The drivers at Hendrick Motorsports soon will have company as the top dogs of NASCAR.

According to news reports, two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is expected to be granted his official release from Joe Gibbs Racing and become part-owner of his own team as well as NASCAR's highest-paid driver. He is expected to join Haas CNC Racing, which reportedly would become Stewart-Haas Racing.

Mike Arning, a spokesman for Stewart, told the Associated Press that an announcement concerning Stewart's future would be made today.

While his contract with JGR -- the only NASCAR team he has driven for -- runs through 2009, Stewart reportedly be released from his contract at the end of this season.

Stewart reportedly has had an offer on the table since April to purchase the fledgling two-car team of Haas-CNC Racing. Stewart has said that, by owning his own team, he could ensure a spot for himself in NASCAR long after his driving days.

Stewart-Haas Racing also would mark a return for Stewart to racing Chevrolets. After driving Chevys for JGR his first nine years in NASCAR, the team switched to Toyotas.

Stewart has yet to win this season. Teammate Kyle Busch leads the Sprint Cup series in points and victories.

JGR is expected to replace the 37-year-old Stewart with 18-year-old phenom Joey Logano, with Home Depot staying on board as the sponsor.

Stewart is expected to dismantle the existing Haas-CNC organization and bring in his own people, including a second driver. Fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman is among those rumored to be in line to join Stewart's team next season.

Stewart will have followed in the footsteps of another high-profile driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in leaving a long-time team. Earnhardt left Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2007 to join Hendrick Motorsports.

Stewart has won at least two races every year since his rookie-of-the-year campaign in 1999. This season, he has five top=five and eight top=10 finishes in 18 starts.

He is in his 10th season driving Gibbs' No. 20 car. He and crew chief Greg Zipadelli have been together since the start in NASCAR's longest active driver-crew chief pairing.

Stewart, with 32 series wins in his career, won the Cup title in 2002 and 2005. He is one of only two drivers with multiple championships in the last 10 years, the other being Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson, who won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.

Labels: Chevrolets highest-paid driver, Hendrick championships, Hendrick driver, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports titles, NASCAR Racing, NASCAR's longest driver., Rick Hendrick Chevrolet