Zipadelli reunites with Stewart

McClatchy Newspapers

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Tony Stewart wrapped up his third Sprint Cup Series championship last month, but he’s still reaping the rewards.

On Friday, Joe Gibbs Racing released Greg Zipadelli from his contractual obligation to be crew chief of the organization’s No. 20 team so he could become the competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing.

By noon Friday, Zipadelli was already making his first drive to his new workplace.

“I’ve always been the type of person that I like the next — what’s next, the next challenge, and I’ve had a great run at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Zipadelli said during a teleconference Friday. “This position had been talked about [at JGR] but wasn’t going to be available for a while.

“When I looked at it, I said, here’s one now for the only person in the sport that I would probably go to work for at this time in my career. Tony has always been very good to me, and that was it.”

Zipadelli has spent 13 seasons at JGR, serving as crew chief for driver Joey Logano for the past three. Prior to that, Zipadelli spent 10 years as crew chief for Stewart and the duo won 33 races and two championships together.

When Stewart left JGR to become co-owner of his own team at the end of the 2008 season, Zipadelli remained with JGR.

“I just believe we’ve always had a unique relationship where I think we’ve just really, truly respected each other,” Zipadelli said of his relationship with Stewart. “We can be very honest with each other and not worry about hurting each other’s feelings.”