Dear Tony,

Haas CNC? Really, Smoke? Isn’t it a little late in the year to be playing April Fool’s pranks on all of us?

Oh, you’re serious here, aren’t you? You’re really going to leave Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 years? You’re going to drive for another team and have another crew chief other than Greg Zipadelli?

SAY IT AIN'T SO: Tony Stewart will leave Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 years for Stewart Haas Racing next season. (HHP/Rusty Burroughs Photo)

This letter is coming whole-heartedly from me the die-hard Tony Stewart fan, not me the journalist. If not for you and my following your early NASCAR Sprint Cup career almost obsessively as a teen, I may not be sitting here at NSSN writing you this letter. You sparked my interest in motorsports, and, for that, I have to thank you. I will always be a fan of yours, no matter what you race or for whom you drive.

But how can you leave Joe Gibbs Racing? You have helped build that team into the powerhouse that it is today, undoubtedly the strongest team in both Sprint Cup and Nationwide series competition. You’ve collected two championships and 32 wins in the No. 20 Home Depot ride, and JGR gave you the start in stock-car racing that elevated you to the superstar status you now enjoy.

And Zippy. I know you quipped at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet that the two of you aren’t married, but haven’t you said that you never wanted to work with another crew chief?

When all of this hullabaloo about you leaving Gibbs first came up earlier this season, I thought there were any number of reasons for it. One, I thought that maybe you wanted some leeway in your next contract with Gibbs so that you’d have an even greater free rein to race in extracurricular events, such as in sprint cars and dirt late models. Then I thought maybe you just wanted more money. After all, footing the bill for two World of Outlaws teams, multiple USAC cars and three race tracks has to be pricey. Maybe you were spreading yourself a little thin financially, right?

Finally, I convinced myself that it was an ego thing. On one hand, you could have seen the hype generated by Dale, Jr. last season, then Kyle Busch and even to a small extent Carl Edwards this season. Maybe you wanted to see just how coveted you really are and what hoops other car owners would jump through to get you in their cars. On the other hand, maybe it was the addition of Busch to the Gibbs stable this year and his emergence as not only the top dog at JGR but in the entire realm of NASCAR that touched off all of this nonsense. Perhaps you were playing the role of the needy child who makes noise and acts up only to get attention; you were doing all of this as a way of saying, “Look at me. Look at me.”

I can understand wanting to reunite with General Motors if that’s where your heart truly lies, and maybe you really wanted a new challenge. After all, what challenge can there really be when you’re sitting in one of the premier cars in the series near the top of the standings year after year?

But Haas CNC? Couldn’t you have picked some other Chevrolet group to team up with? Are you really going to be able to turn that team around into a race-winning organization? If you wanted a challenge, you’ve certainly got one on your plate now.

Personally, the only thing worse than this mess would be if the Rooney family decided to sell majority interest in the Pittsburgh Steelers to an outside source.

Wait, that’s happening, too?

Maybe the world really is coming to an end.

Tony, I wish you the best of luck in this new venture. I really hope that things work out for you and that you prove to all of us — the fans, the media and your competitors — that we were wrong for doubting you and saying what a crazy move this appears to be.

Sincerely,

Sheena E. Baker

July 3: Four's The Score

This week, we celebrate Independence Day — July 4. Sticking with the number four, I thought I’d round up some interesting race stats for this week’s blog:

• NHRA Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson has snagged four Wallys this season.

• There have been four NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Daytona since the driver who led the most laps went on to win the race.

• Four points separate fifth-place Jac Haudenschild and sixth-place Steve Kinser after 26 World of Outlaws Sprint Car events.

• Kevin Harvick, Inc. teammates Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Jack Sprague captured four-straight poles in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series earlier this season.

• Danica Patrick has four-straight top-10 finishes in IRL IndyCar competition.

• Justin Loft’s pole for the inaugural Cayuga ARCA RE/MAX 250 at Canada’s Cayuga Motor Speedway was the fourth for Eddie Sharp Racing this season.

• Bobby Labonte has led four laps this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

• “Kid Rocket” Josh Richards notched his fourth World of Outlaws Late Model triumph at Canandaigua Speedway June 24.

• The All Star Circuit of Champions was set to race seven nights during the Ohio Sprint Speedweek, but only four of the races beat out Mother Nature. Randy Hannagan beat Dale Blaney for the championship by four points.

• Ferrari’s Felipe Massa leads the Formula One World Championship standings by four points over BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica.

• Hot Rod Fuller’s 4.494 e.t. was good enough to beat David Grubnic at the Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at Pomona in February.

• Chip Ganassi Racing has gone to victory lane four times this season — including the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona — in the Grand Am Rolex Series.

• Rookie Joey Logano has four top-10 starts — including two poles — in four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts, giving the 18-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver an average starting spot of 4.5.

• World of Outlaws veteran Craig Dollansky has four victories in 2008 heading into tonight’s sprint-car race at Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota.