Thursday, July 24, 2008
Stewart leaving JGR
Tony Stewart announced he is leaving Gibbs racing to become an owner/driver in 2009. He is joining Haas/CNC which will now be Stewart-Haas. I think this is a big mistake. It has already been proven that owner/drivers can’t really make it in NASCAR today. A few drivers who come to mind are, Ricky Rudd and Michael Waltrip. I also remember Dave Marcus had to hang it up. Some people may argue the fact that they are not as talented a driver as Tony Stewart, but driving is a full time job and owning a race team is a full time job; albeit Stewart is going to be half owner. If it were so easy to do both, why haven’t more drivers tried to do it? Tony Stewart is my wife’s favorite driver but I do not really care for him so I have mixed feelings about the whole deal. I guess we’ll see if it works in 2009.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I think this is Tony's way of trying to stay in NASCAR after he quits driving. I am not sure that in recent years there has been someone with the 'star power' of Tony Stewart becoming a driver/owner.
@ Scott: I agree somewhat. But why put your racing career in potential jeopardy for something that may not occur for another 10, 20 years. And “star power” does not equate skilled racing. Don’t mean to sound nasty but you have to have ability as well as star power. Tiger Woods probably has the most star power one could ever have but what would happen if he tried to be a golfer, his own caddy, his own manager and his own agent. OK, he will still be the best golfer ever seen but you get my point. His performance would suffer.
"Star power" does not equate skilled racing but skilled racing is the only thing that equates "star power". And didn't Dave Marcus have to hang it up because he was 93 years old?
Maybe he was too old to race, but he also could not afford to race and own his own team. But you gotta love a guy who raced wearing wing tip shoes. LOL
I think my 'start power' comment was a bit misunderstood (albeit my own fault for not being clear).
I think the reasons why some of the ohter driver/owner teams failed was fromlack of money. We all know that most, if not all, of a team's money comes from sponsors. I think that Tony Stewart's 'star power' will make it more likely to get big sponsors than some other driver/owners.
@Scott Point taken. But I still think there is too much pressure in NASCAR these days for one person to hold the role of owner and driver at the same time. Maybe he can do it or maybe he can't. I just know that I would never put myself in that position after seeing so many before me fail.
As an owner, all he has to do is put up the money. If he gets the right people to run the team and he just concentrates on driving, it can work. If he gets involved in the day to day running of the team, then that will distract from his driving.
I highly doubt he will just put up money and drive without knowing the day to day goings on. I know I wouldn't..no matter who I hire.
Post a Comment