Today’s race is the last. Not just of the 2008 Sprint Cup season, but the last day for Tony Stewart. This is his last day in the #20 Home Depot Car. His last day with crew chief of 10 years Greg Zipadelli. His last day with Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s the end of an era - I can’t say I’m not happy for Smoke, getting out there and being an owner/driver. I can’t say I’m not happy that he’s getting to do something he wants to do. But I can’t say I’m happy that he’s leaving JGR, Zippy, and the #20 either.

I know I’m being silly and sappy here, but I have a distinct feeling I might just cry when the race is over. Because once it’s over, it’s over. No more Tony in Home Depot orange & black. No more Tony and Zippy bickering at each other on the radio. No more looking for the #20 next to Stewart on the leaderboard at the top of my TV screen.

Next year it’ll be Office Depot/Old Spice red & black. Tony & Doug (I think that’s his name) bickering at each other on the radio (can the new dude handle Tony - I guess we’ll just have to see ). Looking for the #14 next to Stewart on the leaderboard at the top of my TV screen.  Looking for Ryan Newman and Tony to be working together at tracks where you need a drafting buddy.

It’s definitely the end of an era but also the beginning of a new one. While I’m sad to see this one end, I’m also a little excited for the new one to begin. There’s only one thing marring the end of this era - JGR’s choice of replacement driver. Logano hasn’t shown a whole lot of the reason they call him Sliced Bread in the Cup series and frankly, I hope he gets it together next year, because he’s got some big shoes to fill and frankly, like Karah said, I don’t think he can even fill one of Tony’s pant legs, much less his shoes when it comes to the legacy of the #20 Home Depot car.

Well, now isn’t this a surprise? Did you get the sarcasm? Everyone with a brain knew that Logano would be Stewart’s replacement. It’s not news people. News would have been if someone else had replaced Stewart. Let’s be perfectly honest, we all knew it was coming, just like we all knew Newman would sign with Stewart-Haas. NASCAR can be pretty transparent about these things.

My biggest worry is that they’re pushing Logano too far, too fast. I mean, yeah, the kid’s got talent, but still. Is he really ready for Cup? I’m not so sure he is. It’ll be funny to see a rookie bar on the back of the 20 next year, but I really worry that Gibbs is pushing the boy too far, too fast.

Well, Carl Edwards won his second Sprint cup race - I’m wanting to say in a row, but my head is pounding and I’m not feeling well and don’t feel like looking. LOL In any case I’m not a big Carl fan and  wish Kyle would have won. While I don’t agree with Kyle bumping Carl after the race like that, it just goes to show that Carl is no better - and I say that if Kyle is punished for bumping Carl, Carl should be punished for retaliating and spinning Kyle  like that.

So the #4 is out and it’s the #39? Ok, whatever. As long as Newman has a car with Stewart-Haas I don’t care. And I hear that Monday is crunch time for JGR and they’ll be revealing Tony’s replacement. If it’s not Joey Logano, I’ll be surprised. Honestly, we can all see it coming, just like we could all see Newman signing with Stewart-Haas. Obvious much? LOL

In any case, there we have it. Congrats to Carl, Keslowski for Nationwide, and Kyle for Truck Series.

I know I’ve missed some races and such but I haven’t been feeling all that great lately, so I apologize for that. But right now I have a small rant. I can understand suspending crew cheifs, crew members, etc, fining them, docking owner points over finding magnets on the gas pedals. However, docking the DRIVERS? Honestly, do you really think the drivers always know what’s going on?

The crews put these cars together, get them ready, the drivers get in and drive. They’re trusting that the crew has the car exactly the way it should be - nothing that would be suspension worthy or impound worthy. Nothing that could be considered cheating. So why dock the drivers? To me that’s just stupid. Punish the DRIVER for what the CREW did. Yeah, NASCAR, that’s bright.

Tony Stewart Fans like myself won’t be cheering the #20 next year, and probably won’t be bleeding orange and black anymore. It has been announced that Tony has been released from his Joe Gibbs Racing contract starting next year and will be joining Haas Racing. Tony has purchased a portion of the racing team and will now be a driver/owner.

Joey Logano is expected to take the #20 Sprint Cup car, crew chief Greg Zipadelli, and the Home Depot sponsorship. While this makes me sad, Tony knows what he’s doing and frankly, I wish him all the best.

Ryan Newman is said to be in the running for the 2nd car at Stewart Haas Racing, a move I’d actually like to see as I do like Newman.

I knew I shouldn’t have done that afghan in “Tony Stewart” colors yet. Good luck to all involved in this move, that truly, shouldn’t be all that shocking to anyone.

According to this article on Fox Sports, Gibbs Racing may already be looking to put Logano in Tony Stewart’s current Cup ride. Now I’m all for giving the kid a chance, and if Tony should come out and say “Hey, after this season, I want to drive for someone else” I can see Gibbs giving the #20 to Logano. However, as Gibbs says in the article, they haven’t actually reached that point yet. They could still very well work out a deal with Tony to keep him at Gibbs. And I’m hoping they do. If they want Logano in a Cup ride, my idea would be to get a 4th car going.

To my idea, leaving isn’t going to help Tony any unless he goes back to driving Chevy. Why? Because this year it’s COT & Toyota. Granted, Hamlin & Busch made the same switch, but don’t forget, Tony’s older than they are. We old folks are set in our ways. Yes, that was a joke. But one thing I’ve noted about Tony is that he likes to race Chevys and frankly, I think that if he does make a move to a new team, it’ll be a team that runs Chevy. If he does, then by all means, stick Logano in the #20. If not, get a 4th ride because I don’t want to see any of the Gibbs drivers removed from their rides.

Do you think that a new team would cure Tony’s slump? Honestly, I don’t know. Right now, I’d really rather he stay with JGR. But you know what? I’m a Tony fan and if he moves to a new team, well, I’ll go right along with him!

I have to say, congrats to Joey Logano! I was hoping he’d win after Kyle Busch crashed out. I was disappointed that Kyle crashed out, but happy to see Joey get his first win on his third career start. Way to go Joey! Keep it up!

I see Kyle did triple duty again this week - 7th in the truck race, crashed out of the Nationwide and I didn’t catch where he ended up finishing due to that, and tomorrow the Sprint race. I hope he does well tomorrow. Although I am interested in a comment he made - he said he was done when asked if he would be at Milwaukee next week, so is he done with Nationwide for the season, or what? I guess I’ll figure it out after Milwaukee if he doesn’t start any more Nationwide races. LOL