Stewart considers owning team

Undeterred it appears Stewart is now considering following Robbie Gordon's route back to the race by entering as a team owner

''I've had some discussions in the last 30 days about starting an IRL team,'' Stewart said Saturday at Pocono Raceway. ''The discussion didn't start with me. It started with other groups of people that approached me about the possibility of starting a team.''

Stewart already owns teams in USAC and the World of Outlaws sprint car series. Tony Stewart Motorsports and driver Danny Lasoski won the 2001 championship and have finished runner-up for the last two years.

Running an IRL operation would still prove be a big step up in responsibility and financial commitment. ''With our schedule in the [Nextel] Cup series, all my teams are self-sufficient. They don't rely on me to operate each day,'' he said. ''If I were to do an IRL team like that, it would take a lot of planning and assembling the right people... If we could do that, I would definitely entertain it.''

Stewart says being a team owner keeps him busy but is worth it. ''It's kind of a stress relief for me,'' he said. ''It gives me a minute to not think about what I'm doing tomorrow.''