Stewart in talks to leave Gibbs (cont.)

After winning three Cup titles in the 1980s with Junior Johnson -- one of the top teams in the sport at the time -- Waltrip made what was a curious decision in '86 to team up with then-fledgling Hendrick Motorsports for '87 and beyond. At the time, Hendrick was regarded as a team owner who wasn't capable of winning a title; he was still new to the sport and learning the ropes, although his driver, Geoff Bodine, had captured the Daytona 500 that season. But Waltrip was attracted to Hendrick's business savvy, recognizing his ability to build a program from the ground up. The two agreed Hendrick would help give Waltrip the tools necessary for Waltrip to have his own program someday. After four years of driving the No. 17 Tide Chevrolet -- winning the Daytona 500 himself in '89 -- that's exactly what happened. With Hendrick's support and sponsorship from Western Auto, Waltrip left the organization and formed his own team in '91.

Waltrip was 39 when he made his career change; Stewart turns 37 in May, but some of the same principles apply. Like Waltrip, Stewart has the long-elusive goal of winning the Daytona 500. With Hendrick support, he'd still have the tools needed down the road to pull that off. And while the success of new teammate Kyle Busch has taken some of the limelight off Stewart, it has nothing to do with the move; he's been comfortably in contention to win a few races already, leading more than 280 laps on the year and happy with the No. 20's progress.

As one source told me, it's not that Stewart's unhappy or that there's internal dissension; it's that he's in need of a new challenge. Gibbs and Stewart will be friends for life, but they've been together for a decade, and some type of change is in order. Hendrick's organization also has proven to be one of the best organized, from top to bottom. With inside access to the team through their relationship with Haas CNC, Stewart can acquire the tools he needs to build a program as he sees fit.

Also, being part-owner of his own program gives Stewart the freedom to pursue other interests, such as trying to go back and win the Indianapolis 500 after the unification of the CART-IRL split. A former IRL regular, Stewart fell short in five Indy attempts to date, with a best finish of 5th in '97. Running with Gibbs has kept Stewart from attempting the double since '01, but as part-owner, Stewart would have the freedom to do whatever he wants.

There's no word on whether Home Depot or crew chief Greg Zipadelli will follow Stewart to his new venture; decisions on those moves will surely come within the next few months. For the time being, though, Stewart will focus on winning a third title with the Gibbs program, which currently has all three of its cars ranked in the top 7 in the point standings. Winless so far this season, Stewart is still a viable title threat; and with five top 10s in eight starts, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.

But come next season, it looks increasingly like he'll be getting up to speed with another program, and one of NASCAR's longest driver/team relationships will come to an end.