When Tony Stewart signed on the dotted line in July 2008 to assume 50% ownership in what was the struggling Haas CNC Racing outfit, there were plenty of people lining up to tell the irascible Columbus, Ind. native that he was making a colossal mistake. That it was a great deal financially speaking was the one thing that couldn’t be argued; Stewart didn’t have to pay so much as $1 for a half-stake in the two-car outfit. But all numbers aside, the real issue was that Haas CNC Racing had hardly set the racing world alight in its first six years of operating. Indeed, a driver who’d spent the last decade defined by stock car success had purchased a team seemingly destined to fail.