May 25, 2009
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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During the off season, when Tony Stewart was busy forming his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing, most people criticized him, claiming that it would be several years before his new team would be competitive on the track.
Well, Stewart has proved all the doubters wrong by winning NASCAR’s All-Star race last weekend at Charlotte less than a third of the way into the season. And it’s not as if the win came as a fluke.
Stewart has been running in the top five all season and is currently second in the point standings. His teammate, Ryan Newman, after a good run of bad luck early in the season has risen to eighth in the standings. Both drivers are on the verge of making the Chase and competing for the Championship, quite an accomplishing when you consider that the Haas team has been competing since 2002 and had yet to win a race until Stewart took the team to Victory Lane.
“To get those guys in Victory Lane and to get these guys on the team that haven't been to Victory Lane there for the first time -- that means more than the million dollars does to me,” Stewart was quoted as saying in an AP article on espn.com. “It's that gratifying to get this group of guys to Victory Lane.”
And of course, the $1,058,656 winner’s check he received certainly won’t hurt matters as Stewart seeks to make his new team even better. The All-Star race marked the first time this season that Stewart’s co-owner, Gene Haas, was at a NASCAR event after serving a sixteenth month prison sentence for tax fraud. And Stewart is looking forward to working closely with Haas.
“I think he is kind of taken aback a little bit by how it has changed from the last time he was at the shop to this time,” Stewart said in a Raygan Swan article for nascar.com. “I'm excited. He sat in the team meeting with us Monday and actually came up with some good ideas on a couple variables we were having trouble with. He is a very, very smart individual.”
And of course, it stands to reason that the biggest threat to keep Jimmie Johnson from winning his fourth consecutive Championship would be another team using Hendrick equipment and technology. However, Haas used Hendrick equipment last season, so what it the difference this year?
More than likely the turnaround has to do with two new crew chiefs Stewart has hired as well as the other people he has brought in, but the biggest improvement is the on-track experience that Stewart brings to the team.
The All-Star race may not have been a points paying race, but it was a sign of things to come for the remainder of the season. The question is not if Stewart will win another race, but when will he win another race.
And don’t count out Ryan Newman either. Chances are, he will win a race or two before the season is out, but don’t be surprised if Tony Stewart is celebrating his third Championship at the end of the year.
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