What is it going to take for Joe Gibbs to finally realize that Smoke no longer wants to be a part of JGR? He has already made it plain and clear that he wants out of the last year of his contract. He has already entertained the idea that he wants more then just a driving role for the rest of his Nascar career. He has already done his homework and has gone as far to secure a sponsor for his cup team next year. All that is standing in the gap is to make a deal with Haas/CNC racing which I wrote about a week ago.
And of course the biggest hurdle is none other then Joe Gibbs himself. Before anything can happen that would make Smoke happy and see him part owner of his own cup team. Is for Joe Gibbs to release Stewart from the final year of his contract. It seems that J.D. Gibbs is trying to negotiate a deal that would keep Stewart around beyond his 2009 departure date. They are already looking into 2010. J.D. went as far as to say that they would expand to a 4 car race team to make room for Joey Logano who is expected to make his cup debut as soon as next year.
Chevrolet who fields the cars for Stewarts sprint car teams as well as Haas/CNC are the primary players in the deal trying to bring Stewart back full time to the manufacturer. They have yet to contact JGR as far as a buy out is concerned. Old ####e is also interested in staying with Stewart since there sponsorship deal ends at the end of the season with JGR. It’s looking more and more like Ryan Newman could be Smoke’s teammate driving the Old ####e racing machine. Penske racing has been having there share of performance problems which could see Newman looking for another ride. He has already stated that if the level of performance doesn’t improve. Then he will not re-sign with Penske.
None of this can happen unless JGR lets Smoke out of the last year of his contract. Since they hold all the cards. Joe Custer has also said that it would not be to appealing to have Stewart as a co-owner while still driving for JGR since they are racing for different manufacturers. That is the one obstacle that is keeping Joe Custer from finalizing any deal with Stewart. So until JGR decides to release Stewart from his contract. Or keep him until the end of the 2009 season. Either way Stewart’s destiny for now lies in the hands of the man who gave Stewart his first chance to drive in the Nascar series. Does Smoke look back to that first hand shake that brought him from the IRL series to Nascar in 1999? Or does he continue to pursue his dream of some day owning his own cup team and put all of that behind him and move on with his career? Only Smoke has the answers. Im Out
Hard to say what is going on behind closed doors. I would think long and hard about fielding and owning a race team in NASCAR CUP. Look at past history on owner/ drivers. Could be an expensive struggle.
Joe and SMoke are friends. They will do what is best for both. I dont see Joe keeping an unhappy Smoke. Joe just wants to make sure he has a third team with a great driver. He already has made his mind up on Tony.. They are just not letting the cat out the bag till they are ready. Unlike Hendrick, secrets can be kept at Gibbs..
I wish I had the scoop on this...sounds like many in teh garages believe Tony will buy HAAS. Newman told his crew he would decide by July if he was staying or going...thats now. I wouldnt think Ryan would drive for Tony though. I would think Martin Truex would be more likely. Only time will tell!
My guess on this is that if JGR knew they were set for sponsorship of the #20 car in 2009, they would let Smoke "buy out" of his final year.
The kicker could be that Stewart leaving could trigger Home Depot to legally pull-out of it's agreement with JGR and negotiate with other teams. Gibbs would then be on the spot for a $20m replacement.
Remember also, even though it hasn't been talked about much in the press - Gibbs is looking to go to a 4 car operation in the near future. They have to be evaluating the infrastructure cost to expand and continue their existing revenue streams.
"...Or does he continue to pursue his dream of some day owning his own cup team..."
This is what cracks me up. Until a couple of months ago when Tony was "surprised" by the offers out there, he had no intention or desire to have the responsibility of a Cup team. If he thinks he has headaches and stomach queasyness now, wait till he's an owner. Maybe he should ask Chip.
I just think that Tony would be foolish to leave JGR. This is currently the elite organization and it will only improve. It's hard to believe that JGR will not make him a great offer- maybe half ownership of the 20 team. Something like that should be good enough for now.
The yoyos are making Smoke sick man. Smoke looked sick as a dog on Saturday...I saw his eyes beginning to slant a little. lol The yaps are making Smokes head go yoyo...only 2 more weeks until Indy and that Chevy announcement. Hopefully Smoke can hang until then...
I believe there will be an announcement on e way or another at Indy in a few weeks. With the economy, it's a tough call and even tougher as Smoke will want to be competative right away. He will have to have the right people in place if he goes the Haas route, and even with Hendrick power behind him, he still will need an excellent group around him. I do think though that if he goes, Home Depot will want out and will go with him along with Office Depot, but the kicker is that Office Depot said they have agreed to be a sponsor for one of his cars when his contract is up, but that can be bought which is the rumor that GM will buy out the last year. Old ####e I see moving to the Cup side, but still at the level they are in Nationwide with sponsoring some of his races, but not a full season. A few weeks should tell the story and we may hear something from Ryan or Martin at the same time I think
I just read the Rumors article about the big 3 automakers pulling sponsorship next year. Wouldn't Tony be risking alot of money to run his own team, I feel other sponsors are going to drop out, and if another company buys Budwieser, that one could go also. Tony needs sponsors to run a Team, good luck but I sure would not want that pressure, would you ????
i still think tony will remain at gibbs.also how many other teams that use the socalled super hms power has done any winning?tony will get more than a promise from joe gibbs with help in starting his own team when his driving days are over.joe gibbs needs tony to help in bringing joey l up to speed in cup.just look what tony has donr for "wild fire"he turned him into the best there ever was,the best there ever will be.
Joe sealed his fate with Tony when they switched to Toyota. You knew he wasnt going to stick around. Dennys contract is ending soon as well. It will be interesting to see what goes on there. As for Newman...I agree with klvaus. Tony has had many past problems with Newman. I'dlike to see him and Martin drive together. I think they would do great together.
Why cant Smoke and his fans see that he is with the best there is right now. Toyota has more money then Chevy, it's one thing to be loyal to a manufacture, but he has to be loyal to himself and his pocket book first. Stay with JGR Smoke. It's your house whether your names on it or not. !!!
NASCAR is rotten and no good, remember. Why would you want to start a business relationship (team owner) with them? Whatever Tony wants to do he should begin in 2010. The right thing to do is honor the contract he signed. 12 months is not long to wait. He has million$. So its not about financial security. Racing(driving) is what he loves. This ownership thing just doesn't seem like a good fit. But everyone is free to go after thier ambitions. So if thats what happens I will wish for success for Tony.
What would be a benefit for all, Gibbs sells 25-40% of JGR to Smoke and allows him to own the fourth car driving by Joey, use the money Smoke uses to buy in to JGR to buy-out Toyota and return to GM which with sales falling would love to have that "dream team" driving Chevy again, extend Smokes contract until 2012 with more options then.
If Home Depot looks for a legal out of thier sponsorship of JGR, they will not look to negotiate with ANY team. Home Depot is so far in the red on the economic market, they just dont have the money to sponsor a car for a season anymore. With the housing industry hurting the way it is the Home Depot hasnt turned a profit for about 2 years now. Not only will Stewart be gone from the 20 in 2009, but dont look for the 20 car to be big orange either. Home Depot is out and more then likely out of the sport.
Another idea, would be for Smoke to take advantage of this idea and drag it out until 2010:
Teresa Earnhardt Looking to sell DEI?
Sirius NASCAR Radio’s Sirius Speedway is reporting today that Teresa Earnhardt has enlisted the services of Bear, Stearns and Company to find a buyer - or at least a major financial investor - for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Bear Stearns is an investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm based in New York City, and has been charged with finding a buyer for the entire operation. Barring that, Earnhardt is said to be interested in selling at least a minority interest in the team. DEI President of Global Operations Max Siegel declined to comment on the story when contacted earlier today.
DEI has or had a reputation, maybe Dale Jr and Harvick will join him in time.
kevdog man I hear you but Smoke doesnt want to drive them yoyos anymore! Hes not flying to Japan for promotional trips and he doesnt like sushi! Hes a good ol American boy and he is going home to Chevy dude.
Tony has not officially asked out of his last contract year.After today's news concerning GM pulling some of its racing support I would expect any money they do have to put in to NASCAR will go to Hendrick and Childress.GM will want to make sure that they get maximum #### for the buck since their isn't many dollars to go around.I don't think Tony and a new team fit that bill.Home Depot would probably like to get out of sponsoring anyone, they are already being forced to close stores because of the building lag.GM stockholders that are bleeding dollars ARE NOT going to want their investment spent on racing, with institutional investors it's " show me the money" I would not be surprised to see Toyota make offers to any decent team that goes belly up.Their sales are down here also, but not worldwide.They could lose a billion dollars and not even miss it.
Smoke 4 20 that is a nice sentimental thought but there is not enough money in NASCAR to to get JGR away from Toyota.Toyota may get pissed and consider a hostile takeover of GM like INBEV is doing with Anheiser/Busch.At their current value of $6 billion they would be at a bargain basement price.
Photo- I agree with you. But I think that Smoke will take a low key position kind of like how Jeff is running JJ's team. Its hard to say what is really going on in Smoke's head. But I don't see him hanging around with the Toyota's anymore.
Toyota should have never been allowed to enter Nascar. Japan is still getting even for the bomb....they own more land in our country (America) then in thier own country, they are doing a hostile takeover and people are just sitting back and taking it !! Go Chevy and Tony do what\s right.
Noahspop- You are so right. Look what happened last year when they signed Kyle. The first thing out if his mouth was that JGR was going to movce to Toyota.
Kristen- What else did you hear? Or did you and Lori already have a private discussion. LOL I would like to see Newman and Smoke team up together. But who knows. Newman did run strong on saturday dispite his bad luck.
Moseby- Home Depot is already in serious trouble. They have laid off over 100,000 employees and have closed more than a dozen stores nationwide. A really good friend of mine is one of there regional managers and he is looking for another job. Home Depot is loosing a lot of money. I think thats one of the reasons that Smoke had already started looking for another sponsor.
annette43004 sorry, but people today with minds stuck in the past are why we are still in a war situation, that was 60 years ago, the people running Toyota today were not even born or young children whe "the bomb" was dropped, todays minds should stop thinking of the problems we had in the past and think about uniting together in peace.
Let me quote: "Those that do not learn from history are doomed to relive it" Learn from thier mistakes and stop trying to carry them on.
Papajoe- Smoke has to look out for Smoke. He can't always be the go to guy to bring up the younger talent. He is having his struggles this year. Besides thats Gibbs job not Tony's.
bc20- There comes a time in every racers life that they have to start looking at the future. Smoke has already proven that he can run a business. Maybe not at this level. But with the help of Joe Custer and also Rick Hendrick. The reason I say Rick is because I dont see him just helping him out in just the engine department. Rick is a very smart business man. And Im sure he will help them to get to victory lane in every way that he can.
annette- I agree with Smoke 4 20 and Im sure a lot of the members in here also feel the same way. Whats wrong with Toyota giving Chevy a run for there money. Besides Toyota is putting a lot of money into our sport. They just bought the rights to sponsor our short track over here.
They are also willing to put up another 6,000 seats so that we can finally get the Craftsman Truck Series over here.
Kevdog- I thought the same thing. Why would he leave a team like Toyota? But that same question was asked of Joe Gibbs. Why would he leave Chevy for a manufacturer that hadn't even proven themselves. Just like Joe seen something in Toyota. Im sure Smoke also has the same faith in Chevy.
Smoke 4 20,68% of ToyotaUSA owned by GMC? What have you been smoking? I bet GMC wishes they owned even 1/2 of 1% of Toyota.Sad to inform you that they own no part of Toyota.Toyota did recently by the part of Subaru that GM owned.That is why Camry's are being built in Indiana at the subaru plant.Toyota produces the Pontiac Vibe at the NUMMI joint venture plant in Fremont, Cal.It is a rebadged Toyota Matrix.
hiraqanna- How much more does it take to know that he wants out? He already gave his word to Office Depot that if Joe Custer will take him as a partner and Chevy buys out the last year of his contract he is gone. Why else would he be shopping sponsors and entertaining the idea of owning his own team? Sure its already clear that Home Depot probably won't be with him next year no matter what happens. Tony has made it clear that he wants out.
frevr3fan,It is not an issue of whether a manufacturer wants to pull a sponsorship or not.Legally any publicly traded companies first obligation is to give investors a profit on their investment.To give you an example.Oil prices being as they are, through the roof you would think that Exxon would be looking for and pumping all the oil they can.Since the stockholders return is all important,in March the CEO announced at the stockholders annual meeting that Exxon 2would not be pumping any more oil than they did in 2007 through 2012 in order to maximize profit and shareholder equity.Corporations can be held responsible for mis- management of investor funds.The company I am retired from is looking at a class action lawsuit for failing to give stockholders adequite notice of clinical trial result resulting in their loss of money.It is estimated that all manufacturers combined spend about 500 million a year on NASCAR and none of the manufacturers receive that kind of benefit from NASCAR exposure.Chrysler is so close to going belly up.It is projected that by the second half of 2009 they will be broken up and sold.It is a sad situation.
frevr3fan,I am not arguing the fact that he wants to go.I am just trying to point out that the game has really taken a turn for the worst.I did not know that he had said that if Custer wanted him and Chevy bought out his contract he would go.Evidently he has a sizeable contract or he would buy it himself, but that would take away alot of money to buy in to HAAS/CNC.Any thing he does is going to be tough and the fact will remain that Toyota has so much money it will be hard to compete.Remember when Rousch said the price of racing would go up, it has. Last year Hendrick was the rich kid on the block , now they are all battling the 8th largest company on earth.The 800 pound #### is here.
hirqanna- Very good points. Especially on where our economy is headed. I wrote a post about it a couple of days ago. Its probably on the second page by now. Its to bad that like you say. Its the stockholders who are feeling the brunt of it. You are right about Toyota being the king of the block.
As far as the Smoke issue. I still can't understand why he would want out of guaranteed contract. That is money in the bank. If he does go to CNC/Haas. He will have to basically fend for himself. When does he realize that maybe. Just maybe a name doesn't mean anything anymore? Thats why when Jr decided to sign with HMS. That was the best and most smartest move that he could have ever made. Look where DEI is now? Im not saying that if Jr would have stayed there that they would be in a lot better shape. But just like his dad did when he signed at RCR. he drove for RCR but yet bought his own team. In this day and age. You need that guaranteed money. Thanks for the comments. Here is the link. http://community.foxsports.com/blog s/frevr3fan/2008/07/04/Where_are_we _Headed
Picture this:....it seems to be a manufactures game now, who is the loser now??? duh FORD, dropped 27.9% in June alone, selling $30,000 vehicles for 22-23,000.00.... so they need the teams.... Hendricks swithing to FORD, makes me laugh,(not happening but still so funneh) Jeff driving a FORD?, but he is a loser anyway, prior to last year he had to "bump and pass" to win a race, last year, he was on a pride attitude, this year, with the "balck flag" rule he is nothing, he cannot cheat, cannot drive, soon he will rank with his twin Robbie Gordon (hurts to type his name) spending money he does not have. heehee **hold I have to laugh more***
Smoke- It always has been a manufacturers game. I think that Nascar is going to have to go back to letting the teams run a 5 or 6 car operation. Especially with the money that Toyota has to throw around. For these teams to be able to compete they are going to have to get together and try to help one another out. Im not saying to give up all of your trade secrets. But at least give a little info to keep the manufacturers alive.
frevr3fan,I read your very inspirational article on Wessa.Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help someone far less fortunate than me.I have a friend whose daughter has the same condition and I know what a hard life it has been for him and his wife.I believe that sometimes out of tragic circumstances the reasons behind it all may not always be evident.In this case Wessa turned her tragic life in to a victory in another persons life,Dale Sr.and he helped her gain a victory in hers and hopefully at that moment she realized her true purpose here on earth,INSPIRATION!!!!!!
hiraqanna-Thanks. One of the things that I really like about blogging her is the hearts of the members. Even though we may not see eye to eye on a lot of things. But at least we have respect for each other and each others opinions.
We can discuss our sport and still walk away friends. A good friend of mine in here asked me if I could write that post. It was a hard one to write even though I have never met anyone of them. Anyways hope to see you around. Thanks again.
Still racing current!!!Recently, On the hot millionaire singles club*****+k iss mi l l ionaires.com +*****, I have some great experiences with hot girls sthere. Amazingly, I seemed to see some famous player had a personal account there with recent photos. It was reported on MSN Charlie Sheen has found his girl there last May.
Still racing current!!!Recently, On the hot millionaire singles club*****+k iss mi l l ionaires.com +*****, I have some great experiences with hot girls sthere. Amazingly, I seemed to see some famous player had a personal account there with recent photos. It was reported on MSN Charlie Sheen has found his girl there last May.
I REALLLY DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY SMOKE WOULD WANT TO LEAVE GIBBS NOW WHEN SPONSORS ARE PULLING OUT AND EVERYTHING INCLUDING THE ATTENDANCE AT RACING IS FALLING APART. STAY WITH GIBBS AND RIDE OUT YOUR CONTRACT, A MOVE IS NOT A SMART THING AT THIS TIME. YOU KNOW WHAT OLD SAYING "GO HOME WITH THE ONE THAT BROUGHT YOU" IN OTHER WORDS STAY WITH GIBBS THEY HAVE BEEN GOOD TO YOU THROUGH YOUR UP AND DOWNS SO DON'T LET THEM AND YOUR FANS DOWN NOW
first off,after "wild thing"tony is my favorite driver,in my opinion he needs to stay with gibbs,if no other reason because he has agreed to to drive thru 2009.i will say this,i don't care who the driver is,wheather it be tony,kyle busch,or who ever.it is time drivers lived up to thier word.also if a team hires a driver for say 3 years,they to should keep thier word and live up the contrack.my word has always been my bond,even when sometimes it cost me.
Wow, 3fan - Over 100,000 people laid off? Is that correct? Man, looks like Bob Nardelli really had Wall Street snowed under by his image.
Still, I wouldn't automatically assume Home Depot pulls out of NASCAR. This type of sponsorship is now considered a regular cost of business to Fortune 500 companies. At the very least I would see them playing at an associate role.
I am a Nascar fan from Cali hoping to bring a diffrerent perspective to Nascar. And if not. At least I tried. I also love football, baseball, golf and basketball. I try to attend as many races a year as I can. Ive been to Kansas,Infine on,Phoenix,Ve gas,Californi a just to name a few. Ive been a fan going on about 20+ years. There is nothing like short track racing at Irwindale on saturday nights. Also love to watch and attend drag races. Of course John Force is my favorite driver. Im also a fan of Tony Schumacher. Maybe someday to be able to write about Nascar.
