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Tony Stewart (L) and Greg Zipadelli have unfinished business — qualify for the Chase next week at Richmond and attempt to win their third championship together. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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The decade-long partnership between driver Tony Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing crew chief Greg Zipadelli will be over in just 12 races, a break-up that the man known as “Zippy” likens to ending a marriage.
That said, Zipadelli said he and Stewart have unfinished business — qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup next week at Richmond and attempt to win their third championship together since Joe Gibbs Racing began fielding the No. 20 car full-time in the Sprint Cup Series in 1999.
Stewart has been the team’s only regular driver during that period and Zippy the team’s lone crew chief. That will change next season when Stewart becomes a driver and partial owner of Stewart Haas Racing, while Zipadelli stays on at the No. 20 Toyota to tutor Stewart’s replacement, 18-year-old Joey Logano.
For Zipadelli, it will be a whole new beginning. He’s spent the last 10 seasons being the steadying influence on the frequently volatile Stewart, the guy who keeps things on an even keel while his driver is on the ragged edged.
So far in 2008, there have been distractions a plenty. Although Stewart is an excellent sixth in points, he hasn’t won a race
And while Zipadelli is enthused about the prospect of working with Logano next year, there’s no question that Stewart’s pending departure has been a strain, personally and professionally.
“It’s a relationship,” Zipadelli said. “In a certain sense, it’s like starting over again. My wife and I have talked about it. Tony and I have raced together longer than my wife and I have been married.”
The many years together made facing the prospect of splitting up that much tougher. “At one point, it was very disappointing. It felt like you were going through a divorce,” Zipadelli said. “It was hard. You spend a lot of time with that person, you count on that person for a lot of things: friendship, racing relationship and things of that matter. So it’s been a little bit of a roller coaster, but at least everybody knows what we’re doing and where we’re going and we’re going to make the best of it.”
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