Hang time

Stoddard mulls future after surprising split with Burton

The shock has waned, the coping is ongoing, and Frank Stoddard can chalk up yet another career experience -- he's now been around long enough to have been fired.

Most of us have lost a job at some point, either because of our own fault or one of those circumstances-beyond-our-control things. Left without a shop or track to race off to, Stoddard says he's been "filling up time" and doing things with his wife, Heidi.

"Catching up on some things around the house," he added. "Cleaning up a little bit. Cleaning the garage."

It's been three weeks since Jeff Burton decided to replace Stoddard as his crew chief, news that surprised most of NASCAR. It's probably the biggest driver-crew chief parting since Ray Evernham left Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff Gordon in 1999. Wearing street clothes last week at New Hampshire, Stoddard said he was surprised, too -- by his peers' expressions of support.

For those who don't know him, Stoddard's trademark Tasmanian Devil-like energy and blinders-on concentration can intimidate the unaware. One-on-one, he's genial, a fun conversationalist, but honest, too. Stoddard admits that garage social status has never been one of his priorities.

"One of my difficulties in life has been that as a racer, I've always been somebody that just worries about my car," he said. "So I have not done the things right by going around having the regular friendships in the garage."

Yet admirers and friends alike have sought him out for encouragement following the Sept. 3 announcement of his split with and Burton. Sitting in the Winston Cup garage last Sunday morning, Stoddard said he appreciates all the emotional salve.

"A lot of people have come up and said, 'Hey, man, I've listened to you,'" Stoddard said. "'You've been on the radio and I've learned a lot from you.' Comments like that really make you feel good."

Stoddard said he's used his unexpected time off to take mental inventory. Still paid by Roush Racing, he said that Jack Roush phoned him from Richmond two weeks ago and that Roush and company president Geoff Smith have been very supportive. In fact, Smith pitched some ideas about possible future roles while in New Hampshire.

"But ultimately I feel like I can be a Winston Cup crew chief," Stoddard said. "I think I call a good race on Sundays. I think I run a fairly good program, so obviously [other jobs are] right now not at the top of the list."

There are other options. Owner Bill Davis has expressed an interest, but apparently not as a replacement for Tommy Baldwin, Ward Burton's crew chief, who's mulling a new contract. Stoddard's wife, Heidi, is Ward's public relations representative, and the Stoddards are close to Davis and his wife, Gail.

They probably won't have to worry about long-term unemployment. If Stoddard doesn't land another Cup gig in the next few weeks, bet on him having one by next February. A good thing, too, since he and Heidi are new parents to four-month-old daughter, Alexis.

"I got Heidi working right now," Stoddard jokingly said on Sunday. "Somebody said actually it would be kind of funny, if we happened to get a divorce or something right now, I could actually get alimony from her."

He paused, grinned again and added, "No, I'm not thinking that."

Repairing what was once one of the garage's strongest relationships will be more difficult. Stoddard doesn't like how Burton handled their break-up. He says that Burton waited until he'd returned at 2 p.m. from a NASCAR meeting to mete out the news, and that his replacement, Paul Andrews, was already on-site because Burton had to go somewhere afterward. Stoddard wishes Burton had been more forthcoming about his unhappiness.

Stoddard said he'd called the Sept. 3 meeting to discuss chassis issues and ended up with a not-quite-pink-slip (he's gone from the No. 99, not the Roush payroll).

"It was tough the first couple days just because I sat there just going through my mind saying, 'God, I just can't imagine,'" Stoddard said. "Why wouldn't somebody come and say, 'Hey, you need to do this, you need to do that?'"

Burton has reiterated that letting Stoddard go is one of the most painful things he's ever done, and he still can't quite put a finger on what went wrong. I don't doubt for a second that the episode drained him. Burton is one of the sport's most introspective people, and the decision wasn't obvious. It's not as if he and Stoddard had mucked out 20th-place finishes for 4 1/2 seasons.

They'd combined for 14 wins, back-to-back fifth-place finishes in the Cup points standings during their first two seasons in 1998 and 1999, and a third-place finish in 2000. Last season, Burton dropped to 10th. Not being able to rebound this season -- they are the only Roush team without a win in 2002 and are 13th in the points -- apparently proved Stoddard's undoing.

When asked if he and Burton would reconcile, Stoddard said, "Oh, probably. I haven't spoken to him since. I called and left a message on his cell phone about a couple of things I had concerns with, just to make sure he was handling things in the correct way on my behalf. It would take a little bit of time. It was very unprofessional the way he handled it. And that's the bottom line."

Last week, the Stoddards just enjoyed being home. Heidi hails from Littleton, N.H., and her husband from North Haverhill. While Alexis bonded with grandparents, her dad talked of driving to Dover this weekend to help a friend who competes in NASCAR's Busch North series.

"Just been hanging out," Stoddard said with a smile. "Hanging out."

Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.

 

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