Stewart proving it race after race
The Six is shorter than Jimmie Johnson's hair this week. Sorry, team. I'm further behind than Scott Speed.
Marty,
You can't tell me you're not impressed with Smoke! How surprised are you that he's done this good? He's my favorite driver, and I didn't think he'd win already! I didn't know if he'd win at all! I thought he was dumb to leave Joe Gibbs. What's been the biggest reason he's been good so quick?
-- Gabriel Markos, Sioux City, Iowa
Consistency, Gabriel, in every facet of the business. From the outset of this venture, Tony Stewart's mantra has been don't press, and try not to stress. He's managed to do those two things, and in fact says he's less stressed now than he was at Joe Gibbs Racing. Ownership was supposed to overload him with stress, and he says it has actually reduced it.
Running well has a way of doing that. He's on the verge of taking the championship points lead. The last time an owner-driver sat atop the Cup Series point standings was 555 races ago, when Alan Kulwicki left Atlanta Motor Speedway upon winning the 1992 championship.
Stewart is just 29 points behind Jeff Gordon -- who just so happened to debut at that Atlanta race all those years ago.
When Stewart made the decision to cannonball -- he has to be a cannonball guy; no way that big ol' hairy beast is the diving type -- into Sprint Cup ownership, everyone involved in NASCAR wondered if he could excel, i.e. win, leading a double-life.
The questions were endless: Could he delegate? Would he be able to focus on driving while attending to the needs and concerns of 140 other people? Sure, he'd done well as an owner of Sprint cars, but did his demeanor really lend itself to that level of leadership? After all, he's a hothead, right?
But after a quick start that included three eighth-place finishes in the first four races, those questions shifted: When might he earn that elusive first win? And now, in the wake of five top-5 finishes in the past six points-paying races, including a pair of runner-up efforts, folks wonder why he hasn't won yet.
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The guy can't win for performing. (Which, oddly enough, has served him very well in the public-relations game.)
Expectation for the 14 bunch has shifted, but it probably shouldn't have. Rick Hendrick gave Stewart his word that he wouldn't let Stewart Haas Racing fail. It's feasible Stewart may end up beating Hendrick with Hendrick's own cars and motors.
Working for Stewart is fun. I've asked. The gruff, bothered Stewart we often see at the race track isn't the same Stewart his team sees, and certainly now that he's an owner. Following the race at Texas in April, I stood outside Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s transporter for what seemed a half-hour, waiting on Junior to comment. Ryan Newman's transporter was parked nearby, and I watched from a distance as Stewart approached his teammate. He shook every single crewman's hand. He looked closely at the 39 car. He spoke intently to crew chief Tony Gibson. Most of his peers were hauling it to the airport. He was engaging with his boys.
He's told me since that that's his responsibility, and in fact he should have done that for his boys at Gibbs, too. But until now he didn't get it. He's still fiery, but he's matured a lot.
Stewart's co-owner, Gene Haas, recently got out of prison after spending two years there on tax fraud charges. When he met, Stewart he didn't know what to think. He figured Stewart was a "hard-ass," the same guy we see all catawampus on TV after a poor run or some question by a reporter.
Not so much. Haas found Stewart to be very kind and intelligent, and -- what? -- compassionate.
Marty,
I read a story the other day where Kyle Busch raced in the Camping World race at Iowa and how he shouldn't be allowed to do that. I agree totally. He's stealing from those other kids who are trying to make it to his level. He should be ashamed of himself.
-- Donny Simmers, Bradenton, Fla.
Ashamed? Ashamed of what? That's ridiculous, Donny. Busch loves to race, and fans love to watch him do it. Why should he be ashamed? He didn't take any money out of anybody's pockets. In fact, he probably put 20,000 butts in the stands. No offense to the full-time Camping World drivers, but I'd bet the vast percentage of the attendees were attendees at all because Busch was in that race.
Moreover, he made a shrewd competitive decision to compete, choosing to use that day as a glorified test session for the Nationwide Series race at Iowa later this year.
And to me, here's the bottom line: If Joe and J.D. Gibbs OK it, Busch can go race riding lawnmowers in Johnny Knoxville's backyard. If they're good with it, than it stands to reason Busch's sponsors are good with it.
Nobody else really has any say in the matter.
Hi Marty,
Are there any African-American drivers or team members coming up thru the ranks of NASCAR? I'm a huge African-American NASCAR fan.
-- Jackson, Hometown unknown
Be on the lookout for 20-year-old Ryan Gifford, Jackson. You've never heard of him, but you will. He has considerable driving talent. Gifford, from Winchester, Tenn., showed up virtually uninvited at a Chevrolet driver development combine in North Georgia in 2007 and walked away with a future.
Joey Logano, Roush Fenway Racing driver Colin Braun and former Hendrick Motorsports driver Landon Cassill were all at the combine, and at the end of the day Gifford got a shot in the car and was faster than all of them. Granted, it was on dirt and that was his forte, but speed is speed.
Richard Childress Racing competition director Mike Dillon was there. He noticed.
"He was impressive, so we talked with him and his grandmother, and said 'Hey, I've got a couple of opportunities, we might be able to put something together,'" Dillon said. "We got to talking to the right people, the folks at Shell were excited about it -- with their diversity program they had some funds aside from that.
"It was basically a casual conversation where we got to talking about it. Then I got a phone call back saying we want to look into this. It was awesome. Ryan won four races his first time out, and we've had a good time with it so far."
Gifford had a job doing brick work when Dillon called.
"It was unreal," Gifford said. "It's a thrill to get to do something like this. I feel really privileged."
Like hundreds of short-track drivers around America, Gifford aspires to reach the Sprint Cup level.
"I'm very confident I can do it," he said. "I've just got to stay focused, keep my mind on where my goals are and drive my butt off."
For now he's content dusting people on short tracks. He took part in the week-long DIRTCar Nationals down at Volusia Speedway during Speedweeks in February.
Though he'd run only one modified open-wheel event before then, he logged five top-5 feature finishes in seven nights of racing. I don't know how exactlymany cars show up at Volusia during Speedweeks, but it's something like 200.
Thus far, Gifford has run only four asphalt races. Three weeks ago he made his Camping World East Series debut, and was running seventh before being spun out on the final green-white-checkered flag attempt. He finished 17th. Gifford is scheduled to attempt three more CWES races this summer, the next being South Boston on May 30. If he runs well, a fifth attempt may be scheduled.
If he continues to excel, and Childress continues to give him good equipment, he could change the complexion of the sport -- quite literally.
Marty,
Have you been shopping for ties in DW's closet? Man that was one ugly tie you had on Monday. Please don't slip to DW's fashion level!
-- David Abbott, Atlanta
Bad lighting, David. Come on, man. That tie is awesome -- brown with teal paisleys -- one of my favorites. To your credit, even Lainie said it doesn't show up well on TV. I'll save that one for weddings, I reckon.
Marty,
Correct me if I'm wrong but is Junior two-for-two at Daytona in special white cars and a big 0-fer in anything else? Sure it's a silly concept to think that car color makes a difference, but what could it hurt to roll out something like that white car from the All-Star race in July?
At this point I'll bet he'd be willing to try anything. He just may get a boost from the added luck, karma, confidence, or whatever you want to call it. What do you think?
-- Matt, Pittsburgh
I think your e-mail shows how frustrated Junior fans are right now, Matt. This is the very definition of grasping at straws.
That said, I'm big on this type of thing -- uniform-color superstition and the like. Always have been. Maybe you're onto something.
It's akin to Virginia Tech's orange football jerseys. After the Hokies got spanked by Virginia in 1994, most Virginia Tech fans never wanted to see them again. But sure enough, they brought them back in 2008 and went 2-0 in orange. Maybe a white No. 88 at Daytona is in order, Matt.
Marty,
A buddy and I are debating on the finish of the 'Dega race. Carl Edwards got out of his car, remarkably unscathed from the COTank, and ran to the finish line. What does NASCAR constitute as finishing the race? Is it the driver or does the driver have to be in a running car? I am pretty sure no one can push someone across the finish line but what is the rule? Thanks.
-- Corey, Plainfield, Ill.
Good question, Corey. Edwards' Ricky Bobby trot didn't help his finish.
Sprint Cup race director David Hoots tells me no car can receive assistance after the white flag lap, except those cars making a pit stop. All cars must have a driver in the car when crossing the start/finish line to be scored.
Marty,
What the hell Jimmie Johnson do to his head? Get us the real story!
-- David Greenberg, The Left Coast
Many of you wrote to inquire about Johnson's new 'do. Here's the deal: After a couple hours of ribbing from his buddies, he caved, much to his wife's chagrin. Then, he handed some clippers to the neighborhood kiddies and let them flowbee his dome.
He sent me photo documentation throughout the process, and my response was simple: It looked as if he'd tripped and fallen into a weed eater.
Funny thing is, he still does. He might want to sneak over to a professional and ask for a quick buzz. Right now he looks like a human soccer ball.
That's my time. Thanks for sharing yours with me.
Marty Smith is a contributor to ESPN's NASCAR coverage. He can be reached at ESPNsider@aol.com.
