| | | | | | WELL AIN'T THAT DANDY | Haas GM 'flattered' that Stewart would entertain role | |
| | By SceneDaily Staff TALLADEGA, AL -- Joe Custer, the general manager at Haas CNC Racing, says his organization is flattered that Tony Stewart would consider taking an ownership role in the team.
But any such negotiations, Custer said on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, are just part of a bigger plan to make the organization stronger.
“We want to win races and compete for championships,” Custer said. “That’s what we came here to do, that’s what we want to do. So whether it’s somebody in engineering, whether it’s somebody on the pit crew, whether it’s a driver, we’re always wanting to talk to the best. If Jeff Gordon is interested in talking to us about driving our race car, I want to talk to him.”
Stewart, who said on Thursday that Haas CNC is one several teams he has spoken with about an ownership role as early as next season, has a contract to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing through 2009.
The two-time Cup champion has indicated, however, that there's a possibility that he could leave JGR at the end of this season under the right scenario. Along with a possible ownership stake in another team, Stewart would likely also drive for that team.
The two-car Haas CNC Racing organization has struggled since joining the Cup series. It's No. 70 car, which is being driven temporarily by Ken Schrader this weekend at Talladega, is currently 38th in owner points. Scott Riggs, the team's other driver, is 28th in driver points.
Custer acknowledged that bringing a driver of Stewart’s caliber into the fold could help the entire organization get on track.
“It’s flattering that the media and folks are saying that he’s interested,” Custer said. “That does pump up morale because we do think we’ve got a great race team. We haven’t produced results, and we’re frustrated with that and dissatisfied with our results.
“We came here to win races and compete for championships. We haven’t done that. So it’s flattering that there’s folks out there that think talented drivers would want to drive for us. It helps morale a lot.”
Custer said that having one of its cars outside the top 35 in owner points is unacceptable and that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of putting a past champion in the No. 70 later this season to improve performance and ensure the team a starting spot on some weekends.
“Everything’s under consideration,” he said. “Right now we’ve got what we’ve got, and we’re happy with what we’ve got. What we need to do is develop our team. We’ve got several drivers that we’re looking at to help us do that.”
Custer said eventually bringing in a driver of Stewart’s caliber could also help attract sponsors.
“Sponsorship drives our sport,” he said. “Sponsors are critical to what we do. We’re fortunate to have Haas Automation and State Water Heater and folks like that on board. But are we looking to the future? Absolutely. We’re a two-car team. We could continue that, or we could grow it to a three- or four-car team.
“The sport’s under a lot of pressure right now in the garage for stable, strong teams, and we think we’re one of them. If folks want to come in and get involved, we are listening and talking. We are willing to talk.”
| | Posted April 25, 2008 , 4:09 pm EST
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