Tony Stewart News

Tony Stewart had a relatively quiet night in the 29th running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. 

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/National Wild Turkey Federation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), started 13th and finished 14th in the annual non-points race featuring drivers who have won a race in 2012 or 2013, in addition to All-Star Race winners and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions from the past 10 years.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS, led Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in time trials Friday night at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway by qualifying 11th for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. Newman’s time of 114.716 seconds at 141.218 mph, which included three timed laps around the 1.5-mile oval with a four-tire pit stop, placed him 11th among the 19 drivers already eligible for the 29th running of the non-points event.

“That was a pretty cool qualifying deal,” said Newman, who won the 2002 All-Star Race as a Sprint Cup rookie. “Coming to pit road like that with no speed limit, entering and exiting at speed, I don’t know that I’ve ever done that. Kudos to whoever came up with that idea. We obviously weren’t as fast as we would’ve liked. The guys made some adjustments to the Aspen Dental Chevrolet prior to qualifying, and while the changes were good, I think we needed just a little more. We’ll start a little farther back than I would like to, but we’ll see what we can do once the race starts.”

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (May 15, 2013) – The NBA has Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal on its list with 15 All-Star appearances. Baseball greats such as Brooks Robinson, Ozzie Smith and Yogi Berra each played in 15 All-Star Games. And proving how elusive 15 is, no NFL player has played in 15 Pro Bowls. The only one to come close is Merlin Olsen with 14. 

Saturday night at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/National Wild Turkey Federation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing, joins this exclusive club of 15 by making his 15th appearance in NASCAR’s All-Star event – the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. 

In a fast-paced Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway that at one point had only 10 cars on the lead lap, Tony Stewart was poised to score a top-10 finish in one of the most grueling races the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has to offer. But when the checkered flag dropped on the 367-lap contest, Stewart and his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS crossed the stripe in 15th Saturday night.

Stewart was in eighth place on a restart with 59 laps remaining, and coming off turn four of the 1.366-mile oval, the three-time Sprint Cup champion earned his first “Darlington Stripe” after brushing the wall. 

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, led the three-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent in time trials Friday at Darlington (S.C) Raceway by qualifying 20th for the 64th Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night. Stewart turned a lap of 27.511 seconds at 178.750 mph around the 1.366-mile oval.

“That was one lap, and we have 367 more of them tomorrow night,” said Stewart, who won the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Darlington and has four top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in 20 career Sprint Cup starts at the venerable track. “It’s a long race, and this is a place where you have to race the racetrack more than anything. We’ve got a lot of adjustability built into our Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy, so we’ll be ready for whatever the track throws at us.”

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (May 7, 2013) – She’s a mature lady with a robust personality and a devil-may-care attitude. A little rough around the edges, she has broken the hearts of many. Her take-no-prisoners approach is simply irresistible to her most ardent suitors. And like a moth to a flame, they all keep coming back for more. 

For Tony Stewart, however, she is more than just formidable. She’s the one that got away. And year after year, she seemingly stays just out of reach of Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing.

The “Big One” – the massive, multi-car accident that is a mainstay of restrictor-plate racing – happened on lap 44 of the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Among the 16 cars collected in the melee was the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS of Tony Stewart.

Stewart’s car sustained right-side damage, and the front of his black-and-orange Chevy was beat up, as well. As Stewart tried to evade the mass of spinning cars, the nose of his machine dug into the water-logged sod lining the inside of turn one and pushed in the grille, breaking many components of the car’s cooling system, specifically, the brackets holding the radiator. 

Rain canceled Saturday’s qualifying session for the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. As a result, the 43-car field for Sunday’s 188-lap event around the 2.66-mile oval was set by taking the fastest lap each driver posted during Friday’s first practice session, per the NASCAR rulebook.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), will start fifth. His teammates, Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet SS, and Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, will start 23rd and 25th, respectively.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C., (May 1, 2013) – For 138 years, the first weekend in May has been synonymous with one of sports most grand traditions – the Kentucky Derby. On Saturday at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., promising three-year olds such as Revolutionary, Orb, Verrazano and Normandy Invasion look to make history by winning the 139th “Run for the Roses,” or as it is also known, “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports”. 

Meanwhile, a few hundred miles south in the heart of Alabama, accomplished drivers such as Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick will prepare for another race that is quickly becoming part of the tradition that is the first weekend in May – the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Tony Stewart had high hopes that a trip to his favorite track might cure what has been ailing his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team, and that looked to be the case with only three laps remaining in the Toyota Owners 400 Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. But rather than celebrating his first top-five of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, Stewart dropped from fifth to 18th during the green-white-checkered finish at the .75-mile oval and wound up in a post-race confrontation with fellow driver Kurt Busch.

It was a rough ending to a night that started in a similar fashion. The No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS was quite a handful during the first third of the 400-lap race. Stewart had battled a tight-handling issue in the middle of the turns all day Friday, and the problem persisted well into Saturday’s race. Mired in the 27th position during a caution on lap 159, crew chief Steve Addington elected to bring the car in for four tires and fuel while most of the field stayed on the track. The fresh tires were the catalyst needed to spur the No. 14 Chevy as Stewart started making steady progress through the field, cracking the top-15 for the first time on lap 218 and running as high as 10th during the next 100 laps around the track.