Heading into the Dodge Save Mart 350 weekend at Sonoma in 2005, Tony Stewart was not considered as a strong championship contender. It's not that he was agonizing through a dreadful season; in fact he was sixth in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings with four top tens and seven top fives. But he was 311 points out of the lead, and was not yet performing at the level that Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle were.
Tony Stewart would go on and win the Dodge Save Mart 350, and would unreservedly dominate the Nextel Cup circuit for the next several months. Stewart flexed his muscle by winning four of the next six NASCAR Nextel Cup events and estranged himself from the rest of the championship contenders.
So from Stewart's first win at Infineon to his fifth win at Watkins Glen, a stretch of seven races, he went from sixth place in the Nextel Cup standings and trailing then series leader Jimmie Johnson by 311 Nextel Cup points, to leading the standings by 105 points over Johnson, a remarkable 416 point swing.
Tony Stewart's astonishing string of success has given several drivers hope that a turnaround in performance is achievable. It's closing in on crunch time in the race to the Chase for the Championship, and several drivers could afford to ride a hot streak like Stewart did in 2005.
On the exterior of the top ten in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings are several thought-to-be championship contenders. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch are currently 11th and 12th. With Gordon's preceding success at road course venues, it's conceivable to believe that a win could spark a run parallel to one that Stewart comprised last year. Furthermore, imminent races at Daytona, New Hampshire, Indianapolis, and Watkins Glen really favor the four-time champion. Kyle Busch has ran well almost everywhere, but he just doesn't seem to be consistent enough to stay in the top ten.
Roush Racing driver Carl Edwards has performed similarly to Kyle Busch; he appears superb at times, but cannot nail down any consistency. The next two races are at Infineon and Daytona, and Edwards has yet to excel on road courses and restrictor plate tracks. If he can finish the next two races with respectable finishes, he could still be a threat to break into the top ten.
The duo of Penske Racing drivers, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman, currently sits 16th and 17th in the Nextel Cup standings. Though making the Chase for the Championship appears to be a long shot for both of the Gillette Young Guns, they are by no means out of the hunt. Both the #2 and the #12 teams have shown a bit of spunk of late.
Newman and Kurt Busch have been known to be streaky in the past, and the right kind of streak could propel one or both of them right into the Chase for the Championship. Of course it will take some adversity on the part of some of the guys they are chasing.
Casey Mears and Jamie McMurray are 14th and 15th in the Nextel Cup standings and could still vie for a spot in the top ten. McMurray has yet to even come close to performing at the same level as his four Roush Racing teammates, and Casey Mears, rather he wants to admit it or not, is a lame-duck driver. We all saw how that worked out for McMurray last year.
For drivers such as Elliott Sadler, Dale Jarrett, Clint Bowyer, and Scott Riggs, chasing a championship would take a more than miracle.
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