Stewart and Zippadelli Are Buddy Buddy Once Again

Or not.

After the end of the Richmond race, Tony Stewart jut vomited blame all over Zipadelli and the crew of the No. 20 Toyota when he was pulling into the pits. His finger of blame was pointed straight at the team.

Yet TV replays don't seem to show any untoward lack of speed by his pit crew and he was snug tight 2nd coming out of the pits. His crew did a great job, Johnson's did a superb job.

What I saw at the end of that race was the 48 car running the high line, using less tire on the outside, and having the momentum of engine RPM to hold off Stewart.

Stewart on the other hand, had a superbly handing car through the low line, having tons of power to do it with (No magnets there I guess!) but getting beat by the momentum Johnson carried out of the corners. It was a fun match to watch.

After so many laps of running the inside line and using up his tires just a hair more than Johnson on every lap, there was nothing left of him. (One needs to turn the wheel just a tad more to maintain a lower line than the guy on the outside line.)

To me, the superior tactic won out in the long run and Tony maybe should have waited, followed Johnson for a period of time in that outside groove, biding his time until the last few laps and tried to take the line from Johnson. But no... instead, we call the wah-ambulance from inside the No. 20 seat and do what Tony does best. Rant and rave in his usual indignant form that says it should have been me, me, me.

Tony has said this in the past, and he's reiterated it in a press conference earlier this week: "You show me a guy who doesn't get frustrated once in a while and I'll show you a guy I can beat nine weeks out of 10 every year for the rest of my life.".

All the while, with Tony moving on to his own team next year, Zippadelli is staying with JGR so he can crew chief for Joey Logano. A smart move in my opinion. But one has to wonder if both are seeing the horizon and the end of their very long marriage.

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