Zipadelli well aware of opening at Stewart-Haas Racing

Zipadelli well aware of opening at Stewart-Haas Racing

(September 22, 2011)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.—You don't have to read the want ads to know there's an ongoing search for a competition director at Stewart-Haas Racing.

At one point, Greg Zipadelli and Tony Stewart expected to spend their entire careers together as crew chief and driver, respectively.

"We had that plan once, and it broke, so I don't know," Zipadelli said Thursday when asked if a reunion might be in the cards.

Zipadelli spent 10 years as Stewart's crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing. They won Sprint Cup championships together in 2002 and 2005. But when Stewart left in 2009 as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, Zipadelli stayed at JGR, where he is under contract through 2012.

Despite the split, he and Stewart have remained close.

"Obviously, we're like brothers," Zipadelli told Sporting News during a tour of the New England Patriots' facilities at Gillette Stadium. "I still respect him. We talk all the time, hang out on weekends or Sundays off.

"We had the kids over there after Richmond on his boat out on the lake, so we're still good friends, and whatever he does I'm proud of him for it."

As to the job at Stewart-Haas, Zipadelli said, "I know—I hear about it all the time."

From Stewart or from everybody else?

"All of the above," Zipadelli said.

Junior hopes two-car tandems can be broken up

LOUDON, N.H.—You can break up the Yankees, but apparently you can't break up two-car tandems at Talladega—but NASCAR, at least, has instituted measures that might prove a step in that direction.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. certainly hopes that's the case.

NASCAR announced on Wednesday that the diameter of holes in restrictor plates for the Oct. 23 Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega would increase 1/64th of an inch to 57/64ths of an inch. That should translate to an increase of about seven to 10 horsepower in the Sprint Cup engines.

The settings in pressure-relief valves also have been reduced by eight pounds per square inch, meaning cars will begin to throw off water at lower temperatures. Both measures should make two-car hook-ups more difficult to sustain.

Earnhardt also expects an increase in speed. The driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet pushed teammate Jimmie Johnson to a four-wide victory at Talladega in April but had no chance to win the race himself.

"I think it will make us go faster, which is something we needed to change the way the racing is," Earnhardt said Friday before Sprint Cup practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "I think the racing was exciting—nobody can argue that the finish of that last Talladega race wasn't exciting—but I like the different style of racing that we used to have, where you didn't have to have a partner, (and) you didn't have to be pushing each other every lap.

"I not sure it'll break up the two-car drafting, but I hope it does."

Short strokes

According tom NASCAR's calculations, race vehicles in its top three series have combined to log 1,314,528 miles on track this year using Sunoco Green E15 fuel. That computes to 328,632 gallons of fuel at an average of four miles per gallon. …

The second annual "SEND ME 2 VEGAS" sweepstakes opened Monday, giving one fan a chance to win a prize package that includes a 2012 Ford Explorer XLT SUV valued at up to $33,000, two VIP tickets to NASCAR After The Lap during Sprint Cup banquet week in Las Vegas, and a two-night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Fans can enter the "SEND ME 2 VEGAS" sweepstakes at www.NASCARafterthelap.com and at Chase races at The Sprint Experience.

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service