Stewart said last summer he was interested in signing an extension with the team he's driven for since 1998. But contract talks moved slowly, with Stewart saying in January he was in no rush to get a deal done.
“Like I said, they've been such great partners all along that it's not something -- like I said, there's nothing broke at Joe Gibbs Racing. There's nothing that needed to be fixed. There wasn't a problem over there. So we felt like the best thing to do was be up-front and honest with them from day one about it and at least let them know what was being offered to us and let 'em know what was going on and why we were taking longer to discuss our contract with them than what we had planned.”
Stewart said Thursday he has not ruled out staying with JGR, but when he began negotiating a new contract, other teams approached him with new opportunities. The same thing happened back in 2003, when Stewart was able to leverage several deals, including one from Chip Ganassi, to secure a more lucrative contract with Gibbs.
“A wise person told me it never cost a dime to listen, so right now we're all ears,” Stewart said of the latest offers. “Right now it's just a matter of figuring out what we want to do, and being smart. We've had a great run at Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn't mean it's over. We're just going to look at everything that's out there.”
Stewart acknowledged that his representatives had met with Haas CNC Racing to discuss the possibility of buying into that team. Since then, Stewart said, he has received other offers, including one on live TV from No Fear Racing driver Boris Said, who offered Stewart 51 per cent of the part-time, single car team for him to come and drive. However as Stewart's career has largely been with Chevrolet and General Motors, the Ford propelled #60 No Fear team isn't seen as an attractive an option as the Hendrick affiliated, Chevrolet powered Haas CNC outfit.
