Sunday, March 29, 2009

On Pit Road: Stewart-Haas Comes Alive in Martinsville

Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman started the 2009 season with a lot of questions of what the new team could accomplish. While Stewart got off to a good start, coming to Martinsville 7th in points, the 39 team with Newman has struggled, entering Martinsville 27th in the points.
Stewart continues to lead the Stewart-Haas Racing driver lineup in the championship point race, as his third-place finish kept him seventh in the standings after race six of 36. Newman made a big gain with his sixth-place run, vaulting nine spots to 18th in the standings. Stewart is 161 points behind series leader Gordon while Newman is 334 points out of first.
“We had a good day today. I’m happy for the Old Spice/Office Depot guys and I’m really happy for Ryan and the U.S. Army guys,” said Stewart as he proudly wore his owner hat. “I don’t know that it’s really gelling, because we’ve just been like this from day one. It’s just kind of figuring things out. Ryan’s learning a new package, I’m learning a new package, and it’s learning what each of us wants.
It appears to this writer that there is still more work to be done by the 39 crew as they lost positions on every pit stop at Martinsville. Newman was quick to make up those spots on the track, but one has to wonder what might have happened. Qualifying was rained out, relegating Newman to a 27th place start, for a driver that has averaged an 8th place start in 15 races at Martinsville, starting that far back at a track where passing is so hard was a disadvantage from the start. Despite starting in the back he meticulously moved his way up to the top ten, only to be dropped back after each pit stop. After the final caution on lap 474, he came out 10th, and fought to catch up to and finally pass Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get to 7th behind Mark Martin. A four lap, side by side battle with Martin ended on the last lap when Newman finally got by to take the 6th position at the flag.
Stewart appears confident in the SHR organization and remains upbeat about their success during their first season. “It’s coming. It just takes time. It’s like we say every Monday in our competition meeting. We’ve just got to build a database first. Once we get that established, then I think the second time we come around, we’re going to be a little better yet.”
At the pace SHR is improving, Tony Stewart in the 14 car appears to be a safe bet to make the Chase. With Newman and the 39 car in 31st in points just two weeks ago, the idea of a Chase berth was not even remotely a consideration. However, if the team continues to show the same commitment and improvement that has been displayed over the past two races, they may very well be the first team to make the Chase after such a slow start since the Chase began.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

ON PIT ROAD: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not!



The fifth race of the 2009 season is in the books and the new owners points begin at Martinsville. So how have the preseason picks turned out so far?
HOT
Jeff Gordon - Number 1 heading into week six, after a less than stellar 2008 many folks thought he was on his way down. Not Yet kids.
Kurt Bush - Number 2, after moving to Penske, this is his best start yet.
Kasey Kahne - After a couple of hot years, his performance the last two seasons was disappointing at best. With a strong start he’s currently in 6th.
Tony Stewart - After leaving JGR for a virtual no name team, he was expected to have a slow start. He’s proved a lot of folks wrong as he sits in 7th.
David Reutimann - Even with a strong late season surge in 2008, his chances of a full time ride this year was in doubt. He leads the MWR crew at 11th
Marcos Ambrose - Not considered to be a strong runner, Marcos had a top 10 at Bristol and stands 24th. Not a good place for the veterans, but for a new team it’s outstanding.
A.J. Almendinger - Running a car that is not fully sponsored, and still not slated for the entire season, A.J. is sitting 16th.
NOT
Dale Earnhardt Jr - Nascar’s most popular driver missed the mark last year, but he and his fans had high hopes for 2008, He’s 19th and struggling to stay in the top 20.
Joey Logano - The rookie hot shot picked to replace Tony Stewart in the Home Depot Chevy at JGR is off to a less than stellar start as he sits 34th and on the verge of being a go or go homer.
Ryan Newman - The Rocketman started on the outside of the front row at Bristol and hanging in there for a 7th place finish, but car trouble early in the season leave him in 27th.
Mark Martin - Mr. #2 was a solid threat with Jack Roush, moved from DEI to Hendrick in the hunt for that elusive title, after 5 races he sit’s a disappointing 31st.

As the teams ready for Martinsville the owners points accumulated THIS year begin to count, so who is ahead and who is behind.
Tony Stewart - Although he had the Past Champions Provisional to fall back on, he sits 7th.
A.J.Almendinger - Started the season with the 45 points at 41st, this go or go homer is now 16th.
Robby Gordon - was 34th from 2008, and now sits 30th
Mark Martin - had 21st place points from 2008, now sits in 31st
Sam Hornish Jr.- used the Bill Davis points to start the season is in at 32nd.
John Andretti - Using the 01 points from last year squeaks in at 33rd.
Joey Logano- Had Tony Stewarts 9th place points to get him started, now sits 34th
David Gilliland - Dumped by Yates, he hooked up with startup team of Kevin Buckler, he goes to Martinsville 35th in owners points.
Scott Speed - started the season with the locked in 35th in points, is now on the outside at 36th.
Aric Almirola - Swapped points with the 42 to start with 25th, is outside at 37th.
Paul Menard - with a new team that used the Yates points from the 38 team at 28th, now sits 38th.
Travis Kvapil - finished 2008 23rd in points, but after his points were given to the Hall of fame team, he was left outside to start the year. He is outside at 39th.
Dave Blaney -Finished 31st with Bill Davis in 2008, moved to start up team of Phil Parsons, the team sits 40th.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

On Pit Road: Loose Wheels Spoil Day for Stewart-Haas

Stewart-Haas Racing entered the 2009 Nascar Sprint Cup season much akin to a start up team. Tony Stewart’s partnership in the team came with wholesale changes in personnel and strategies.
Both teams, 14 Tony Stewart and 39 Ryan Newman, suffered at Daytona with wrecked cars but Tony was able to rebound in the 500 with an eighth place finish, while Newman fought an ill handling car to finish 36th. As they headed to Fontana the following week, Stewart again claimed a top 10 finish while Newman fought gremlins all day settling for a 28th place finish.
Heading into week three at LasVegas SHR was fighting to get the game together and with both cars qualifying in the top 10, it looked like the turnaround was at hand. Early in the race, both drivers complained of loose handling cars, but adjustments on pit stops corrected the problems. Newman lost a lap early in the race with the handling problem, but hung in to get the lucky dog and returned to the lead lap.
With about 100 laps to go, Newman, while running 13th in the field reported a vibration that got worse in the turns and the tri-oval. Ryan began falling back in the field until on lap 200 he was forced to make a green flag pit stop, sending him down 2 laps. The vibration? A loose left rear wheel.
Ironically at about the same time as Ryan was pitting, Tony reported a vibration in the 14 car, that was getting worse with each lap completed. Darren Grubb called Tony in on lap 204 to change right side tires, but after returning to the track, Stewart reported the vibration getting worse. The second green flag stop to change left side tires, where they found the loose left rear wheel, left Stewart 2 laps down.
In the end the Stewart-Haas cars finished 25th (Newman) and 26th (Stewart), dropping Stewart four positions in the points standings to 8th. Ryan Newman remains in 33rd in the championship standings. But both drivers were upbeat about the team and the cars as they see the problems so far a learning experience that has been hampered by the new testing rules of Nascar.
“We had a fast car today,” Newman said. “Even after our problems, we were running with the leaders and even gaining on them. We just had a loose wheel, and that took us out of contention. I feel confident that if we can get everything clicking with our Haas Automation team, we will be a force to deal with each and every week on the racetrack.”
“We had a solid car all day – definitely a top-five car. The finish doesn’t show the performance that we had,” said Stewart after making his 11th career Sprint Cup start at Las Vegas. “Obviously, we had bad luck with the left-rear that came loose, but I take five-fold over that that we were good. “There’s still question marks I’m sure with a lot of people, ‘Can we do this?’ and three weeks in a row we’ve gone out and run well. We didn’t get the physical finish today that we deserved, but we had a good performance on the racetrack. Every time I leave the racetrack, it just gives me confidence that we’re going to be something to contend with at the end of the year.”
By the time the ‘Chase’ begins, I would look to se at least one, if not both of these cars in the top 12. Needless to say Gene Haas and Haas Automation made a brilliant decision in partnering with Stewart. Bring the knowledge he gained with Joe Gibbs Racing and his own personal drive, Tony Stewart revamped a mediocre organization into a driving force among Nascar teams.