Tony Stewart-2007 Nextel Cup Champ
Will Tony Stewart's recent surge put him back as the championship favorite in 2007?
Tony Stewart's recent surge has him already listed as one of the early championship favorites heading into 2007. Yeah, people are already thinking about 2007.
Stewart utterly dominated the Dickies 500 at Texas, as he wins his fifth race of the 2006 season, tying him with Jimmie Johnson for second most wins in the Nextel Cup series, one behind Kasey Kahne.
After starting 8th, he instantaneously began to pick his way to the front. Stewart would ultimately lead 278 out of 339 laps paced around the 1.5-mile oval.
"We have hit our stride," Stewart said. "We just hit it three months too late. We wish we could turn back time and get on this string earlier so we could have made the Chase. We’re having a ton of fun. The stress level on us is about a tenth of what it is on those guys in the Chase."
I know a couple of guys, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth in particular, who are glad that Stewart is peaking after the Nextel Cup Chase For The Championship field has been determined.
Speaking of our top two championship contenders, Jimmie Johnson finished 2nd, while Kenseth struggled throughout the duration of the late afternoon and finished 12th.
"We never really had anything for the 20 (Stewart). But it was amazing how hard you had to drive your car lap after lap. I had to keep pushing myself so I wouldn’t lose spots," Johnson said after taking a 17 point lead over Kenseth in the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship standings.
Like Stewart, Johnson has began to peak, and that may give this 48 team their first Nextel Cup championship.
Kenseth and company feel fortunate to finish12th after the handling woes they dealt with at Texas.
"We've got to do some work on our performance. We've got to run better than that. We don't deserve this if we don't run better than we ran tonight.... Actually, coming out of this thing 12th was a blessing, because we really didn't run that well," crew chief Robbie Reiser said after the race.
Kenseth is typically a favorite when the NASCAR circuit races on the 1.5 mile venues, so his lackluster performance is perplexing to say the least.
Kevin Harvick finished third, but it didn’t come without controversy. On lap 331, Scott Riggs was running third but Harvick quickly closed the gap. It appeared the Riggs may have broke loose, and Harvick’s momentum caused him to get into the back of the #10 Valvoline Dodge. Riggs' car was torn to pieces and finished 31st, while Harvick went on to finish 3rd.
After the race, it has been reported that one of Riggs’ crewmembers shoved Harvick, knocking both him and his wife DeLana to the ground. DeLana may have sustained an injury. NASCAR spoke with all parties involved, including some eyewitnesses, which includes a member of Ryan Newman’s 12 team.
Obviously Harvick was not very happy with the post-race tomfoolery. "Riggs was blocking all over the place," he said. "I got a run on him and got in the back of him and spun him out. After the race, those guys decided they wanted to take matters in their own hands and we weren’t too happy with that."
Expect penalties to be assessed later this week.
Dale Earnhardt Jr dodged a major bullet after he hit the wall midway through the race. Clint Bowyer got the 8 car loose while they were battling for 2nd position. Earnhardt Jr bounced back to finish 6th.
Other NASCAR Nextel Cup Chasers- Kyle Busch finished 4th, Jeff Gordon finished 9th, Denny Hamlin finished 10th, Mark Martin finished 22nd, Kasey Kahne finished 33rd, and Jeff Burton finished 38th.
Terry Labonte finished 36th in his 848th and final NASCAR Nextel Cup start. Labonte, a two time champion ended his long-time NASCAR career on Sunday. He’ll be missed by many.
"I've been very fortunate in my career," he said. "I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing."
Before the official command to start their engines, Labonte's daughter, Kristen, gave a special separate command for her father: "Dad, for the last time, start your engine."
Quote of the week
Tony Stewart on his near perfect day at Texas
"It was just an unbelievable day. I've been racing 27 years, and I can count on two hands the number of times I've had a car this good."
