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Stewart back in victory lane
Tuesday, July 17, 2007 2:02 PM EDT
JOLIET, Ill.—Tony Stewart climbed the fence at Chicagoland Speedway and celebrated with fans after winning Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400, for his first win since last November at Texas.
In a race that left many fans feeling like they didn’t get enough bang for their buck, Stewart was able to dominate the latter stages of the 267-lap race.
"Being out front and being in clean air was everything," said Stewart. "The team is the ones that got us into victory lane today."
Stewart was leading with Jimmie Johnson running a close second on lap 220, when Johnson lost a right-rear tire and went into the wall. He demolished his No. 48 Hendrick Chevrolet, wound up 37th, and dropped from fourth to seventh in the points.
From that point on, it seemed like everyone’s pit strategy changed.
When green flag racing resumed on lap 230, it was Stewart, followed by Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Carl Edwards.
Kenseth challenged Stewart for the lead on the restart, but after a couple of laps, Kenseth dropped back to run second.
"I can’t say that I’m happy, because no racer is ever happy to finish second," said Kenseth. "We just didn’t have the car. One time I got a run on him and ran side-by-side for a lap or two, but when I got down into three I almost lost control, and I didn’t want to take both of us out."
Carl Edwards, Kenseth’s Roush Fenway teammate had one bad pit stop midway of the race, but at the end he tried to overtake Kenseth for second, but had to settle for third.
"We had a good car today, and it was fun racing with Matt," said Edwards. "My hat’s off to Tony. Our car was awesome and we were coming, but that’s just the way it played out."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a pump freeze up and the power steering belt broke on lap 207. He had to drive the remainder of the race without the benefit of power steering.
"Man, it was tough," he said. "I’ve never had that happen before. I didn’t know what had happened. At first I thought it was a tire, and then the steering locked up.
"I did the best I could."
Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10 finishers.
Top-12 Chase For the Nextel Cup Contenders: 1. J. Gordon-2911, 2. Hamlin-2608, 3. Kenseth-2565, 4. J. Burton-2491, 5. Edwards-2473, 6. Stewart-2429, 7. Johnson-2423, 8. Harvick-2337, 9. Kyle Busch-2314, 10. Bowyer-2281, 11. Truex-2208, 12. Earnhardt-2151
EDWARDS CONTINUES TO LEAD BUSCH SERIES
Top-10 Busch Series leaders; 1. Edwards-3074, 2. Harvick-2358, 3. Reutimann-2207, 4. Blaney-2194, 5. Ragan-2116, 6. Leffler-2097, 7. Hamilton Jr.-2059, 8. Leicht-2000, 9. Bowyer-1999, 10. Ambrose-1939
SKINNER GETS
FOURTH TRUCK WIN
Top-10 Craftsman Truck Series leaders: 1. Skinner-2238, 2. Hornaday-2074, 3. T. Bodine-1950, 4. Kvapil-1950, 5. Crawford-1731, 6. Benson-1721, 7. Sprague-1629, 8. Musgrave-1601, 9. Crafton-1571, 10. Fike-1487
HOW MUCH LONGER FOR MARLIN
As Sterling Marlin and the rest of the Nextel Cup teams get this weekend off, the driver of the No. 14 Ginn Racing Chevrolet weighs in on the 2007 season and beyond.
With Ginn’s announced cutbacks to a two-car team in 2008, Marlin might be out of a ride.
Currently ranked 28th in Nextel Cup driver points, Marlin says he's looking for top finishes during the rest of the season to help propel the team in the standings.
The following is a short question and answer with Marlin, who competed in his 730th Cup race this past Sunday.
Q: Evaluate your 2007 season.
Marlin: "This season’s been pretty up and down for us. We’ve had some really good runs and then some problems that we want to forget about. We wanted to be strong off the bat in Daytona and that looked like it was going to work out for us until we got wrecked on the last lap.
"We’ve had some good runs and thought we’d have some better finishes, but we just haven’t gotten everything going in the right direction at the same time yet.
"Our number one goal has always been to win races and that’s never going to change. But we also want to focus on getting solid finishes every week and moving up higher in the points. Last year we were 34th at the halfway mark of the season, so we’re in better shape now than we were then.
"We also want to have a car that consistently contends for top-10 finishes. If we can do that, we’ll be putting ourselves in a good position to win a race."
Q: What races are you looking forward to before the end of the season?
Marlin: "Even though we've had terrible luck at the restrictor-plate tracks, I always look forward to Daytona and Talladega so I'm ready to get there (Talladega) in the fall. Other than that I really like the short tracks. So Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond are on my list of places I'm ready for."
There is the possibility that Ginn might run a third team in 2008 on a part-time basis. If so, this might be just the ticket for Marlin, who turned 50 on June 30.
He hasn’t won a race since 2002 with Chip Ganassi Racing. After 730 races, the Franklin, Tennessee native knows the clock is running down on his racing career.
As fellow driver Ken Schrader, once said, "When you pass that big 40 mark, your telephone don’t ring very often." Based on Schrader’s statement, Marlin has had 10 years of grace, so why shouldn’t he be ready to retire to his farm in Tennessee?
"If I could run a part-time schedule for a couple years that would be O.K.," continued Marlin. "It would be hard to shut down all my racing, because I still love to do it. I’m sure a part-time schedule would work, maybe something like Bill Elliott is doing.
"When you’ve done a thing for over 30 years, it’s hard to just pull the plug on it."
Marlin’s best years were 1995 and 2001, when he finished third in the Winston Cup points. But he has provided fans with lots of excitement and has been a good ambassador for the sport.
Your fans will miss you Sterling.
Weekend Racing
It looks pretty slim for NASCAR fans this weekend. The Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck teams have an off weekend. The only major racing is in the Busch Series. They will be at the 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway, across the river from St. Louis, MO.
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