Stewart denies move claim.

Double Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart has denied rumours that he has asked for his release from Joe Gibbs Racing but did admit that his representatives had met with members of Haas CNC Racing to discuss a possible move in the future.

Rumours began to circulate about Stewart's future with the team he has driven solely for since switching from Indycar racing at the end of 1997 during NASCAR's recent 'off-weekend' but as the Sprint Cup Series gathered at Talladega for this weekend's Aaron's 499, JGR President J.D Gibbs moved quickly to quell speculation that Stewart had already asked for his release from the #20 Home Depot team.

"There has been much speculation regarding the future of our driver, Tony Stewart," Gibbs said from a pre-prepared team statement. "Tony is currently here through 2009, and from a Joe Gibbs Racing standpoint, we hope he drives for us longer than that and retires here. Tony is a great partner and a huge asset to Joe Gibbs Racing. Right now, we are focused on winning races and winning the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships under his current contract."

Although it appears that some of the paddock speculation was a little wide of the mark it does seem likely that Stewart is beginning to look into a deal that could see him take on a duel role of driver and team co-owner with the struggling Haas CNC team currently top of the list.

Stewart said unconditionally that he had not asked Joe Gibbs Racing, his current team, for a release from the final year of his contract, which runs through 2009. Stewart did say, though, that he has presented several "what if?" scenarios to his current bosses.

"Right now we're going to do our due diligence on all the offers and try to figure out the best option for us," said Stewart. "Obviously, it's a shock, when they don't know anything about it," Stewart said of the reaction to the rumours at JGR. "But we wanted to be up-front and honest with them and say, 'Listen, this is what's being presented to us.'"

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.

Haas CNC Racing purchases the engines for its Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports. Stewart, who drove Pontiacs and Chevy's (both General Motors products) before Gibbs switched to Toyotas for the start of the 2008 season, fields Chevrolets for his own USAC teams. Chevy and General Motors also are sponsors at Eldora Speedway, Stewart's half-mile dirt track in Rossburg, Ohio.