Stewart and Newman talking before the Prelude to the Dream. / Getty Images

Sit tight, I don’t believe it’s that kind of press conference.

Tony Stewart will take part in the weekly NASCAR teleconference for members of the media tomorrow at 2 p.m.

But here’s the interesting part - Ryan Newman will also be giving a weekly teleconference CAM for members of the media tomorrow at 3 p.m.

NASCAR usually holds the press conferences for media to call in and ask questions at 2 p.m. but they’re doing a special one this week.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Tony Stewart, right, and Joe Custer, general manager of Haas-CNC Racing, attend a news conference at which they announced that Stewart will become a driver for and co-owner of the NASCAR auto racing team Thursday, July 10, 2008, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

For some video clips and transcript… (more…)

I’ve been sitting here for almost two hours debating on what to say about the situation that finally was leaked and somewhat announced today.

Yes, that announcement.

Tony Stewart will not be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009.

Tony Stewart is the reason I got back into NASCAR and is my favorite driver. I know people who want to persue a career in NASCAR or Sports Journalism shouldn’t have a favorite driver, but he’s mine.

I’m going to wait until tomorrow to write out my thoughts after seeing the press conference. I’m in class when it airs so I’m recording it and will watch it when I get home. I will then review it and write what I’m feeling as I’m watching it.  I’ve gotten a lot of e-mails today about the topic and I’m just going to wait and see Tony’s face when announcing it. That’s when I’ll know it’s the right thing to do or what I should say.

As talked about in the previous post, it turns out that it was Chrissy Wallace standing next to Tony Stewart during opening ceremonies of the Coke Zero 400 in Daytona.

This posts and previous posts are not insinuating anything is going on between them. My personal take is the body language is a little close… probably closer than what I stand next to my friends or sponsors. Regardless of anything, I support them both!

Thoughts? Comments?

(The photo was up at homedepotracing.com. When I went the photo was gone. Credit goes to TGOM’s flickr.)

By far, the top searched keywords of the day here at “Diary of a Track Bunny” today were none other than the names “Tony Stewart” and “Chrissy Wallace” together.

Tony is a two-time Sprint Cup Series champion and current driver of the #20 Home Depot Toyota. He is 37.

Chrissy is the daughter of Mike Wallace, niece to Kenny and Rusty Wallace, and cousin to Steve Wallace. She is the driver of the #03 Germain Racing truck in the Craftsman Truck Series on occassion.

What do these two names have in common? (more…)

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JULY 05: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 5, 2008 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Kyle Busch won his sixth race of the season tonight at Daytona International Speedway’s Coke Zero 400. It was his first career win in the premiere NASCAR series at Daytona after coming in second to Jamie McMurray in 2007 and Tony Stewart in 2006.

Busch’s teammate, Stewart, who was the favorite coming into the race, removed himself from the #20 Home Depot Toyota just after Lap 72 after being sick all weekend.  Before the race started, Stewart recieved IV’s in the Infield Care Center.

Former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate J.J. Yeley was already suited up and climbed into the car.

Stewart sat behind his pitbox for a short time, drinking fluids before being taken back to the Infield Care Center and was treated for the remaineder of the race for “flu-like symptoms.”

Photo of Tony Stewart (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Watching all the Daytona coverage this July 4th weekend has gotten me sentimental over one of the best experiences I’ve ever had a race. Wait - who am I kidding? It was the best experience I’ve ever had a race, besides when I worked for Fox Sports for a week for the 2007 Daytona 500.

That weekend already consisted seeing all of the previous Daytona 500 winners, including the most recent, Jimmie Johnson, stick their feet, hands, and sign their name in cement blocks that would be placed outside Daytona USA. I got to meet a few drivers and crew chiefs, saw Tony Stewart win the only and last IROC race that I had ever seen, and saw Dale Earnhardt, Jr. win the Busch race that Friday night.

Now close your eyes and picture it. Wait, open your eyes or I can’t tell you what to picture.

July 1, 2006 and the weather was scorching hot. Thousands of fans pilled into Daytona International Speedway to see their favorite drivers burn rubber for 400 miles around the 2.5 oval track. (more…)

From ESPN.com:

Tony Stewart sharply defended crew chief Greg Zipadelli’s decision to pit late in last weekend’s race at New Hampshire, saying “it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback.”

Stewart dominated the race but wound up 13th when officials stopped it 17 laps early because of rain. Zipadelli called for the late pit stop — most of the leaders followed suit — and Stewart found himself in the middle of the pack when the rain started a few minutes later. Many of Stewart’s fans were critical this week of Zipadelli’s call.

“You see all of this criticism from people and it’s people who can’t even control their own lives and they want to sit here and tell us how to run race teams on the weekend,” Stewart said. “I find that highly amusing that people think that they’ve got a better solution all the time than what we do. It’s easy after it’s all over to say, ‘Well you should’ve done this. What was he thinking?’

“If they were that smart, they would be crew chiefs, and obviously they’re not that smart listening to the criticism. It just frustrates you as a driver knowing that you’ve got a crew chief that’s won two championships and 30-plus races with you that people think they are a lot smarter than and they’re not.”