Stewart is still trying to catch up to leaders
HAMPTON, Ga . -- Tony Stewart isn't ready to start thinking about 2008 just yet.
Sure, he's fourth in the standings and 249 points behind leader Jeff Gordon with four races to go. But Tony Stewart, the defending winner of the races this Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and next weekend at Texas, is far from ready to concede anything.
"Until somebody comes up and says 'OK, mathematically you are out of it,' until then, we have a shot," Tony Stewart said.
The two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup champion suffered through a frustrating failure to make the end-of-season Chase for the championship last year, but came back strong this season to easily make the 12-driver postseason.
After getting off to a strong start in this year's 10-race Chase, with finishes of third and ninth at New Hampshire and Dover, Tony Stewart hit the skids with a crash that relegated him to 39th at Kansas.
That dug him a hole that he has yet to climb out of, despite following with finishes of eighth at Talladega, seventh at Charlotte and 13th last week at Martinsville.
Going into Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500, Tony Stewart trails only four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, reigning champion Jimmie Johnson and second-year Cup star Clint Bowyer, the surprise of this year's Chase. But the deficit is imposing with the races running out.
Perhaps the only good thing about Tony Stewart's situation is that he can now throw caution and strategy to the wind -- just as he did last year when he wasn't part of the championship.
"When it happened, we were obviously devastated," Tony Stewart said of missing the Chase in 2006. "But it's just part of the sport, because it shows how competitive this series is.
"When we didn't get in, it wasn't the end of the world. We just switched our focus. We didn't have the goal of trying to win a championship anymore. Our goal was go out and try to win races, and that's exactly what we did. ... We ended up winning five races last year. Chase or no Chase, we had a lot to be proud of."
Overall, he has had a better year in 2007. But Tony Stewart, who has three wins so far this season, understands how tough his situation is.
"Even if we win the race for the last four weeks in a row, there is still no guarantee that we could close the gap," Tony Stewart said. "All we can do is worry about ourselves right now. It really takes the pressure off of us. All we can do is go for broke now.
"Anything can happen to any of the teams. ... There is no blueprint that says, 'This is how you win or don't win a championship.' "
"So, as long as mathematically you still have a chance, you're in it."
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