Smoke Signal: Stewart’s On Another Tear

Smoke Signal: Stewart’s On Another Tear

Doing the improbable is nothing new for Tony Stewart. Case in point: winning his third NASCAR Sprint Cup title in 2011 after stating he didn’t even belong in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™.
Stewart’s latest feat is disproving a theory that the current points system works against recovery from an early season filled with misfortune. It took Stewart just three races to erase that misconception.
Ranked 21st in the standings after Darlington – and without Chase eligibility – Stewart rocketed back into contention with a victory, two top fives and three top 10s. He currently holds a Chase Wild Card berth based upon his Dover win.
But most importantly, Stewart is only 17 points out of the Chase-qualifying top 10 – a net gain of 45 markers in less than a month.
Granted, he’s had help. Four competitors Stewart leap-frogged – Aric Almirola, Jamie McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jeff Burton – failed to score a top-10 finish during the three-race span.
But Stewart also bypassed Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman, drivers posting a combined three top fives and eight top 10s.
Stewart’s led two of the past three races. He led just once in the season’s first 11 events.
Stewart’s only Michigan victory came in 2000, the driver’s second season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Stewart-Haas Racing has yet to win at the track. SHR’s third driver, Danica Patrick, will make her first Michigan start in the series.

Earnhardt Confident On Anniversary Of Hallmark Victory

It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster year for Dale Earnhardt Jr., from the early season heights of a pair of second-place finishes and the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead to the depths of three finishes outside the top 20.
Through the season’s first 14 races, however, Earnhardt has maintained an attitude of optimism.
"We have been carrying momentum for a good solid year now," he said following a third-place finish in Sunday’s event at Pocono Raceway. "We are all right. We know what we need to do. Confidence is there."
Earnhardt should be confident as the series moves to Michigan International Speedway where, last June, Junior broke a four-year, 143-race winless streak. He finished fourth in the track’s second race – making 2012 his best year in terms of average finish in the Irish Hills.
Both Pocono and Michigan were repaved before the 2012 season. Those conditions suited Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet team then and – if last weekend’s Pocono race is any indication – his success should carry over into Michigan. Earnhardt’s Pocono performance was the driver’s first top five since Auto Club Speedway’s race in late March. It also moved Earnhardt back to fourth in series points.