Monticello — When Tony Stewart announced in 2008 he was going to accept an offer to become half owner of Haas CNC Racing, a Sprint Cup team, many fans questioned his decision.
Owner, Gene Haas had been convicted of mail fraud and was serving time in a California federal prison. While the financial end of it looked good for Stewart, there were many in the Cup garage who thought he might be taking on more than he could handle.
But Stewart, along with his teammate, Ryan Newman are proving the skeptics wrong.
After 11 races into the regular 36-race schedule, Stewart is second in points, just 29 points behind Jeff Gordon.
But even better, he found his first victory in the 25th annual (non-points) All-Star Race at Lowe's. Stewart's first win as a driver/owner and first All-Star win came in a race that turned into a fender-banging, hot mix of hard racing in the final 10-laps. His win, combined with the string of recent successes at Stewart-Haas Racing, makes him one of the hottest drivers in Sprint Cup racing.
"It's been the whole team, man," said Stewart after his win at Lowe's. "They've been an awesome group of guys to work with up to this point. And that's the most gratifying part about it. It's about seeing those guys and seeing them celebrating and smiling in victory lane when I got thereÑand seeing how happy they were and the excitement on their faces. There's no check that you can write in any amount that's going to make up for that and could take the place of it."
Now that he's second in Cup points, there's much being said about him defeating the odds in the gamble he took in leaving a secure job driving Joe Gibbs' No. 20 Toyota.
But Stewart said co-owner Haas is the one who took the biggest risk.
"You really have got to give him the credit for taking the gamble and taking the risk and having us come be a part of this organization like that and trusting us to make some pretty big decisions and personnel changes," Stewart said. "That's not something that a lot of people in that position are willing to do and give up that kind of control to let a totally different group of guys come in and all of a sudden start changing things around, but Gene was willing to do that."
Newman didn't get off to quite as good of a start as Stewart, but he has run up front and is currently eighth in points.
"We haven't quite reached victory lane yet, but we can sure feel it and taste it," said Newman. "It has been exciting to be a contender week in and week out. The more you contend, the odds get better to see the checkered flag first."
The No. 39 and No. 14 Stewart-Haas teams have performed well this season. The real question is what kind of additional momentum the teams will be able to garner from the all-star win. I think we'll see both Stewart and Newman take a checkered flag before the season is overÑand who knows, maybe even more than once.
Weekend Racing: All three of NASCAR's major series will be at the Dover Monster Mile.
Fri., May 29, Camping World Truck Series AAA Insurance 200, race 7 of 25; Starting time: 8 p.m. (EDT); TV: Speed Channel.
Sat., May 30, Nationwide Series Heluva Good 200, race 12 of 35; Starting time: 2 p.m. (EDT); TV: ESPN2.
Sun., May 31, Sprint Cup Autism Speaks 400, race 13 of 36; Starting time: 1:30 p.m. (EDT); TV: FOX.
Racing Trivia Question: Where is Tony Stewart's home town?
Last Week's Question: Why has NASCAR suspended Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield? Answer. For failing two drug tests.
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