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CUP: Stewart, Newman Will Need Time
Written by: Tom Jensen   
08/15/2008
Brooklyn, Mich.
 
Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman are expected to be successful in the newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos

Drivers at Michigan International Speedway said Friday that the expect the pairing of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman to be successful, though perhaps not immediately.

Newman was introduced Friday as the second driver for what will become Stewart-Haas Racing next season. He will drive the team’s No. 4 Chevrolet Impala SS, while Stewart will be behind the wheel of the No. 14.

With both drivers new to the team and Stewart becoming a 50 percent owner in the team next year, there will be a major overhaul of the organization that today is known as Haas-CNC Racing. And integrating new personnel and creating a winning organization is generally something that takes time in NASCAR.

“I’d rather not see them struggle and be competitive and come out of the gate, but realistically I think there’s going to be some growing pains,” said Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch, who is in his first – and now, only — year as Stewart’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. “I think that they’ve got to build up their relationships with their crew chiefs and build up whoever those guys are going to be and get that organization to where it’s running a little bit better. I don’t foresee just putting a driver in that car and making it perform way better. I think that they’re a little bit behind and we’ll have to find out.”

Also taking a cautious assessment was Kevin Harvick, a close friend of Stewart’s and Newman’s
and an owner of his own NASCAR Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series teams. “Well here is the hard part about when you start a new team,” said Harvick. “The hardest part of starting a new team is usually you come out of the box good, but it’s when you get into the summer months and you start crashing cars and things start going wrong – its how you rebound from that. So I will say they’ll come out of the gate strong because they’ll have a lot of time to prepare and get things situated but the character-builders come in the middle of the year.”

Stewart will not be taking Greg Zipadelli, his only crew chief during his 10 seasons of Cup racing, to Stewart-Haas next year. So he and Newman will need crew chiefs, and there are numerous managerial positions needing to be filled that the team is interviewing for right now. “It's got to be people that we're both comfortable with on both sides,” Stewart said of the team’s search for two new crew chiefs. “I mean, he has to be comfortable with who is going to be my crew chief. I have to be comfortable with who his crew chief is going to be. I think that's going to make us that much stronger. This gives us a unique opportunity to do that. I don't think there's a lot of teams and organizations that have had a scenario where they get to go out at the same time and go after two crew chiefs. So, you know, maybe this is something that will even be that much better for us.”

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