Stewart keeps pressure on Edwards with words and deeds

Stewart keeps pressure on Edwards with words and deeds

By Jim Pedley
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(November 10, 2011)

Tony Stewart's uniform was still damp with sweat and champagne when he re-commenced his psychological assault on Carl Edwards after last Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.

"It's theirs to lose now," Stewart said with a smirk, his words clearly directed as much at Edwards and his team as the media and fans.

And if that wasn't enough, the two-time champ then slyly dropped this little cutie when asked if he may have an edge on Edwards, who has never won a Cup championship: "It's definitely an advantage. But I'm not going to tell you why 'cause that's what I'm going to take to the next two weeks with me. We win this thing, I'll tell you what the advantage is and why. But there's an advantage."

And why not continue hammering away at Edwards' head? In a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff that is shaping up to be the closest ever, any advantage Stewart can gain over Edwards could turn out to be a big advantage.

When the Cup cars take to the track at Phoenix International Raceway this weekend to compete in the Kobalt Tools 500, the second-to-last race of the 2011 season, Edwards will hold a velum-thin lead over Stewart in the standings: three points.

Edwards has been, by far, the more consistent of the two drivers over the season—he has 10 more top-five finishes in 2011 and seven more top 10s. Edwards has yet to DNF this season.

But Stewart and his team have gale-force winds at their backs this week. They have won the last two races, jumping from fourth to second in points and lopping 16 points from Edwards' Chase lead in the process.

In the past, Stewart has said he does not believe in momentum. He reiterated that last weekend after the Texas victory, but, he also said that things are going so well for his team that they now possess the power to control the future even though they are second in points.

"I'm not worried about anybody," Stewart said. "I'm worried about what we're doing, and that's it. I mean, make no mistakes, understand this when you leave here, for the next two weeks, I don't care what he does. I didn't care what he did last week. I didn't care what he did this week. I was worried about the 14 car and that's all. That's why we had the result we had today. We're not worrying about somebody else or something else.

"Everybody else has to worry about what we're doing, why and how."

Phoenix would appear to be a place that favors neither driver. Both have one victory at the dusty 1-mile oval, and their average finishes are almost identical at 11.7 for Stewart and 13.0 for Edwards.

That even-up past is leveled more yet this week as NASCAR teams and drivers will be racing for the first time at the reconfigured PIR surface. Both Stewart and Edwards have driven on the revamped surface, but that was during the open test held there several weeks ago.

Darian Grubb, Stewart's crew chief, said that even the data gathered from the test could be useless on race day. "The track is going to change while we're there with all the practice we have."

So, success this weekend—and then at the following weekend in the Chase-ender at Homestead-Miami Speedway—could boil down the psychological battle.

And Stewart clearly believes he is already winning that baby.

"The fun thing is I don't feel like I have to say anything," he said after beating Edwards at Texas. "I feel like I already got it done."