This time, Stewart happy to be giving chase to the Chase
Tony Stewart is back Chasing. With six races remaining in the Chase for the Championship, Tony Stewart is fourth, 154 points off the pace.
"I feel we're back where we belong," Tony Stewart said. "[Last year] we had 3 or 4 bad weeks in a row that took us out of it.
"This team has always been a top-10 team. Last year was the first year we finished outside the top 10 in points."
There's still hope for Tony Stewart in the Chase. Last year, Jimmie Johnson was 156 points off the lead after four races. Johnson finished second at Lowe's, then won at Martinsville and was on his way to his first title.
Stewart overcame his disappointment at not being an '06 Chaser by winning three races in the Chase.
Asked during a pre-'07 Chase press session in New York City if veteran Chase drivers play mind games with less-experienced drivers, Tony Stewart replied: "If you win enough races and perform well enough, you don't have to. Guys at this level, there's a reason they got here. They're pretty smart. They know what they're doing."
Tony Stewart knew what he was doing, up to a point, late in last Sunday's race at Talladega. Attempting to maintain his lead, Tony Stewart glided up and down the track.
Following a restart, two lines developed: Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch and then Tony Stewart in the high groove; Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the low groove.
On the final lap, Tony Stewart wound up behind Jeff Gordon in the high lane. Tony Stewart provided Jeff Gordon with a shove, at more than 190 mph, and Jeff Gordon went on to win. Tony Stewart finished eighth.
Explaining his move, Jeff Gordon said: "I had momentum and I just wanted to at least get up beside Jimmie. If you look at a lot of my wins on these [superspeedway] tracks, what happens is I just try to get to the outside or inside on the last lap, or with a couple laps to go, and then let the line behind me dictate whether we win the race or not.
"[Sunday] was one of those moments where that line behind me happened to be Tony Stewart with a lot of momentum. And he had no choice. He either was going to hit the wall or hit the cars on the inside of him or push me. He pushed me."
Speaking Tuesday night on his Sirius satellite radio show, Tony Stewart said: "I feel like I let my team down. I don't know what I should have done different, but I should have done something different because we went, in the last three quarters of a lap, from third to eighth."
All aboard
During the New York session, Tony Stewart said the several open-wheel racers who are migrating to NASCAR have not checked in with him. Tony Stewart was a successful open-wheel racer before switching to NASCAR. Tony Stewart said he would encourage them to go NASCAR racin'.
"It's the No. 1 racing series in the United States, if not the world," Tony Stewart said. "There's a reason they all want to come here."
Tony Stewart said he still gets asked if he'll return to Indy-car racing.
"Every time that question comes up, I think of Sam Hornish running Tomas Scheckter into the front straightaway wall at Indy, and they weren't even halfway through the race," he said. "If they pulled that stuff here, they'd be wrecked [by other racers] every week."
Patrick Carpentier, a Canadian, is the latest open-wheeler to sign with NASCAR. He'll drive the No. 10 Dodge next year for Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Scott Riggs is vacating the No. 10 car to drive for Haas CNC Racing next year.
Mitch: Talladega's wild
"Wild Thing" at Talladega: a perfect match.
Mitch Williams spent last weekend at Talladega, talking about his "Wild Thing" salsa on several racing shows. The former Phillies reliever also watched the Nextel Cup race won by Jeff Gordon.
Stationed in Jeff Gordon's pit area early in the race, Williams didn't expect a victory from the four-time Cup champion.
"When he was hanging back, I was thinking, 'Jeff's not going to do very good today," Williams said. "When he won it on the final lap, it was awesome."
Referring to the estimated crowd of 150,000 at the track, plus thousands more outside the track, Williams said: "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I thought I saw crowds at baseball playoffs. It was unreal."
Williams is friendly with drivers Elliott and Hermie Sadler. Elliott is a Phillies fan and has worked out with the Phillies.
Jarrett retiring?
Dale Jarrett is expected to announce this weekend that he'll drive the No. 44 Toyota in the first six races next year, then retire. As a past Cup champion, Jarrett can use those provisionals to be sure the car makes the races.
Appeal denied
A NASCAR committee denied an appeal by Carl Edwards and Roush Fenway Racing concerning the penalties levied after Edwards' car failed a postrace inspection at Dover. Edwards, who won the race last month, was docked 25 points, crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $25,000 and car owner Jack Roush was docked 25 owner points. *
