Zipadelli and Stewart make brutal honesty work

[Schwartz Fan]

Zipadelli and Stewart make brutal honesty work

Sunday, Feb 10, 2008 - 12:07 AM Updated: 02:27 AM
By JILL ERWIN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER


Somehow it's fitting that Tony Stewart's most important relationship made its debut on Valentine's Day.

On Feb. 14, 1999, Stewart was a rookie stock car driver in the Daytona 500 with first-time crew chief Greg Zipadelli.

Ten seasons later, the two are brothers in every way but biologically. The chemistry is apparent, the success is unquestioned and the connection is clear.

The length and nature of their relationship is perhaps the biggest surprise in the NASCAR garage. How did two guys who didn't know each other form the strongest bond in Sprint Cup?

"They're both insane," Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs said. "Let's start there. They're both crazy. Zippy never had a crew chief job in the Cup series, Tony was a brand-new guy. I think they really had to lean on each other a lot. They started together, and each of them know they wouldn't be where they are without the other."

Stewart said on a teleconference during Daytona testing this year that when either he or Zipadelli decide it's time to go, the other will go as well.

He didn't back down from that statement, either.

"I want to end it with a guy that's been there with me since Day One and we both did it together," Stewart said. "We started together, and we'll walk out of it together."

They've won 32 races, two championships and 10 poles together in nine seasons. The key to their relationship? A brutal honesty that might not work for everyone.

They've come to the realization that anything that is said is done in order to move each of them and the No. 20 team as a whole toward improvement. But that doesn't mean they sugarcoat anything.

"This is 28 years I've raced, you don't have . . . I can count on one hand the relationships I've had crew chief-driver wise that is like I've got with Zippy," Stewart said. "It took a very short amount of time for us to both realize how competitive we both are, how passionate we are about it, and when you find people like that, you're brutally honest about everything."

Zipadelli says that honesty is what keeps things running smoothly.

"Absolutely, because in the long run it's the only thing that you'll have," Zipadelli said. "If I stop being honest, eventually I think you break that trust. The most important thing is for him to understand I'm doing what I feel is in the best interest of myself, him and the team, and vice versa."

Listening to them on the team radio shows a friendship stronger than most. Within a five-lap stretch, they can go from exchanging screams of frustration to laughing at something completely unrelated to the race at hand. They may disagree at times, but they never hold grudges.

"It's short and sweet, but if I do my job and he does his job, we'll both have jobs," Zipadelli said. "That's kind of where we leave it. We're good friends, and we've gotten to know each other, obviously. But when it comes to racing, it's still like it was the first year or two.

"If I'm upset about something, I've got no problem hollering or screaming; if he's upset about something, he'll usually let us know about it."

The fact these two found each other was something of an upset on its own. Zipadelli was looking for a job with the new second team at JGR and was set to meet with Bobby Labonte's crew chief Jimmy Makar to interview for a job as a shock specialist.

Instead the two clicked nearly instantly, and Makar returned to Joe Gibbs with word this new kid might be a better fit as a crew chief.

But even he didn't necessarily know how well Zipadelli and Stewart would get along.

"[Zipadelli's] nickname was 'Snapper' because he'd snap when he got angry," Makar said with a laugh. "Back in the beginning days, he was a lot like Tony. He's been able to put some of that to the side and become the leader of that team. Over the years, he's matured into the leader of that group and a leader of this whole race team and that was really neat to see."

Don't think, however, Stewart is the ever-obedient student. That would be a little too far out of character.

Stewart recounted last year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his home track, during the Brickyard 400. They were under caution, and Stewart looked up at his pit box as he slowly rolled past. He saw Zipadelli kicked back, feet up, looking for all the world like he had no cares.

Stewart's reaction?

"I'm just looking at him and I'm like, 'Man, for this big a race, he's awful relaxed,'" Stewart said. "So I just said, 'Can I get you a pillow or anything?'"

Zipadelli laughed, and he and Stewart spent the rest of the caution period joking and laughing.

They've tasted victory at Indy, a race that meant more than most to Stewart. Having Zipadelli there was the icing on an already sweet cake.

"It made it much better because we did it together," Stewart said.

"This was someone that knew my passion for the place, understood my passion, had been through the lows there with me. To come back and have that high moment and have it with someone who I had been through everything with, that made it that much more special."

And that's the basis of their friendship and working relationship. To succeed with each other, using each other's strengths and balancing each other's weaknesses. To feel like everything has been done to help the other.

"The last thing I want to do is let him down," Zipadelli said. "I want to feel like I've given him everything he wants."


Zipadelli and Stewart make brutal honesty work - Sports - inRich.com

[blueyedfairy_1]

Thats a good article!

[revvinjim]

Thanks for posting the article SF. There is a lot of well-deserved emphasis on their relationship this year. I think it is what makes the #20 team unique.
Not everybody will read this; there is still plenty of speculation on the web from people who think Tony will quit Gibbs at the drop of a hat.