Tony Stewart is back, even if it's for just a summer day in Sonoma
This is the Tony Stewart fans have been waiting for over the past three years. The Tony Stewart that says what's on his mind, has a swagger and, oh, drives like hell backing up his words and attitude.
Not much has gone right for Stewart over the past three years. He entered Sunday's race at 84 races since his last win. That's a long timeframe for anyone. It's even longer when you've suffered a broken leg, a broken vertebra and been involved in an accident and subsequent legal investigation that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.
[Related: Tony Stewart wins at Sonoma]
So when he said Friday that he wasn't having fun driving a Sprint Cup car in his last year on the circuit, it wasn't hard to see the truth in the statement even if it was spurred by a little frustration. And it was easy to envision how things would go wrong for him after he inherited the lead by a stroke of luck with 20 laps to go on Sunday.
"But I still didn't even feel like we had a shot then," Stewart said after taking the lead by pitting before an incredibly-timed debris caution. "I thought, well, we might be able to hang on to a top 10 out of this, and that was going to be pretty respectable, I thought."
[Related: Quick takeaways from Sonoma]
A caution came out shortly after Stewart fended off the field on the restart with 20 to go. As Stewart stretched out a decent lead thanks to Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. battling behind him, the thoughts of a checkered flag started dancing in his head.
"With about eight to go was the first time I thought, hey, we might actually have a shot to hold onto this, and I actually got a little bit emotional thinking about it while I was driving," Stewart said. "But you stay so focused and you have to ... I had a little bit of a breather there to kind of think that once Denny got closing in, it was back to business."
That business included not only holding a hard-charging Hamlin off over the course of those final eight laps, but keeping his composure enough to strike back after Hamlin nudged him out of the way with four corners to go. A lap before, Stewart had wheel-hopped his car in turn 7 and almost gave Hamlin the lead. The Daytona 500 champion seized on the opportunity on the final lap.
"I said in my head when I felt him nudge me in 7, I'm like, 'Well done,' because he didn't just knock me off the racetrack or anything. He saw what happened the lap before, and then when I got down there again, I got myself in that same position and he took advantage of it.
He could have been a lot rougher with it, he could have knocked me off the track, he could have spun me, whatever, and won the race."
Instead, Hamlin, who said he was looking in his rear view mirror more than he was out his windshield, overdrove the final corner and left the bottom open for Stewart, who slammed Hamlin out of the way.
"I'm not sure he had enough of a gap that I'm not sure I could have got to him and roughed him up any other way," Stewart said. "But when he missed the corner, it gave me a big opportunity to get there, the gap that I needed was available to get the rest of the way."
Did Hamlin, who once rued not bashing Stewart out of the way for a win at Watkins Glen, look too much in the mirror because of Stewart's prowess over the final 20 laps? It's worth considering. The feisty three-time champion drove like one over the race's final stretch. He may not have had the fastest car throughout the final stretch of the race, but there sure as hell weren't many opportunities to pass him.
And besides, Hamlin had to know the bumper was coming from Stewart in that final corner.
"I just had a feeling he was going to drive in there and turn us around anyway, so I was trying to do all I could," Hamlin said.
Not only because Hamlin had used his fender to move Stewart out of the way seconds earlier, but because it was the closest Stewart has come to a win since he tried to hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr. on badly-worn tires at Martinsville in 2014.
"I believe in etiquette and I believe in racing guys the way that I want to be raced, and that's not the way I like to race those guys, but Denny knew what was at stake for us and what the opportunity for us was," Stewart said.
The win puts Stewart in contention for the Chase, but it doesn't make him Chase-eligible just yet. After missing the first eight races of the season, Stewart is 32nd in the points and nine points outside the top 30. To be Chase eligible, Stewart needs to be in the top 30.
Much like Kyle Busch in 2015, he'll likely get there before the Chase begins. Stewart's points-per-race are 15th best this season. That's hardly the mark of a title contender, but a performance good enough to provisionally be considered in the Chase had he competed a full season.
And despite the win, it's hard to envision Stewart making a run like Busch did. Through Busch's first eight races, his points-per-race were seventh-best in the Cup Series and he had alread logged three wins. Busch then went on to win the title.
But the memories of 2011 will always be etched in the minds of anyone who has seen Stewart compete. He publicly derided his Chase chances before the Chase began and subsequently won five of the Chase's 10 races to beat Carl Edwards via tiebreaker.
Delusional as they may be, we're not going to pour ice water on the thoughts of a sequel for Stewart in his final season. What fun are sports without believing that chances won't come true? And do you really want to tell Stewart his title chances are toast? After all, he spent part of his post-race press conference praising John Wes Townley for going after Spencer Gallagher in their fight during Saturday night's Camping World Truck Series race.
"If I don't win another one, it's cool to win the last one here," Stewart said. "If it doesn't happen again, it's cool. I'll be all right if this is the last place I win one. I'm going for more, just for the record ... I'm not saying I'm laying down, I'm saying if that's the only one I get this year, then I'll be content.
"I think you've known me long enough, you guys know that I don't lay down for anything. All you've got to do is just give me that little bit of hope, and I'll run with it."
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
