Stewart-Haas may add 3rd car in ’10
HOW UNLIKELY IS IT THAT YOU WILL RUN A THIRD CAR IN 2010?
Stewart: "I don't think we've ruled that out yet. It's getting to the point in the season if we're going to do a third team and have a third team for next season it would have to happen pretty quickly. At least having the sponsor and driver lined up to make sure that we have an adequate amount of time to get all the tools and pieces in place for next year. But I would say it's not very likely right now."
DID YOU BUILD STEWART-HAAS WITH EXPANSION IN MIND IN TERMS OF SPACE AND EQUIPMENT AND PEOPLE? HOW SIMPLE OR SEAMLESS WOULD IT BE TO EXPAND FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE?
Stewart: "The building is capable of holding three teams for sure. That's not a problem. It's just adding people and making sure that the funding is in place. It would be adding a little more equipment and people, but having that funding and the driver is the biggest key." GM Racing
08/01/09 Tony Stewart met with members of the media at Pocono Friday, part of the transcript:
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| Tony Stewart (C) meets the press with Ryan Newman (L) and Kasey Kahne (R) |
| Jim Garrahan/AR1.com |
WHERE ARE YOU ABOUT ADDING A THIRD TEAM TO STEWART-HAAS RACING: "We are definitely open to it for sure. We are interested for sure. We feel like it is a matter of timing, it is everything. I don't know that something would happen for next year. I think we are getting close to the stage of the season where it may get too late to have that opportunity to add a third car for next year. It is something that at least as a company we feel comfortable with and feel like with the right opportunity, that it is definitely possible." Chevy Racing PR
06/30/09 Not yet halfway through his first season as a NASCAR team owner, Tony Stewart already is thinking about expanding. Stewart-Haas Racing is enjoying a banner season, with Stewart leading the Sprint Cup standings and teammate Ryan Newman sitting seventh. That success has Stewart entertaining the idea of adding a third car next season.
"The biggest thing is you've got to make sure you can fund it first," he said. "You can build a team, but if you don't have the money to run it, it's not going to work.
"We haven't talked to anybody at this point. (We're) just letting everybody know we're open to discussing it. It doesn't cost a dime to listen."
Among the driver candidates should Stewart decide to move forward is Brad Keselowski, 25, who is third in the Nationwide Series standings driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team.
Keselowski also has made five Cup starts this year. He won in April at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and was sixth Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Rick Hendrick, Earnhardt's Cup boss, is a partner in the JR Motorsports team and last week met with Keselowski. Among the possibilities discussed for getting Keselowski a Cup ride in 2010 were moving JR Motorsports to the Cup series or putting him in a third car at Stewart-Haas Racing, which is a satellite operation with Hendrick Motorsports and leases its engines from Hendrick.
"There's a lot of options out there," Keselowski said. Indy Star