On Thursday, Greg Zipadelli took a day to be a sports fan.
From the field at Gillette Stadium, he watched as Joey Logano participated in a kicking tutorial from the Patriots Stephen Gostkowski.
Surprisingly, neither New Englander — both Zipadelli and Logano hail from Connecticut — had ever visited the home of the three-time Super Bowl champs. Logano, 21, had never been to Boston after leaving the Northeast for points south when he was 11. Although he finally kicked two footballs through the uprights, his veteran crew chief acknowledged, "there's room to improve."
Was Zipadelli referring to Logano's footwork on the field or his driving prowess?
"If we didn't have so many changes — the tire, the car and things of that nature — that certainly hasn't played in our favor this year," Zipadelli said.
Zippy says it's been tough creating "a secure feeling" for Logano that will allow him "to feel comfortable and go fast" particularly on the harder tire compounds. The driver, who is currently 21st in the point standings, has also suffered on intermediate (1.5-mile) tracks that make up the largest portion of the Cup schedule.
Couple in the testing ban which came to fruition in 2009, Logano's first full season on the tour along with rushing the kid up to the Sprint Cup Series too quickly, and it's not surprising the youngster has struggled.
"It's frustrating, but our good runs and the second half of last year when we really felt like we made progress, we had a lot of top fives and top 10s, that was really rewarding," Zipadelli said. "At Pocono this year, we felt like we turned things around. We ran well. We ran up front. We led laps. Sat on a couple of poles this year. Our qualifying effort is significantly better than it was.
"You look at a lot of things. There's some growth. Our finishes don't show it. But you look at our practice speeds and where we're running. Those are all the steps and some of the things that we worked on over the winter to be competitive. We're falling short on Sundays, but we'll keep working on that."
For Zipadelli, a crew chief conditioned to dealing with champion Tony Stewart during the previous decade, it's been a challenge maintaining the morale for a team that's used to winning every season.
Not surprisingly, rumors have persisted that Zipadelli will reunite with his former driver. Currently, he has one year left on his contract at Joe Gibbs Racing, but he's heard the buzz as well — throughout the garage and in the media.
"From all of the above," Zipadelli said. "I hear about it all the time. We had that plan once — and it broke."
Zippy describes his current relationship with Stewart as being "like brothers." They've remained good friends and their families spend time together, as was the case when the Zipadelli clan joined Stewart on Lake Norman the Sunday following Richmond two weeks ago.
So, when Stewart started his latest "we're not worthy" of the Chase for the Championship rant, Zippy realizes it was just "Tony being Tony." But he trusts his friend's intuition.
"Tony is always one to look at face value — what's there," Zipadelli said. "They hadn't won races. They had opportunities, but hadn't closed the deal. We won 30-something (33) races together and should have won 55 or 60. So, I know how frustrating it is to not be there, to not get the wins that you think you deserved or you earned because you ran good and things.
"But that's what sports are about. It's not always easy. Things don't always work your way. I'm sure after his win last weekend, it felt good to get that done and move on. I'm sure it took a lot of pressure off of those guys. Now he's going to a bunch of good racetracks (for him), so who knows?"
Zipadelli, 44, began his career as a crew chief more than two decades ago in the Whelen Modified Series. He learned at an early age that he needed thick skin to deal with temperamental drivers, but a crew chief has to be a leader as well — particularly at the Cup level.
Still, despite his sincere admiration for his former driver, one senses Zipadelli doesn't envy Stewart's current crew chief Darian Grubb. He hasn't forgotten 2008 — the last year he and Stewart raced together when the team went 30 races before a win.
"You always want to believe in yourself, your group and your corporation," Zipadelli said. "You're working every week to put yourself in the Chase. You believe you have the people, that you have the equipment or you'd be making changes, right? If you didn't have the people, you'd make changes. If you didn't have the cars, the motors, whatever, you'd work on it. It's not always easy because some times it takes a long time in our sport to get things changed and moved in the right direction.
"As far as Tony goes, it's always been sort of fun and interesting to look at his perspective on things. Usually, it's the cold, hard truth. It's just not always the politically correct way of saying it. But you have to respect him for always being that person and always saying what's on his mind. He fights and works. He's a helluva driver. Probably going this far into the year (without a win), I know the year that we didn't win until Talladega, it's as close to hell as I wanted to get."
