Is Zippy going to SHR and the #14?

Greg Zipadelli is laughing off the rumors that he’s planning to jump ship to the #14 Chevrolet of Tony Stewart next season. The rumors started at the same time that it came out that Joe Gibbs Racing was courting Carl Edwards. Edwards could take over the reigns of the #20 Home Depot machine since the home building superstore is unhappy with the current return on investment with Joey Logano.

It”s been said that Home Depot is not the only one unhappy in this marriage. Since Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs racing the crew chief who sat on the pit box for those two championships has been relegated to the third best driver in the organization. With only one win and front running days at a minimum it certainly would make since that Zippy would want out.

The moment Stewart left the Gibbs camp marked the moment that Zipadelli went from being mentioned regularly on NASCAR telecasts to almost not at all.

Joey Logano may have been rushed to the Cup level in hopes of big marketing dollars and success with a veteran crew chief but the results have not turned up. Not only is Logano behind both of his teammates on a regular basis but he’s behind most of the field. Many thought 2011, his third year at the Sprint Cup level, would be when we’d start to see the results add up but instead it’s been the most disappointing yet.

If Zipadelli did indeed find a way out of Joe Gibbs Racing before his current contract ends in 2013 you couldn’t blame him. If Carl Edwards is indeed headed to the #20 car then it would stand to reason he would likely want his guy calling the shots. All the more reasons to believe that Zipadelli may indeed still be leaving Gibbs at seasons end.

John Boarman
John Boarmanhttp://www.tireball.com
Founder and Owner of Tireball Sports.

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