So Much for the Stewart Indy Announcement
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.” -Robert Burns
“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men… an Tony Stewart.” - The Half-Vast Staff™ of Full Throttle.
Tony Stewart by most reports was to make his announced purchase of Haas Racing at his “home track” of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this month when the NASCAR Circus rolls into town.
I guess the rumors are getting too hot and heavy, not to mention too close to the truth, and all indications are the first part of the intrigue will occur today. Stewart is expected to be released from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season, freeing the two-time NASCAR champion to purchase his own race team.
Mike Arning, a spokesman for Stewart, said an announcement concerning Stewart’s future would be made Wednesday. ESPN.com reported late Tuesday night he would be released from his contract.
“We’re just going to look at everything out there,” Stewart said in April in announcing he’d test the market. “A wise person once told me it doesn’t cost a dime to listen, so right now we’re all ears.”
And the ears apparently listened, and the dime has turned into I guess, somewhere in the general vicinity of 50-75 million dollars for the purchase of Haas Racing.
The remaining intrigue, who his second driver is and who, if anyone will be a financial partner I suspect will be held close to the vest until the Indy date.
For the record, the Half-Vast Staff™ are sticking by our original story until proven wrong. We were laughed at, and many metaphorical brickbats tossed our way in mid-April when first noting the initial rumor. (see page ten)
Who’s laughing now?
UPDATE: (WARNING: excessive self-generated horn tooting to follow!)
When Gene Haas plead guilty to defrauding the government last August the question was asked, “When does the Haas Fire Sale Start.”
When Haas was sentenced in November to two years in the Big House it was predicted the previously noted fire sale would be complete by mid-July this year.
As Maxwell Smart would say…. “missed by this much”, or about 5-6 days.
Technorati Tags: Tony Stewart, Haas Racing, NASCAR, Sprint Cup
Seems like 50-75 mil is a lot of cash considering how quickly a team’s value can dwindle to zero…
First of all a teams worth would never slip to zero, and secondly, the wind tunnel at Haas, a one of a kind in N. America, is worth at minimum 50 million alone and I’ve a couple estimates as high as 75 mil.
Tony’s going to be a lame duck the rest of this year and, thus, assured of not getting the best equipment Gibbs has to offer. It’s going to be harder for him to win than it’s already been.
And when he gets to Haas he and Newman are going to have to get used to 25th-place finishes, even with Hendrick engines. Hendrick doesn’t lease out its best engines, after all.
And then we’ll see how long Office Depot and Old Spice stick around. Office Depot’s stock, BTW, lost a third of its value on Tuesday. They might not stick around very long at all. And Chevrolet, Tony’s favorite manufacturer, has decided not to renew any of its track sponsorships when they expire as GM’s stock hits 55-year lows.
And I thought was the consummate pessimist?!
The newly formed and regenerated Smoke owned Haas racing team will get the same, or as close as possible engines from Hendricks as his own team runs with.
It’s a far different matter when selling/leasing something to Haas than it is to one of the largest stars in the sport. Haas may have been accepting of that type of arrangement, assuming it’s true, than Stewart will be. If he feels at some point the engines supplied aren’t up to standards he’ll dump Hendrick in a hot second.
As far as GM, they aren’t going anywhere, NASCAR and to a certain extent the NHRA are their primary means to push the youth, and or performance side of their products.
Same for Office Depot. If they had the slightest thoughts of leaving the sport now is their most opportune time to do it. Instead of leaving they are signing with another team. That action speaks much louder than any stock market BS.
The sky is falling!!!
Let it fall. I have an industrial strength umbrella.
I think Gene Haas is thisclose to being a billionaire. I think he wanted the race team to be top tier. I think he would have given Tony half of the team if he thought that would have turned the team around. Gene Haas loves Nascar. Haas Automation receives a lot of advertising thru the race team also.
Susan being that close to being a billionaire and as you claim would have given half his team to Stewart to make it a top tier team it raises a single question:
Why didn’t he then? Why is Stewart “forced” into lay out big bucks instead of accepting a “gift?”
Of course your implication is by selling half, or more of the team, Haas doesn’t believe Stewart can make it a first class team. An absurd assertion, at best.