Stewart-Haas Racing was surprisingly good in 2009. Both Stewart-Haas cars made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in the team’s first season with Tony Stewart, a two-time Cup champion, as co-owner. Stewart won four races and finished sixth in the standings, and teammate Ryan Newman finished ninth. What can they do for an encore?

Race fans watching the Daytona 500 on Sunday might notice a few changes in the driving and certainly will hear plenty of rules talk from the announcers. Last month, NASCAR relaxed its rules on bump-drafting and gave drivers permission to be more aggressive on the track. A larger restrictor plate was implemented to produce more horsepower at Daytona.

Chris and George debate how to improve racing at Talladega. Also, Tony Stewart is George’s pick to win this weekend, but Chris likes Dale Jr.‘s chances better.

Since the Goody’s Headache Powder 500 on March 29, Stewart-Haas Racing has become a force to be reckoned with. Before the race at Martinsville on March 29, driver-owner Tony Stewart had recorded three top-10s, but the good runs were mixed in with finishes of 26th and 17th. His first hired driver, Ryan Newman, recorded his first top-10 finish the week before by finishing seventh at Bristol, but that was his first finish better than 27th.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Longtime NASCAR fans deride the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship as manufactured drama that has ruined the racing. Try telling that to the five drivers who used Kansas Speedway to gain points on leader Mark Martin. “I think that’s why they made the Chase,“ four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said after chipping 19 points off his deficit Sunday.

Tony Stewart found himself in danger of letting a title slip away after just two rounds in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The two-time champion wasn’t exactly in a must-win situation yesterday at Kansas Speedway, but a rocky start to the Chase put him in search of some very big finishes before leaders Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson put the title out of reach.

Who’s the favorite this year in the NASCAR title race? Only one driver, Tony Stewart, has won the regular-season and the championship since the playoff system began five years ago.

Denny Hamlin continued to run up his laps-led meter at Richmond International Raceway in the early going last night. Hamlin, a former Chesterfield resident, started third. He passed Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap, then took the lead from pole-sitter Mark Martin on Lap 3. Hamlin was so dominant that he lapped Max Papis on Lap 31. Shortly after passing Papis, Hamlin opened a 1.31-second lead.

The focus was on the cars from Joe Gibbs Racing from the beginning at Richmond International Raceway last night. Former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin led almost from the beginning and won, his second victory of the season and his first home-track Sprint Cup triumph. Hamlin started in the third position. He passed Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap, then took the lead from pole-sitter Mark Martin on Lap 3.

Doing the difficult—driving a race car in bumper-to-bumper traffic at speeds exceeding 120 mph—is not enough for Tony Stewart. He opted to do the seemingly impossible—not only drive the race car but also own the team. It seemed a recipe for trouble. The last driver/owner to win a race in the top division was Ricky Rudd in 1998. The last owner/driver to win the NASCAR points title was Alan Kulwicki in 1992.

Sprint Cup points leader Tony Stewart has enjoyed racing at Bristol Motor Speedway since the track surface was repaved in 2007. BRISTOL, Tenn. Tony Stewart grew up racing the old-fashioned way. Instead of the simulated reality of video games, Stewart developed his survival skills and killer instincts competing on rugged short tracks throughout the Midwest.

Sprint Cup points leader Tony Stewart celebrates after taking the checkered flag at Watkins Glen International. WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—When the rain held off and The Glen heated up, Smoke was in his element. Tony Stewart won the rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International on a steamy Monday, muscling an ill-handling car in the early going and then holding off Marcos Ambrose over the final 21 laps for his Cup-record fifth victory at the famed road course.

1. Tony StewartChevy
  2. Marcos AmbroseToyota
  3. Carl EdwardsFord
  4. Kyle BuschToyota
  5. Greg BiffleFord
  6. Juan MontoyaChevy
  7. Kurt BuschDodge
  8. Max PapisToyota
  9. Clint BowyerChevy
10. Denny HamlinToyota
  Complete results, points
leaders, notes, Back Page

Tony Stewart is seeking his third Sprint Cup victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. INDIANAPOLIS Did you expect this, Tony Stewart muscling his way to the top of the NASCAR driver standings as a rookie team owner? Did anybody? The guy leaves a successful Gibbs Racing Team where he won two Sprint Cup titles, joins forces with a less-successful Haas organization and suddenly produces a juggernaut. (See the bump that sent Kyle Busch into the wall and Stewart to victory at Daytona earlier this month.) Stewart leads by 175 points over second-place Jeff Gordon entering tomorrow’s Allstate at the Brickyard 400. Teammate Ryan Newman is seventh.

JOLIET, Ill. Kyle Busch hasn’t mellowed following his last-lap accident at Daytona that sent him into the wall, and then the infield care center—even as points leader Tony Stewart says all is fine between the two former teammates. Busch claimed Stewart “dumped him,“ or, caused him to wreck, and questioned if drivers should be allowed to win if they cause an accident that lets them take the lead.