Stewart may be ready to revive Haas team, but is he willing?

Tony Stewart faces a major rebuilding job with a team that doesn't have a driver among the top 35 in points this season. AP

A few years ago I flew with Tony Stewart from Martinsville, Va., to Eldora Speedway, a tiny dirt track he owns in Rossburg, Ohio. Once we strolled through the main entrance at Eldora, where there was going to be a sprint car race later that evening, Stewart went to work. He changed light bulbs. He checked supplies. He inspected the catch-fence. He examined the quality of the dirt on the track. He noted where fresh paint needed to be added. And, of course, he greeted fans, shaking hands and even kissing a few babies.

That night in Ohio, Stewart was in charge, in total command of every facet of his facility. Stewart has always done things his own way -- those in his inner-circle live on "Tony time," which is the phrase they use to describe both his habitual tardiness and his penchant for doing things at the spur of the moment like flying across several states to attend a race -- and this is why his announcement this week that he's leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to become part owner of Stewart-Haas Racing isn't surprising. Stewart already owns open-wheel teams, tracks and a PR firm, so this moves seems like a natural step for him. It's also a lucrative one, as Stewart will reportedly become the highest-paid driver in NASCAR next season.

So will he succeed in transforming Haas Racing, which currently doesn't have a car in the top 35 in points and whose owner, Gene Haas, is in the midst of serving a two-year prison sentence for tax evasion? Well, it certainly won't happen overnight. This season the Sprint Cup series has been dominated by the three powerhouse teams in the sport -- Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Roush Fenway Racing -- and Stewart-Haas simply won't have the resources that these racing giants possess. Plus, Stewart will have a new crew chief, because Greg Zipadelli, who's been atop Stewart's pit box for every race of Stewart's 10-year Cup career, is staying at Gibbs. No matter how successful a driver has been in the past, there's usually an adjustment period when he gets a new crew chief.

Still, Stewart sincerely believes that he and his yet-to-be-named second driver at Stewart-Haas (it'll likely be Ryan Newman) will be successful next season. "I feel like we have the variables to be competitive right away," Stewart says. "We know it's a rebuilding process and there will be an adjustment period. How long will the adjustment period take? We don't know. As long as we're making forward progress, I think you have to take it a week at a time ... I can't guarantee I'm [going to succeed], but if we don't, we're going to go down swinging."

Nearly everyone I've talked in the sport over the past few days expects Stewart to run in the back-of-the pack for a good portion of 2009. Yes, Stewart-Haas will receive engines and chassis from Hendrick Motorsports, just like Haas has this year, but there's going to be a massive turnover of personnel. Once the housecleaning is done, Stewart-Haas will resemble be a start-up organization next season -- albeit, one whose major players will have plenty of experience in the sport -- and start-ups rarely flourish in the Cup series. Remember the three Toyota-backed startups last year? None of them finished in the top-30 in points.

Stewart is currently riding a 32-race winless streak, which is another reason why I think he chose to leave JGR, the most impressive team in NASCAR this season. The 37-year-old Stewart, who's 12th in the standings, is no longer the lead driver at JGR. In fact, you could argue that he's not even the second driver in the food chain at Gibbs, that he's fallen behind Kyle Busch (currently first in the points standings) and Denny Hamlin (seventh). Stewart has always hated to get beat, but he really hates to get beat by his teammates.

"Tony likes to be backed up against the wall and that's when he usually does his best," Zipadelli says. " I think he'll do a fine job."

He likely will, but it's going to take time, maybe even several years. The question is: Does Stewart have the patience to build a Cup team, brick by painstaking brick, into a winner? Stay tuned.