Is There a “Smoking” Room at the Hendrick Inn?   May 1, 2008 Jack Lewis - SCR   Ever since the story broke that Tony Stewart is listening to offers from other teams concerning his future as a Sprint Cup driver, there's one place I thought of before, and still think, he'll end up.   It's the same team that won the series' biggest free agent of the 2007 season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. That's Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), and so far Earnhardt finds himself as the highest-ranked HMS driver through the first quarter of the 2008 campaign.   I think it's obvious Stewart wants out at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). For what reason, we can only assume. Is it because of Gibbs' switched to Toyota at the end of last year? Many thought Stewart wouldn't even make it to this season to drive in the Japanese manufacturer, but he did.   Is it because he is not the highest-ranked Gibbs driver? New 2008 teammate Kyle Busch is on a tear, and if not for some hard luck situations, Busch would have double the wins he has now. And Denny Hamlin is gradually becoming one of the elite Sprint Cup drivers, and doing it not with wins and flashy moves on the track, but consistent finishes. Both Busch and Hamlin are ranked higher in points than Stewart, and both have won a race so far this year.

Or does the theory about Stewart wanting to drive for himself fuel his desire to go elsewhere? JGR has already said that it will not offer any kind of an ownership role to Stewart, the place where he's run his entire 10-year Cup career and won two titles (2002 and 2005).   When I first heard of this story, I immediately thought HMS would be sure to be mentioned, but was not. Instead, in an article I read, HMS team owner Rick Hendrick was quoted as saying, "I really don't have a dog in this fight, believe it or not."   Hey, doesn't that sound eerily similar to last year's comments when Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), the place he ran his entire Cup career till the end of last season?   One year ago, Hendrick was quoted as saying "...there's no room at the inn." Apparently, there was, as Kyle Busch left to go to Gibbs, which paved the way for Earnhardt to land at HMS, the team his father was fierce competitors with.   Of course, there's only one way Stewart will land a ride of his own at HMS -- Casey Mears has to be ousted.

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