Stewart in a Chevy at Texas? and beyond? UPDATE: After more than a year of wrangling unsuccessfully with NASCAR over rules that he says have kept Pontiac teams at a disadvantage, #20 Joe Gibbs crew chief Greg Zipadelli says a switch to Chevrolet appears in the cards: “It is being built as we speak,” Zipadelli said. “You’ll see it in about four weeks.” That would appear to mean that Tony Stewart could be in a Monte Carlo for the April 7 race at Texas. The politics of the whole situation, Zipadelli said, was key. By switching to Chevrolet he said he and fellow crew chief Jimmy Makar wouldn’t feel such underdogs in negotiations with NASCAR, because they would then have Chevy heavyweights Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick on their side.(Winston Salem Journal)(3-2-2002) UPDATE: Pontiac race teams appear to be growing increasingly frustrated with what they consider to be a lack of regard for their rules concerns from NASCAR. Joe Gibbs Racing, for instance, has built a Chevrolet Monte Carlo which, for now at least, will be used only for purposes of evaluating it against the Pontiac Grand Prix models used by drivers [#18] Bobby Labonte and [#20] Tony Stewart. Since those cars are so similar, the GM official said, the Gibbs operation wanted to also have a Chevrolet in house so it could understand how the new Pontiac would compare to all possible competition. While a GM official said Saturday such a model change is not likely, there apparently have been discussions within the Gibbs operation about whether it should switch to Chevrolets in the future if it doesnt think Pontiac is getting a fair shake.(ThatsRacin.com)(3-3-2002) AND Yesterday, reports surfaced with Tony Stewart’s crew chief talking about adding a Chevrolet to the team’s arsenal. Asked about the comments, Jimmy Makar, crew chief for Bobby Labonte, said the team has built a Monte Carlo to take to the wind tunnel and compare with the Pontiacs driven by Stewart and Labonte. He added the team has no plans to race the car at this point. The problem isn’t a Gibbs issue with Pontiac. It’s a larger problem with the sanctioning body. Pontiac has only five teams competing full time in the series, compared with 15 Fords, 12 Chevys and 10 Dodges. When it comes time for crew chiefs to storm the NASCAR trailer and demand changes for their cars, the Pontiacs don’t have nearly as much leverage. So teams such as Joe Gibbs Racing want to see what separates the Pontiac from other makes before pushing their arguments further. It certainly isn’t a new practice to build other cars, but is it one that has more meaning within the Gibbs’ operation. Is he [Makar] considering running a car other than a Pontiac? Makar currently is developing the 2003 Pontiac. GM’s Terry Laise said the project is on track, and the car should be submitted well before NASCAR’s deadline. The question now is, who will be driving this new car? “We’re not going to race anything other than a Pontiac right now,” Makar said. “We’re just getting educated.”(Richmond Times Dispatch)(3-3-2002)
