MOVING ON? Talk of Tony Stewart's future overshadows another Kyle Busch win.(Competition)

Byline: AL PEARCE

Tony Stewart had quite a weekend at Talladega. He qualified on the pole for the Nationwide Series race, then easily dominated en route to his first win in 27 starts at the track. He qualified No. 2 for the Sprint Cup race, then led the most laps before crashing out while racing toward the top 10 with 15 laps remaining.

He made even more news off-track. The two-time NASCAR champion acknowledged that he is considering his options for beyond 2009, the final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. The Talladega garage was full of talk that he longs to leave Toyota and return to a Chevrolet-based team, perhaps as early as next year. Some mentioned the mid-level Haas/CNC team, where Stewart would bring instant credibility by becoming a part owner. Others feel that Rick Hendrick or Richard Childress will make room in one of their Chevys. And there was the inevitable talk that Stewart, now 37 and a NASCAR racer for 10 years, yearns only for an opportunity to play with open-wheel cars and finally win the Indianapolis 500. But despite plenty of words, little of substance was said.

"We'd love for him to retire here,'' said team owner J.D. Gibbs. "All we can focus on is what we can do, and that's win races and championships.'' As for next year: "We've had no conversation of him leaving before the contract is up,'' Gibbs said. "Our deal is through next year; that's what we're looking at. There's been no talk of ending it earlier.''

Stewart spoke of "multiple offers'' but wouldn't elaborate. "We haven't made a decision yet, but we're going to look at all options,'' he said. "And they're exciting, all the way around. It never costs to listen, so we're all ears. It's a matter of figuring out what we want to do. We've had a great run at [JGR], and this [talk] doesn't mean it's over.''

Stewart has not asked to leave early, but he admitted that he might. "They know there are offers,'' he said, speaking of JGR. "We've asked, `What if this is the case? And what if this is presented? Is there a possibility we could be released from our contract early?' It hasn't come to that yet . . . but we haven't signed anything, either.''

All of this speculation temporarily abated while Kyle Busch rallied from a lap down to win another wild, unpredictable Talladega race. The JGR star lost a lap on lap 62, when he couldn't get to his pit for green-flag service. By the time he went around and pitted, he was lapped. He got back on the lead lap on 118 and steadily worked his way forward. He led laps 173 to 179, then received crucial drafting pushes from Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya to get by Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip on lap 183. ...