CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Car owner Joe Gibbs has offered Tony Stewart a long-term contract extension, but said Tuesday he’s not sure the Winston Cup champion will accept the deal.

“Obviously I don’t have the answer,” Gibbs said. “The most important thing for drivers is to have a place where they think they can win races.

“Our number one job as a race team is to make sure we’re in the forefront of what’s going on and that any driver would think he has a chance to win in our stuff.”

The 32-year-old Stewart, a former IRL champion, has been with Joe Gibbs Racing since 1999. He has 16 victories and won his first NASCAR title last season.

His contract expires at the end of 2004, but because Gibbs likes to re-sign drivers before their deals expire, Stewart’s future has been widely debated the past few weeks. He said Tuesday he received the extension from Gibbs, but has not had time to look it over.

“It’s not been a real pressing issue because I still have another year on my contract after this year,” Stewart said. “So, for some reason, everybody else is putting a bigger press on that than I have so far.”

However, there’s been rampant speculation that Stewart is considering an offer from Chip Ganassi Racing. Stewart has repeatedly denied he has had any talks with Ganassi, who has fielded an IRL car for him in the Indianapolis 500.

Ganassi fields Dodges, and its believed that the manufacturer and Target, a top Ganassi sponsor, are willing to contribute to buy out Stewart’s remaining year with Gibbs.

But John Fernandez, director of Dodge Motorsports Operations, denied the automaker was part of any deal.

“Actually we’ve got a great lineup of drivers that we’re working with today,” Fernandez said. “I don’t know if Tony is under contract with Joe Gibbs right now, so we’re not pursuing Tony at this point in time.”

Gibbs, meanwhile, has already locked up Bobby Labonte, Stewart’s teammate, to a long-term deal and is close to announcing extensions for Greg Zipadelli and Home Depot, Stewart’s crew chief and sponsor. Zipadelli hopes Stewart doesn’t leave Gibbs.

“When you have somebody who is as talented as that, of course you want him signed up to know he’s on your side and in your camp for the next four, five, or six years or whatever the contract may be,” Zipadelli said. “This is a great place and we’ve given him a great deal. We can only hope and pray that he makes a decision to stay with us.”