Old Spice

February 5, 2010

TONY STEWART – Great Expectations

Who knew? It is a question that resounds vividly in the hearts and minds of Tony Stewart and his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammates precisely one year after they first made the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series scene on the hallowed grounds of Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

As the two-time Sprint Cup champion gets set to start his second full season as a driver/owner, who knew that in its first year Stewart’s two-car racing operation, built on the foundation of Haas CNC Racing, could win five races and sit on the pole twice before all was said and done? And it would add another 14 top-three, 20 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes, lead 628 race laps and, to top it all off in grand style, qualify both of its teams in the Chase for the Championship?

Who knew? Certainly not Stewart, and certainly not in his very first year as a driver/owner behind the wheel of his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala. After all, it had been two decades since a Sprint Cup driver/owner showed it was possible to win races and contend for championships with regularity.

But in his first year, Stewart did just that, starting with his team’s maiden victory in the non-points NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway on May 16. First-year Sprint Cup teams aren’t supposed to do such things, are they? Who knew?

Then, two weeks later came a milestone seven-day stretch during which SHR trumpeted its arrival as no typical driver-owned, first-year operation. With his runner-up finish at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on May 31, Stewart became the first driver/owner in 556 races to lead the championship standings. And with his breakthrough first points-paying victory one week later at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, he became the first Sprint Cup driver/owner to lead the championship standings in 375 races. The last to lead the standings was Alan Kulwicki, who clinched the championship over Bill Elliott on Nov. 15, 1992, at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The last to score a victory was Ricky Rudd on Sept. 27, 1998, at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Stewart went on to occupy the top spot in the standings for 13 consecutive races until the start of the Chase in September, when the points were reshuffled and seeded him second. He added victories in the July 4 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona (his 14th career win at Daytona in Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and IROC competition), on the road course at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in August, and at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in October.

Finally, who knew that first-year Sprint Cup teams could become models of consistency and reliability right out of the box? It certainly didn’t take long to iron out whatever wrinkles needed to be ironed out as Stewart and his SHR teammate Ryan Newman each completed an astounding 10,468 of a possible 10,492 laps (99.8 percent) over the 36-race season to lead all Sprint Cup drivers. Next best was David Reutimann, who completed 60 fewer laps than Stewart and Newman.

As the page turns to a new season, one filled with perhaps no more anticipation but understandably greater expectations than the last one for Stewart and his SHR brethren, the focus turns to the high banks of Daytona and the prospects of the driver/owner’s first career Daytona 500 victory. Who knows? The sound of hoisting the prestigious Harley J. Earl trophy on Feb. 14 for the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet has a pretty nice ring to it.