Tony Stewart a driving force off the track, too

MARTINSVILLE Tony Stewart seemed uncomfortable with Joe Gibbs Racing's decision to switch from Chevrolet to Toyota.

For some, Joe Gibbs abandoned his usually conservative playbook. He feverishly shook the dice, then rolled a winner in 2008 -- 10 sprint Cup victories, including eight by Kyle Busch and Stewart's first-ever victory at Talladega Superspeedway.

More impressively, JGR took its new engine package to unimaginable heights. It skipped crawling and walking, then came out running ahead of the pack. Stewart, Busch and Denny Hamlin all qualified for the Chase for the Cup.

Still, Stewart was outside his comfort zone midway through a sporadic 10th campaign with JGR. Amid whispers and speculation, Stewart opted to dump Toyota in favor of Chevrolet by forming his team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

It was a risky roll of the dice even for a riverboat gambler like Stewart.

So far, Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman have held their own against the Cup elite -- Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing. Stewart is seventh in the points standing after posting a third-place finish in the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.

Newman, who swept past Stewart on the final lap to win the 2008 Daytona 500, climbed to 18th with consecutive top 10s at Bristol (seventh) and Martinsville (sixth).

"I think for quite a while it's been between the Hendrick guys and the Gibbs cars historically, over the last three or four years," Stewart said. "I'm confident we'll be able to compete."

Stewart had eventual-winner Jimmie Johnson and second-place Hamlin within reach over the last 70 laps on the storied paperclip-shaped oval. But his Chevy was no match for Johnson's Chevy and Hamlin's Toyota.

Stewart and Newman, though, are quickly narrowing the competitive gap.

"Each race has been better all year long, and there's something to be said for that," said Newman, who Sunday helped Stewart-Haas put both of its cars in the top 10 for the first time. "We had the never-quit attitude like our soldiers and came up strong in the end."

With their performance at Martinsville, SHR is seemingly staking its claim as a legitimate threat to contend for the championship. While most new teams would settle for being competitive, it isn't Stewart's nature to settle for second-best.

Stewart wants to win. And he wants to win now.

"We had a good day [Sunday]," said Stewart, who has four top-10 finishes. "I'm really happy for Ryan. I don't know that it's really jelling, because we've just been like this from day one.

"It's just kind of figuring things out. Ryan's learning a new package, I'm learning a new package, and it's learning what each of us wants.

"It's coming," he added confidently. "It just takes time."

Stewart was back in his North Carolina shop yesterday trying to figure out a way to get their Chevrolets out in front.

"It's like we say every Monday in our competition meeting, we've just got to build a database first," Stewart said. "Once we get that established, then I think the second time we come around, we're going to be a little better yet."

Translation: Stewart and Newman may soon find a comfort zone.