Smoke signals he's ready to roll
LOUDON, N.H. – Through all the sleepless nights, and there were many, Tony Stewart always had one person to turn to when he worried about the fate of his latest endeavor.
As Stewart made the leap from a comfortable employee at Joe Gibbs Racing to co-owner of a sponsor-strapped, uncompetitive race team, Rick Hendrick was there for him whenever he needed support.
"Rick has been my security blanket," Stewart said. "There's nights I've called Rick at midnight with a question. Rick has really taken a lot of time with me and always made himself available, and I don't think someone I could have done this without. I've known Rick a long time, and I've always trusted Rick.
"I know if I have a question, he's going to give me an honest answer. He's really taken a lot of time out of his schedule to make sure I'm comfortable with what I'm doing and to help us get to where we are."
Where Stewart is now is at the top of his game and one of the favorites in the 12-driver Chase for the championship field. He's completely rebuilt Haas-CNC Racing – which before Stewart arrived had a whopping one top-five finish in 284 starts over seven seasons – and created an organization that has far exceeded everyone's expectations.
Flush with sponsor support and Hendrick help, Stewart Haas Racing has a 2-in-12 shot at the Sprint Cup title. Both Stewart and Ryan Newman are in the Chase field, and both are capable of winning the championship.
Of course, it's Stewart who has the best odds.
He won three races this season, plus the $1 million All-Star event, and built a hefty lead in the points standings. The lead was wiped out when the field was reset for the Chase, so Stewart goes into Sunday's opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway ranked second in the standings, 10 points behind leader Mark Martin.
In the old points system, Stewart would be just a few weeks away from locking up a third Cup championship. In the Chase format, it's anything goes, and there's no guarantee Stewart will have any hardware when the dust settles after these final 10 races.
And he's just fine with that.
"I feel like to a certain degree, what has happened so far this year has exceeded the expectations of many and that everything from here on in is a bonus,'' he said this week. "I would be lying if I didn't say we realize we've got just as good a shot as anybody to win the championship, and we're going to work just as hard, if not harder, to accomplish that.
"But whatever we get out of that, we'll take. We feel like that we've got two cars that if we can put together 10 weeks, we've got as good a shot as anybody to win the championship."
It's an interesting outlook for Stewart, a passionate driver who has struggled at times with managing his intensity and desire. He's usually good for a meltdown or two a season, but aside from some minor sniping at Goodyear the day before the Daytona 500, Stewart has been fairly drama-free this year.
Granted, he's been running up front just about every week and it's hard to get upset about much when things are going so well. Even as his performance slipped a bit over the past month, Stewart has remained upbeat and isn't obsessing over four subpar results since his win at Watkins Glen.
There was a 17th at Michigan, and a terrible 33rd-place finish at Bristol, when he drove more than half the race without any radio contact. He was 11th at Atlanta, then had another long night with a 17th-place finish last weekend in Richmond.
It's a roll in the wrong direction as he heads into the Chase, but Stewart doesn't seem at all concerned.
"A lot of it's been a weird situation where we've been locked in, and if we don't win, then the rest of it doesn't mean anything," he said. "I think if we didn't have that shot to win, then we took care of ourselves and took care of our cars."
He didn't seem to be off at all when he got to New Hampshire, qualifying second for Sunday's race. He'll start right next to Chase dark horse Juan Pablo Montoya, the pole-sitter, and surrounded by three other Chase drivers.
Stewart knows firsthand how critical it is to start the Chase with a clean first race. He was wrecked in the 2004 opener, finished 39th and never recovered en route to a sixth-place spot in the final standings. He insisted Friday, though, that Sunday is just the first of 10 races and his approach can't be any different than it's been all season.
While he won't say it outright, there's got to be a part of Stewart which very much wants to win this championship. He loves to prove people wrong and seems to thrive in challenging situations. In the wake of many calling him nuts for leaving JGR for his own race team, Stewart has enjoyed the in-your-face results this season.
He can cap it off by becoming the first driver since Alan Kulwicki in 1992 to win a championship for his own team. Of course, he'll have to contend with the guy who has helped him get to the top: Hendrick and his three title-contending drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.
Stewart's had an up-close look at the inner workings at Hendrick and knows how prepared those teams will be. And he's been beaten by Johnson the last three years in an eye-opening display of a team turning it up another level when the stakes are raised.
Even with all that incentive, Stewart still insists his desire is no greater this year than any other season. And if he falls short, he'll be fine.
"Every year, you want to win the championship," he said. "But the cool thing is this year we have the opportunity to do something that Alan Kulwicki was the last to do. Still, there's not a sense of urgency. It's not like after this year I am not going to be an owner anymore and this is our only shot."
