requested to be replaced. He actually had to relinquish his seat in the No. 20 Home Depot Joe Gibbs Toyota and seek IV fluid treatment in the infield care center. You could see it in his face, his eyes and the way he struggled to walk.

J.J. Yeley, who did not qualify for the race in his #96 Toyota, was summoned to be Stewart's relief driver and, after an unusually quick driver change, ended the night in the 20th position after being collected in a typical Daytona late race crash. The finish was enough to keep Stewart 12th in points. That is 541 points, to be exact, behind series leader, teammate and race winner Kyle Busch.

The last time Stewart gave up the wheel to another driver occurred at Dover International Speedway in June 2006 when he got relieved by Ricky Rudd after 25 circuits. The reason Stewart got out of the car on that day was that the the pain of a broken shoulder he received in a crash the week before at Lowe's Motor Speedway became too much to bear.

It’s no secret that stress can manifest itself in the form of physical distress. It had started a week before and Stewart didn’t feel well coming into the Daytona race. He was suffering from an upset stomach, headaches and weakness. That should sound familiar to all of us who have ever worked too hard, had too much on our minds or physically over extended ourselves. Adding fuel to this fire is the fact that he and his JGR team have seen some of the worst luck of their careers.

Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup series champion, has been in position to win multiple races this season leading 502 laps, which equates to 564 miles and to date still has nothing to show for it. Despite the pressure he has placed on himself, he still barely sits inside the top twelve with 2,145 points, a scant two ahead of Kevin Harvick.

This doesn't mean it's been all-bad for Tony Stewart, he has five top fives and seven top 10’s in 2008. He is usually a late bloomer with most of his career wins coming in the second part of the season, he just hopes that starts sooner than later.

"It could be a lot worse,” Stewart said at Daytona, “They’re guys that have had a lot worse seasons than we've had, but this is a terrible year for us and our team. I think that is a compliment to how good the success this team and this organization has had. I don't know how long it's going to last hopefully it's not much longer, I'm afraid I'm going to be bald by the time it's done."

During the red flag at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, after leading the most laps (132), Stewart was asked about all the hard times his team was going through and I thought the guy was going to breakdown and cry.

Some would look at this story and say no big deal, so he didn't feel well, this is not the first time we've seen a relief driver used during a race. Well you would be right. Tony Stewart is from sound, middle American Indiana stock, but even drivers with his fortitude and determination can falter. You see the problem is that Tony Stewart is spreading himself too thin.

Stewart is trying to decide whether he'll be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009 or begin to secure his future as an owner by buying into Hass CNC Racing, a Hendrick satellite team. He is also wrestling with another unpleasant possibility, that being his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, who has been with Stewart from the beginning of his Sprint Cup Career and together hold the longest driver/crew chief combo in the garage, may not be going with him if he starts his own team in 2009.

Think of it as the high school student heading off to college and leaving his high school sweetheart behind. It’s not easy, but life goes on. We’ll pick up the pieces and march forward.

Breaking up is hard to do no matter what the circumstances may be. One needs look no farther than to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt. This pair went their separate ways after ‘irreconcilable differences’ on who should own Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. No one ever thought that Dale Jr. would leave the company that is father built, but he did.

No one thought that Matt Kenseth and his long-time crew chief Robbie Reiser would have been separated, but they were.

All actions have a reaction. What happens to people during times of stress is, depending on who you are, you lose valuable communication, feelings get hurt and those who have a difficult time expressing themselves calmly, begin to fall silent. I believe that is what we are seeing take place on the No. 20 team.

So what is the best decision for Tony Stewart to make? Only Tony Stewart knows. But certainly the process is taking a terrible toll. The massive amount of stress from being pulled apart by corporate America, the thought of leaving behind people who helped to make him who he is and the prospect of falling further behind in this lackluster season is a recipe for disaster.

Stewart is one of the most talented drivers in the garage when he can focus on the task at hand but right now his eye is on another prize: Securing his future after his racing career.

The Cure

It looks like we are about to find out. Wednesday Two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is expected to announce his official release from Joe Gibbs Racing, according to a report by the Charlotte Observer and Thursday he is suppose to make it official by announcing that he'll become 50% owner in Haas CNC Racing renaming it Stewart Haas Racing in 2009.

Rob D'Amico and Michele Rahal from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio know there are two sides to every story.

Michele’s Take:

A great deal has been written and said about the influx of open-wheel drivers invading the world of NASCAR. The musings have ranged from outright Xenophobic reactionary ranting to the outcry that these drivers are unjustly reducing the number of seats available to rising young stars, thus putting on hold their dreams of grabbing the brass ring.

Let’s put this into perspective. The drivers in question, namely Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Jacques Villenueve, Sam Hornish Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Patrick Carpentier and Scott Speed, have all had very different deals put in front of them in order to survive, much less thrive, in the ultra-competitive environment that we call NASCAR. Their resumes are indisputable, but their results leave room for argument.

Jacques Villenueve felt the sponsorship crunch early and this alone should have been a harbinger of things to come for the Ganassi fiasco, but it did no good. Chip Ganassi apparently felt his success in Grand-Am and IndyCar would place the Sprint Cup racing universe in order. It hasn’t. Villenueve will be back. Hornish is learning, but has a long way to go.

Alternatively, the Red Bull squad has seemed to put the progression of bringing drivers up to speed in correct order. Scott Speed is proving to be a contender in the highest order by taking him through the ranks on multiple levels, driving full time in ARCA and competing in several Craftsman Truck races this year. They seemed to have taken lessons learned from throwing Allmendinger in the deep end and applied them to a progressive path for Speed. Not so Ganassi.

Through the looking glass no one can argue that Montoya has moved into his position with a vengeance. He’s been able to take what can only be considered a mediocre team and been able to push into the top twenty when most would sitting out in the under 35 standings crowd. So the question begs to be asked, what happened to Franchitti? Why did he not have a more ironclad contract with Chip Ganassi? Why was he not brought along more like Montoya rather than face the embarrassing prospect of going sponsor-less and losing his ride mere months after being crowned the Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion?

Ganassi stands out in this open-wheel movement because he believed that the star power of Franchitti would bring along bags of sponsorship money. Well that didn’t happen and wouldn’t have made on bit of difference if the money had shown up in a Brinks truck. If you don’t allocate resources in the appropriate manner, you aren’t going to have results. Montoya and his three crew chief musical chair fiasco by Ganassi hasn’t stopped the Colombian from dragging himself up through the field to deliver finishes that journeyman drivers shouldn’t have been able to accomplish. But that’s a testament to Montoya’s skill, tenacity and his aggressive nature.

Did Ganassi’s competition across the broad spectrum of racing with Roger Penske cloud his judgment? Perhaps. I firmly believe that Sam Hornish, Jr. will succeed because Roger Penske is a man who learns those lessons and applies them with military precision. Ganassi, on the other hand, seems disjointed and somewhat confused as to what to do. But Ganassi feels compelled to blame it on the economy; it’s a great excuse for failing a driver who obviously has the talent and motivation to succeed at this new challenge.

This story is a global one, not restricted to the parochialism that seems to permeate the pundits whose only experience in racing is NASCAR. Autosport, a definitive global publication on auto racing said this week that an unnamed source at Ganassi said to expect more “Wholesale” changes.

The naysayer’s will contend that these drivers just aren’t good enough and that NASCAR drivers are the best in the world. Sorry ladies and gentlemen, but if Kyle Busch washes out in his Toyota F1 test, then my point will be proven that they’re all great drivers. But it is easier for an F1 Driver to come to NASCAR than it is for a NASCAR driver to go to F1.

I only hope that Montoya’s lawyers had the foresight to give him an out clause. Franchitti deserved to be treated better than he was and should have had the chance to prove himself on performance rather than the ineptitude of an overzealous team owner.


Rob’s Take:

Does Rahal really believe that taking a 3500 lb car and driving it at the speeds that the Sprint Cup drivers do, takes less skill than that of an F1 Driver? I find that reasoning absurd, but that’s not what this debate is really about. Dario Franchitti walked into his deal with Ganassi’s team thinking he could match Montoya’s ability. Then there’s the question about Montoya’s ability. He’s not the most popular driver in the garage. Just ask Kyle Busch or Kevin Harvick. Beyond that, Montoya hasn’t proven that he can make it as anything other than an average in Sprint Cup as the statistics will show.

Is there an inherent problem in the Ganassi camp? Obviously there is, but has Penske done much better, obviously not.

I will be the first to say that I am an Allmendinger and Scott Speed fan. But they are young and they are adaptable. That is what is key here, not their star power. Dietrich Mateschitz owed Scott Speed a make good after putting him in a Formula One team that was doomed to fail, take a look at the travails of four-time Champ Car titlist Sebastian Bourdais this season. The question that has to be answered isn’t about Ganassi as much as it is about the manufacturers. What are the manufacturers really willing to do to ensure the success of their teams? Dodge apparently hasn’t done much, Kasey Kahne can’t carry the Dodge torch forever, but Toyota has without question shared the wealth of information. Let’s not forget the horsepower that Toyota is producing right now, I know Dodge is close to releasing their new engine package, but until then can these driver afford that?

Franchitti started off the season in the top 35 in owner’s points and steadily declined those points to where he rests now, at 41st. why would a team owner continue subsidizing an effort that is with question going backwards? Despite the argument that these drivers have taken up seats that could feed the sport with new blood, most of them have shown promise and are driving with sponsors. Franchitti attracted no sponsors and that has to be a poor reflection on his ability not his star power. Sponsors want results. He did not deliver.

You need to stand out in this sport and there are a couple of ways of doing that. One is the Kyle Busch approach, winning races and the other is to be somewhat of a character. Well I guess Kyle has the best of both worlds. Let’s take Michael Waltrip (NAPA) and Kenny Wallace (Jegs) for example, these guys are both very outgoing and outspoken, keeping them and their sponsors in the spotlight.

When the name Montoya is invoked, it conjures up images of crashing, brash moves and an inability to play well with others. That is not how you get ahead in NASCAR. Whether or not he has an out clause in his contract is a moot point given that he really has no place to go. Certainly it can’t be Childress, who is eyeing other drivers who fit the General Mills sponsorship role better than he. Could it be Joe Gibbs racing? Why would they go for Montoya when they obviously have a superstar in Joey Logano? He wouldn’t make the move to Penske if Ryan Newman leaves at that would be almost a lateral move.

He has no place to land; therefore, the only option available for Montoya is for Ganassi to up his Cup game. Will he do it? He seems to be making every effort to do just that with moving around critical personnel who can create that magic we call chemistry. Montoya has openly said that his team can make it happen for Ganassi. Franchitti did not deliver the results, the sponsorship, or the leadership that is required of a team that has the potential of Ganassi.

Sprint Cup racing is a performance based business and is not a second rate series that can afford to support those who can’t make the grade. Formula One is fast, exciting and glamorous, but it can’t be said that the drivers in Sprint Cup today couldn’t get the job done. They would need a Ferrari or McLaren to do it though. In Sprint cup, at least there are multiple teams with a chance of winning.

The demise of Dario Franchitti is that he just didn’t want it bad enough, not that his team didn’t want him. But it will be a shame to not see Ashley Judd, Franchitti’s wife, in the pits, running through a rainstorm as if she were starring in one of her films we’ve all learned to enjoy. Not to mention the sundress, oh that sundress.

Mr. Judd, you will be missed.