It will be Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009

I'm going to have to add anger management counseling to my weekly reginmen. I've always seen Tony Stewart as an honest man, and that steadfast image was shot down when it was confirmed that he will leave Joe Gibbs Racing after this year to be co-owner and driver of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Back in 2004, Stewart announced that he would retire from NASCAR after what is now his current contract. He lied. He said he had other things he wanted to do in his life that didn't involve NASCAR, and now it seems that he has given up on his dreams and will stay with NASCAR until he is an old man. He will probably die a bachelor, as we know that NASCAR and a wife can not exist simultaneously in Stewart's life.

The only satisfaction that we can find in this news is that, although Marty Smith took the credit for breaking the news, it was actually Lee Spencer who did so, so we won't have to apologize to Smith or David Newton or Tom Bowles.

I'm not worried about my credibility, because at Rev' Jim's RantsnRaves, we have always made sure that the reader knows that what is written here is strictly opinion and observation, and is not meant to be factual news. However, it would have been nice if Stewart had stuck to his word, and maybe we would have had some credibility here with which to work. But that would have changed the tone of this blog, and I don't know if that can be done.

Anyway, we can't expect any wins from Stewart-Haas next year, unless maybe they stay out on a gamble and it rains while their car in the lead. It isn't that Stewart or Newman aren't that good as drivers, they are, but without equipment, they will be back-markers, and until the time that is needed to build a winning team has passed, that is the only kind of equipment they will get. But that is only my opinion, and we all know now what my opinion is worth.

First of all, Stewart will need a crew chief with whom he can communicate. This is not to say Bootie Barker isn't a good crew chief, because he has proven himself on several occasions to be one of the best. But how would he get along with Stewart. As long as he was with Gibbs, Stewart had Greg "Zippy" Zippadelli to keep him focused, and to try to keep his temper in check. Since Barker has quite a temper himself, we could only imagine the following radio chatter between Smoke and Bootie:

Smoke: $%&*!
Bootie: $%#! @#$% &*#@ !!!
Smoke: I'm gonna get him
Bootie: Get the #$%@&*@&%#, we can't win now anyway. Make sure they can never drive that car again!
Smoke: $%&*@#*%$#@*&%@!!!!!

And so on. Perhaps sometime around 2011, Stewart-Haas could start negotiations with Hendrick for Chad Knaus. Perhaps they will dangle ownership of the other half of the team, and it could be Stewart-Knaus Racing. Wouldn't that be a dream team?

But we digress into the world of fantasy while in the denial stage of grief. Stewart may actually have to retire before he wins another race in NASCAR.