Tony Stewart says goodbye to Joe Gibbs Racing

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The race was over, but Tony Stewart wasn't finished. Not yet.

He sat in his Home Depot Toyota for a good 15 minutes after the conclusion of Sunday's Ford 400, long after most other drivers had climbed out of their cars.

He chatted with his crew. He sipped from a bottle of water. And then, for the last time, Stewart stepped out of the No. 20 car and into his future.

''I wish I could say I was happy for this," Stewart said. "But I'm not."

Stewart finished ninth in his final race with Joe Gibbs Racing, the only team he has known since his NASCAR debut in 1999. It was also his last race with Greg Zipadelli, his crew chief for the past decade.

He will become a driver-owner for Stewart-Haas racing in 2009.

''It's something I decided, obviously, but as you can see, we're all emotional," Stewart said. "It's hard knowing that after 10 years being with these guys, it'll be something different next year."

His 10 years with Zipadelli was NASCAR's longest-running active driver-crew chief relationship. In that span, Stewart won two series titles and 33 races. There were 33 decals commemorating those wins on the hood of his car Sunday, with space for another if he finished first.

That seemed like a good possibility when Stewart passed Matt Kenseth on the outside to take the lead with 23 laps to go. But 11 laps later, Stewart was forced to pit for fuel and could not regain the lead.

In his time with Gibbs Racing, Stewart became one of NASCAR's most colorful -- and controversial -- personalities.

He can be fiery and frank, freewheeling and funny.

But on Sunday, there was another, less often seen emotion on display.

Stewart was sad.

''I'm excited about what I'm doing next year," Stewart said. "But I'm not excited about leaving these guys."

http://www.thatsracin.com/116/story/21187.html

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1. Matt Kenseth fan here

Tony certainly could piss me off sometimes, but he's a good racer and Gibbs made a huge mistake switching to Toyota. I think Gibbs was more interested in being the top Toyota team because he certainly couldn't be the top Chevy team with Hendricks around. Gibbs will someday regret losing Tony and keeping Kyle.