A Handshake No More: Loyalty no longer a factor in today's NASCAR

Tony Stewart’s plans for next year and beyond remain one of those stories running just below the waterline at the moment. Without saying exactly what he has in mind, Stewart admits that he’s willing to entertain offers from anyone interested in his services. Joe Gibbs Racing officials have responded rather frostily by reminding Stewart, and anyone who might be talking to him, that Stewart is under contract to drive for them through the end of the 2009 season. They’ve added they have no intention of letting Stewart out of his contract, nor do they see any possibility of him becoming partial owner of the 20 team.

What’s really going on is unclear. Stewart is the only person who really knows and he’s not talking despite the jungle drums beating loudly in the gossip circles. What I do find amazing is that some folks have decried any notion that Stewart might leave Gibbs Racing out of a perceived debt of loyalty.

Yes, Gibbs and his teams have stood by Stewart alongside some trying times when Tony’s notorious temper got the better of him and he assaulted members of the media and possibly even a fan. There were times it might have been easier for JGR to cut and run, dumping Stewart rather than enduring his next outburst, but that never seemed likely. After all, Stewart was winning races, contending for championships and keeping those sponsorship checks that arrive in orange and white envelopes rolling in. JGR has firmly hitched their wagon to this horse — even if the horse is a bit of a jackass from time to time.

Others point out that Gibbs deserves a special sort of loyalty because he is a fine man. I won’t dispute that point one iota. His desire to do right by his employees has yielded dividends, particularly with men like Greg Zipadelli and Mark Cronquist, who have been with the team practically since it opened its doors for business. That sort of long term relationship is rare in our sport today, a day where mechanics seem to pack up their toolboxes and move to a new team almost weekly — some by choice and others at the request of their employers. It seems Robby Gordon has had more crew chiefs over the last couple years than Elizabeth Taylor has had husbands.

It’s not pretty, but that’s just the way it is. Yes, in a more innocent era drivers and team-owners would make agreements with a simple handshake and those unwritten contracts would endure for years. That era was officially announced over when Jeff Gordon dumped Ford, who had been grooming him as their next star, to drive for Rick Hendrick. Nowadays it seems that even iron clad, duly witnessed and notarized contracts between owners and drivers aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. When one party or the other perceives greener grass on the other side of the fence, they do what they feel is in their own best interest and let lawyers iron out the mess.

While Gibbs might be a great motivator and a fine Christian, he is also a businessman. When Gibbs first started exploring NASCAR team ownership, General Motors was in his corner pulling strings to make it happen. The pairing was advantageous to all, as JGR drivers claimed three driver titles by 1995.

Gibbs Racing had grown from an unlikely upstart to a powerhouse.

Yet when Toyota came sniffing around with a blank check in the pocket of their kimono, Gibbs was willing to listen to what they had to offer. He eventually decided it was in the best interests of his business to become the biggest fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in Lake Chevy. The pairing has yielded immediate results, but has become a real thorn in the side of GM even as the General is locked in a life and death battle with the Japanese automaker in the new car market.

On a more personal note, Gibbs has reaped the benefits of being a successful NASCAR team owner. Yet when an opportunity opened for him to return to coaching his beloved Washington Redskins in the NFL, Gibbs left day-to-day operations of his racing teams to his son and headed back north. Given that decision, it is hard to see the coach not allowing Stewart to pursue an opportunity that intrigues him, especially one which Stewart may see as better for his long term future.

Loyalty? The very concept in this sport is as antiquated as treaded whitewall tires and tailfins. And to be honest, ever since the big money started entering it’s been that way. Back in 1980 Darrell Waltrip was under contract to DiGard Racing. The pairing registered 26 wins together in just over five years, yet Waltrip sensed greener pastures in Junior Johnson’s camp. DiGard reminded Waltrip he was under contract and that it had no intention of cutting him loose. The solution? Waltrip made such a pain in the neck of himself that eventually the Gardner brothers relented and allowed Junior and Waltrip to buy out the contract.

In truth the lack of loyalty starts from the top of the sport. In the early ’80s a fledgling cable sports network, ESPN, was looking for unique programming at the same time that NASCAR was looking for new media outlets. The pairing of ESPN and NASCAR was to both parties benefit. It raised ESPN from a virtual unknown to the premiere sports network in this country. ESPN’s coverage, in turn, helped raise NASCAR from a regional curiosity to a nationwide powerhouse on the sport’s scene.

Yet when it came time to renegotiate the TV deals, ESPN’s relationship with the sanctioning body and its winning gamble to broadcast the sport at a time when no one else would didn’t amount to a warm cup of spit. NASCAR sold it’s broadcast rights to the highest bidders — FOX and NBC — and kicked ESPN to the apron.

Time is too short to chronicle ever instance of NASCAR’s lack of loyalty to long time supporters, be it in the fans whose family’s had held ticket renewals to the Southern 500 for decades or sponsors who were once the “Official Something” of NASCAR. This is no longer the racing business, this is the business of racing. As Jerry Maguire might shout, “Show me the money!” It’s all about the bottom line and what’s best for business, loyalty be damned.

No, I don’t like the way things are today any better than some of you. I know what its like to invest your blood and sweat into a business entity to help it grow only to get kicked to the curb after being fired by email. But I’ve come to accept that that’s the way things are in this sport today. If Tony Stewart wants to move on, my guess is he’ll be wearing new colors in 2009.

If you want loyalty, buy a dog. This is just business.

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