Is Tony Stewart really leaving Joe Gibbs Racing?

Last years big Silly Season question was Dale Earnhardt Jr., this year it seems to be Tony Stewart, even though he has one year left on his contract.

Unless you've been living under a rock, the rumors started flying about Tony Stewart leaving JGR when they announced their move to Toyota last year, now the rumors have really heated up, could Stewart really be leaving?

When the latest rumor about Stewart being offered half-ownership of Haas CNC came out, it didn't take Stewart too long to speak out about it.

We've got multiple offers on the table right now, and there's a couple in particular that really have caught our interest.  We haven't made a 100% decision yet on what we're going to do, but we're going to look at all the options. And the options are exciting, all the way around.

Stewart did say that staying at JGR is still one of those options.

A wise person told me it never cost a dime to listen, so right now we're all ears.  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 said that JGR has been informed of the offers, including ownership, but he says that he has not asked to be let out of his contract early, despite some rumors that have reported he has.  This isn't to say that he won't, just that he hasn't as of yet.

Most know that Stewart wasn't thrilled with the move to Toyota and that Chevy wants Stewart back into their fold, so it really wouldn't be surprising to see Stewart leave Gibbs after all these years.  How he leaves and where he goes remains to be seen.

So far I've heard the half-ownership in Haas CNC and the fourth car at RCR, but as Stewart said, he's had multiple offers, so there are some that haven't been found out yet.

I guess the biggest question is that if he does the Haas CNC deal, could he bring that team around to being in contention week in and week out?  They haven't had a lot of luck finding the right drivers or sponsors, so could a big name like Stewart turn that team around?  And who would be his teammate?

If that happened and right now it's still a big if, being the old sentimental fool I am, I would love to see Bobby Labonte go to the second car and see old teammates back together again before they retire, just like they were back in the early days at Gibbs.

Your thoughts?