Cool Orange, the “New Fast” with Tony Stewart

After 75 years of providing fast pain relief, Goody’s Headache Powders®, the favorite pain reliever of race fans, is introducing a revolutionary new flavor, Cool Orange. To celebrate the new flavor, two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Tony Stewart has been named spokesperson for Goody’s Cool Orange and will drive two special Goody’s Cool Orange paint schemes in the NASCAR Busch Series for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The new Goody’s Cool Orange, the first flavored powder pain reliever on the market, provides the same fast pain relief as the original Goody’s with a new, fresh orange flavor. Goody’s Cool Orange is also specially designed for race fans as it features the convenience of innovative sealed packs making them easy to carry on the go.

Stewart will drive the No. 18 Goody’s Cool Orange Chevrolet in the Nicorette® 300 NASCAR Busch Series race on March 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the No. 20 Cool Orange Chevrolet at the O’Reilly Challenge NASCAR Busch Series race on November 3 at Texas Motor Speedway. Stewart will also appear in promotions and advertising for the new Goody’s Cool Orange including a campaign co-starring lifetime Goody’s spokesperson Richard Petty.

“Over the years, Goody’s has always provided me with very fast pain relief,” said Stewart. “I’m really excited to be the spokesperson for Cool Orange. The flavor is great and the new packaging is really convenient for race fans. It is truly an honor to be associated with a brand that has such a long-standing relationship with the sport and the fans.”

Stewart is a two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with his most recent victory coming last October in the Bass Pro Shops 500. The week after his win at Atlanta, Stewart won the Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I am looking forward to continuing our momentum in 2007 with Joe Gibbs Racing and getting the Goody’s Cool Orange Chevrolet into victory lane in the NASCAR Busch Series races at both Atlanta and Texas,” said Stewart. “Not to mention, orange is my favorite color.”

The special Cool Orange paint schemes in 2007 will mark the second consecutive year that Stewart will drive a Goody’s paint scheme in a NASCAR Busch Series race. Stewart drove the No. 8 Goody’s Headache Powders Chevrolet to a 16th place finish last season at the fall NASCAR Busch Series race in Charlotte. All-time in the NASCAR Busch Series, Stewart has two wins, four poles, 15 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes in 65 career starts.

“Tony Stewart will undoubtedly prove that Cool Orange is the ‘new fast’ to all the fans throughout Goody’s Country,” said Darren Singer, Vice President of Marketing for Goody’s Headache Powders. “Tony is an ideal spokesperson for the speed, taste and convenience of this revolutionary new flavor. We can’t wait to have our fans try Goody’s Cool Orange and see Tony drive the Cool Orange car to victory lane.”

Goody’s Cool Orange will be available in stores beginning March 1. Fans can sample the new flavor at the Fast Relief Zone, an interactive fan display present at several NASCAR events beginning with the March 16-18 race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and during the Goody’s Cool Orange Bar Tour that will visits bars near racetracks during select race weekends.

Celebrating its 30th year in racing, Goody’s entered the sport in 1977 and has sponsored races at Daytona International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway where it will return as NASCAR NEXTEL Cup sponsor of this April’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500. “The King” Richard Petty has served as spokesperson for Goody’s since 1977 and was recently signed to a lifetime contract. Tony Stewart joined as a Goody’s spokesperson in 2005.

Stewart Favored to Win UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

Micah Roberts, oddsmaker for Station Casinos in Las Vegas, has chosen Tony Stewart as his favorite to win the March 11 UAW - DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson, defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion and a two-time winner in Las Vegas, is a close second. Stewart is favored at 6-to-1, while Johnson’s odds to win have been set at 7-to-1.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has yet to visit victory lane at LVMS, is next at 8-to-1. Matt Kenseth, who won here in 2003 and 2004, also is set at 8-to-1.

On the other end of the spectrum, Michael Waltrip - who struggled at Daytona and failed to qualify at California - is saddled with odds of 555-to-1.

Tickets for LVMS’ 2007 NASCAR Weekend, featuring the UAW - DaimlerChrysler 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race and the NASCAR Busch Series Sam’s Town 300, may be purchased online through TicketZoom.

Tony Stewart Racing Ready to Turn Up the Heat in Arizona WoO Racing Action

McMahan, TSR Seek First WoO Victory in the Desert

INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 26, 2007) – Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Paul McMahan and the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team are eager to head into the desert of Arizona this week, as they hope to capture their first World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series victory of the season. McMahan and the WoO Sprint Series will return to USA Race Park on Friday (March 2), and Manzanita Speedway on Saturday (March 3), for the first time this season. The No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team won the spring event at USA Race Park in Tucson, Ariz., on March 4, 2006, in the series’ first outing at the facility.

McMahan is hoping that history will repeat itself and that he’ll be able to drive the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle into Victory Lane at USA Race Park for a second time.

“It’s always a confidence booster when you go back to a track where you’ve had previous success,” McMahan said. “We know how to win at USA Race Park and we’ll use all of our resources and notes to see if we can do so again this Friday for Bass Pro Shops and Chevrolet. USA Race Park is such a great facility; it’s one of the nicest facilities we compete at throughout the year. The track is always in great shape and it’s not uncommon to have three-wide racing throughout the night. It’s a fun track to compete on.”

Friday’s WoO Sprint Series event at USA Race Park will mark the series’ third event at the 3/8-mile facility. McMahan and the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team competed there two times in 2006, earning a 10th-place finish in October of 2006 in addition to the spring victory. The March win marked McMahan’s fifth career WoO Sprint Series A-main event triumph.

Saturday’s race at Manzanita Speedway will see the WoO Sprint Series make its first of two appearances in Phoenix during the 2007 racing season. In two outings at the half-mile, semi-banked facility in 2006, McMahan scored an eighth-place finish on March 3, 2006, and a 21st-place finish on Oct. 20, 2006.

While the facility presents a challenge to McMahan and the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team, they are confident they have its number.

“Manzanita is an older race track and it can be a real challenge to keep up with it,” said McMahan. “What we’ve got going for us is that we’ve got notes from last year’s races and years of experience between the crew and I. We’ve seen this track do many things over the years and we know how to adjust to the changing conditions it can present. I enjoy racing on half-mile tracks and I think we’re going to be contenders for the victory this Saturday at Manzanita.”

McMahan and the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team heads to the Arizona desert with some positive momentum under their belts, as they posted the season’s first “Fast Qualifier” award for Bass Pro Shops and Chevrolet at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., last Saturday night. The award marked another first in Chevrolet’s open-wheel program history. A broken pushrod ended the No. 20 team’s night prematurely in Friday’s A-main and McMahan battled to a 12th place finish in Saturday’s A-main after mud packed under the throttle pedal, creating acceleration issues in the late stages of the race.

“The bright spot of the weekend was setting quick time on Saturday night,” McMahan said. “It felt good to have a fast car, but we just couldn’t get any luck to fall our way. We had a good run going on Friday when we lost a push rod that took us out of the feature early. On Saturday, we had a really great car. We had a good starting position for the A-main and had moved up to third when the pedals started to get mud-packed. Mud was coming in the cockpit in chunks. The track was really heavy and rough and I tried to clean the mud out from under the pedals during the caution, but I couldn’t get it all. Toward the end of the race, I could barely get the pedal to move and we slipped to 12th to finish the A-main. It was great to put the first fast time award of the year in the record books for Chevrolet and Bass Pro Shops. We believe it will be the first of many. We’re looking forward to heading to Arizona this week, especially to USA Race Park.”

McMahan and the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle team enters this weekend’s racing action ranked 13th in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings. The team has earned one top-10 finish in five series events thus far in 2007, putting McMahan only 107 points behind series leader Donny Schatz in the championship standings.

Pit gates will open at 12 p.m. MST on Friday at USA Race Park. Grandstand gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m. MST, with racing beginning at 6:45 p.m. MST. At Manzanita Speedway on Saturday, pit gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. MST. The grandstand gates will open to race fans at 6 p.m. MST with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. MST. Tickets for Friday’s event at USA Race Park can be purchased by phone at 520-574-8515, or by emailing the track at tickets@usadirttrack.com. Race fans can purchase tickets for Saturday’s event at Manzanita Speedway by calling 602-276-7575.

Race fans can listen to all the action on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Visit www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other fans listening to the action.

For complete results from USA Race Park and Manzanita Speedway, log on to www.usadirttrack.com, www.manzanitaspeedway.us or www.worldofoutlaws.com.

Tony Rallies for Top-10 Finish in Fontana

Tony Stewart ran three races in one during Sunday’s Auto Club 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at California Speedway in Fontana. The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet led four times for 28 laps, but had to overcome a pit road speeding penalty that sent him from first to 21st with 90 laps remaining. Stewart rallied his way to eighth when the checkered flag dropped to score his sixth top-10 finish in his 11 career Nextel Cup races at California.

“We had a good car, that’s for sure,” said Stewart after the race, still bristling from the pit road infraction. “I was 300 rpm below what I needed to maintain pit road speed. So, unless the line (where a timing light is set up) is in a spot where I don’t know it’s at… I don’t know. NASCAR has all that computer stuff and it tells you exactly when and where, so I’ll be interested to see it.”

Stewart’s first drive to the front came quickly. He started 11th, but by just the third lap around the 2-mile oval, he was fourth.

A caution-filled start to the race altered the team’s strategy, as three cautions for 12 laps in the race’s first 23 laps went against California’s history of providing long, green flag runs right from the start.

As a result, Stewart had to pit under caution on lap 21 for four tires and fuel. This sent him back to 30th, as many of his competitors had pitted during the two previous caution periods.

But the trip backward was of little matter, as Stewart climbed to 15th by lap 48. With a long, green flag run finally presenting itself, Stewart drove his Home Depot Chevrolet to fifth by lap 53 before a caution ended the stint.

Thanks to quick pit work by The Home Depot over-the-wall crew, Stewart restarted in third on lap 59. A lap later he was second after passing Bobby Labonte for the position, and on lap 66 Stewart took first from eventual race winner Matt Kenseth.

Stewart ran up front for the next 100 laps, trading the lead with other challengers such as Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer. But when Stewart was called by NASCAR officials for speeding on his entry to pit road en route to a scheduled pit stop on lap 159, he was jettisoned to 21st via a pit road pass-through penalty on the following lap.

“It’s still a long way to go,” said crew chief Greg Zipadelli over the radio. “We’re still on the lead lap. Take care of that thing.”

Stewart did just that, rising to 16th with 75 laps to go. By lap 190 he was 11th, and again with quick pit work by his crew, was able to re-enter the top-10 after a four-tire pit stop on lap 198 gained him a position.

Stewart climbed to seventh before the red flag waved for rookie driver David Reutimann’s hard crash on lap 243. With only seven laps remaining, Stewart and Zipadelli discussed their options once the red flag was lifted – stay out or pit, and if they pitted, change two tires or all four?

“We had to do something,” said Stewart. “We knew the guys behind us were going to take tires. We were kind of right in the middle of a cut-off point. We knew a certain amount of guys were going to take four, and the rest of them were going to stay out since they were a little further up there. So, we just took the chance.”

The No. 20 team changed four tires and filled the tank with fuel, dropping Stewart to 11th when the green flag dropped for the final time on lap 246. In five laps Stewart passed his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate J.J. Yeley, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch to creep up to eighth.

Stewart’s JGR teammates – Denny Hamlin and Yeley – finished 11th and 13th, respectively, in the Auto Club 500.

Yeley continues to lead the trio of JGR drivers in the championship point race, as his 13th-place finish moved him up two spots to eighth in the standings. Hamlin and Stewart occupy the 18th and 21st positions, respectively. Hamlin gained 10 positions via his 11th-place result, while Stewart gained 18 positions care of his eighth-place finish.

Kenseth’s victory in the Auto Club 500 was his 15th career Nextel Cup victory and his second at California. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson finished second and third, respectively, while Jeff Burton and Mark Martin rounded out the top-five. Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Stewart, Kyle Busch and Vickers comprised the remainder of the top-10.

Stewart Finishes 11th in Fontana Busch Race

Tony Stewart advanced 12 positions in Saturday’s Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway in Fontana to finish 11th in his first Busch Series start of the year for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR).

Stewart began the 150-lap race from 23rd in the 41-car field, but quickly took his No. 18 Z-Line Designs Chevrolet toward the front, cracking the top-10 on lap 12 and breaking into the top-five on lap 32.

Stewart stayed within the top-five until the midpoint of the race, for when the sun set on the 2-mile oval and its surface cooled, Stewart’s car wasn’t as potent as it had been at the beginning of the race.

“I need it be a little free through the corners,” said Stewart to crew chief Jason Ratcliff over the radio on lap 73. “It’s not terrible in the corners, but I just can’t run with them in a straight line.”

While Stewart worked with what he had, a few of his competitors got better as the race wore on. Instead of being in or near the top-five, Stewart was fighting to stay in the top-10.

“As soon as I lose the draft, these guys just drive away,” said Stewart on lap 132.

By lap 140, Stewart was securely in 11th. The Z-Line Designs driver had a healthy buffer ahead of 12th-place David Stremme while 10th-place Dave Blaney enjoyed an equally solid advantage over Stewart.

“Overall, a pretty uneventful race,” said Stewart, whose best Busch Series finish at California remains the second-place result he earned in May 2004. “We just needed a little bit more to run with those guys up front. But it’s only the second race of the year. This team will have a lot more opportunities.”

Stewart’s JGR teammate – Denny Hamlin – finished eighth to score his 37th career top-10 Busch Series finish.

Matt Kenseth scored his 22nd career Busch Series victory and his fourth at California by winning the Stater Bros. 300. Casey Mears finished second, while Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle secured the rest of the top-five. Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Hamlin, Regan Smith and Blaney comprised the remainder of the top-10.

An Elite Club in Auto Club 500

So Tony Stewart is 40th in points to start the 2007 edition of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. So what?

The two-time Nextel Cup champion and driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing won his first championship in 2002 after finishing last in the Daytona 500 when an engine failure cut his race short on just the second lap of the 200-lap race. By the seventh race of the 2002 season, Stewart was a mainstay within the top-10 in points, taking the championship lead after the 30th race of the year at Talladega (Ala.).

And in 2007, Stewart is in good company, as three other past champions along with a handful of title contenders left Daytona with finishes of 25th or worse.

Entering Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at California Speedway in Fontana, Stewart and fellow Nextel Cup champions Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are in a club of their own, as all are outside of the top-25 in points. Joining them is a handful of drivers who have vied for championships in the past, as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin are also 25th or worse in the championship standings.

But it’s just the second round of the 36-race Nextel Cup schedule, with plenty of time to make significant gains toward the top of the point standings.

For Stewart, a winner of 29 point-paying Nextel Cup races, he has added incentive to not only run well at California, but to win. The 2-mile oval in Fontana is one of just four Nextel Cup venues where Stewart has yet to record a victory, the others being Las Vegas, Talladega and Darlington (S.C.).

While Stewart hasn’t yet won at California, he has run well, logging five top-10 finishes and leading 185 laps in his 11 career starts. And in companion NASCAR Busch Series races at California, Stewart finished second in May 2004, won the pole with a track record time of 38.722 seconds at 185.941 mph in February 2005 – a mark that still stands – and finished sixth in September 2006, all while leading a total of 23 laps.

Aiding Stewart’s goal of winning at California is the orange and black Home Depot Chevrolet built by his Greg Zipadelli-led Joe Gibbs Racing team. Chassis No. 120 is Stewart’s ride for California – the same mount that won three of the last eight races in 2006. Chassis No. 120 out-fueled the field to win a gas mileage race at Kansas, then just out-performed everyone else in dominating fashion by scoring back-to-back wins at Atlanta and Texas, leading 424 of an available 664 laps (64 percent).

With a shot at a Daytona 500 victory dashed by a crash, Stewart and Co. come to California intent on securing career win No. 30.

After spending so much time in Daytona for Speedweeks, how much of a relief is it to get back to a normal three-day race weekend?

“I think everybody’s pretty worn out after being in Daytona for so long. California means a normal routine and a chance for the crew guys to get back to their families for a couple of days before heading to another race track.”

Why do you look forward to California so much after racing at Daytona?

“What you do at California is solely based on what you and your team can do with your race car, not what drafting line you’re in or how the car behind you is going to affect your next move. Once we get away from Daytona everything kind of settles into a groove. We’re back in the weekly grind. I enjoy going to California because I really feel that’s where our season starts. That’s a track where you don’t really worry about what everybody else’s car is doing. You worry about what your car is doing. You’re racing the race track. You’re not racing everybody else. It’s a good opportunity to get back into the swing of things. Once you leave California, you feel like the season has officially started.”

It’s been proposed that reconfiguring California Speedway would produce more exciting racing. What do you think?

“They need to let the race track be. You can change all the banking you want. It’s still a 2-mile track. The good thing is that the racing has become two- and three-wide and you can run on different spots on the race track. But that’s all you can hope for. It is what it is there. If they wanted to do something, they should’ve been a little smarter and built a half-mile or three-quarter mile oval. But anytime you build something that big, you’re going to spread cars out.”

How different is the feel of the race track from when you were there during the Labor Day weekend to now?

“It has a lot more grip in the spring because it’s cooler. Still, even when you’re in California at that time of year, there’s still a good shot that the track’s going to be a little slick on race day, which is good. That’s why the groove will widen out and that’s why guys can move around on the race track the way they can.”

California is a track where a driver can search for different grooves, as opposed to some other tracks on the circuit where there is really only one true groove. As a driver, do you appreciate that more?

“It’s nice knowing that as a driver you can help yourself out and you’re not relying so much on the car. Regardless of what everyone else is doing, you can find a way to help yourself out. It makes you feel good knowing that because the place is so wide, you can move around, and basically, earn your money that day.”

At what point do you start to move around on the race track to find a better handle for your race car?

“As soon as you feel like you’re not where you need to be. If you feel like you’re slower than the pace you need to be running, you’re going to move up the race track and find a place that helps balance your race car. Really, from the drop of the green flag, you do it from there on out.”

What percentages would you put on a comparison between the importance of horsepower and handling at California?

“It’s probably about 50/50. You need to have an aerodynamic car, but you’ve got to have the horsepower to pull it too. You can’t have one and not the other and expect to go to California and win the race.”

Why is it that races at D-shaped ovals seem to be won in fairly dominating fashion?

“If a guy gets going and gets his car balanced, then he’ll tend to run away. That’s just the characteristic of that kind of track. It’s fast, it’s flat and momentum is so important there, that if a guy is off just a little, he’s off a lot. The drivers like it from the standpoint that if you can find a way to get around it a little better, then it’ll help them in the long run. You end up racing the race track instead of each other.”

Track position and pit strategy seem to be the two biggest variables at California. When and how do you make the decision to sacrifice tires for track position, or depending on the circumstances, track position for tires?

“I think it just depends on how your car is working. If your car is driving well, one that keeps you up toward the front all day because it’s fast, then just two tires can keep you pretty quick. In that situation, you could make a big gain at the end by just taking on two tires and maintaining your track position. Even some guys who are behind and don’t have their car the way they want, by taking on two tires, the track position they gain helps out more than four tires would. But when you get right down to it, I think California is a track where if your car’s good, then it doesn’t matter whether you take two tires or four.”

For many years, and even today among those who follow the traditional stick-and-ball sports, NASCAR has been perceived as a Southern sport. Is that accurate?

“I don’t think anyone can call it just a Southern sport anymore. I mean, if you truly believe that, you just need to get on a plane, go to the Vegas race, go to the Fontana races, go to Sonoma (Calif.), go to Phoenix and see the crowds. I think that speaks for itself.

“It’s a nationwide sport. We go from Watkins Glen (N.Y.) to Loudon (N.H) all the way to Texas, Kansas, Sonoma, Fontana, Vegas, Phoenix. It’s East Coast to West Coast now. It’s not a Southern sport anymore. We don’t just race in the Southeast. To the Northern West Coast, Southern West Coast, Northern East Coast, Southern East Coast – we’re covering all four corners of the United States now.”

Making a “Z-Line” to California

Tony Stewart has front loaded his racing schedule with appearances in the first four NASCAR Busch Series races of the season. After finishing a solid eighth in last Saturday’s season-opening race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Stewart has set his sights on this Saturday’s Stater Bros. 300 at California Speedway in Fontana, where he’ll drive the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Chevrolet in the second race of his 12-race Busch Series schedule for 2007.

The two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion has made three previous Busch Series starts at California, with a best finish of second in his first Busch Series race at the 2-mile oval in May 2004. There, Stewart started sixth and doggedly pursued a strong Greg Biffle, but could not overcome the Roush-Fenway Racing driver’s advantage.

Stewart started his second Busch Series race at California from the pole in February 2005, as he set a track record time of 38.722 seconds at 185.941 mph. Despite leading 20 laps and running in the top-10 for much of the race, Stewart finished 29th after tagging the turn four wall on the final lap to limp across the finish line.

And in his most recent Busch Series race at California in September 2006, Stewart had another solid outing, starting sixth and finishing sixth.

Saturday’s Stater Bros. 300 will mark Stewart’s fourth Busch Series race at California and his 67th career Busch Series start. It’ll come behind the wheel of a Z-Line Designs Chevrolet fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing, the team for which Stewart has driven full-time for in Nextel Cup since 1999.

However, Stewart began his Joe Gibbs Racing career in 1997-1998 when he ran a limited Busch Series schedule in preparation for a full assault on the Nextel Cup ranks in 1999. Two poles, six top-fives and eight top-10s in 27 Busch Series starts gave NASCAR fans a glimpse into Stewart’s potential, something those following Stewart’s exploits in the United States Auto Club (USAC) and the IRL IndyCar Series already knew, since Stewart was a four-time USAC champion and the title-winning driver of the 1997 IndyCar Series championship.

Now Stewart uses the Busch Series as an escape instead of a proving ground, cherry-picking Busch Series events where his only goal is to win, as points are of little matter when you’re only running 12 of the series’ 35 races.

But even with his laser-like focus on winning, Stewart has only two Busch Series wins under his belt – back-to-back February victories at Daytona in 2005 and 2006. The restrictor plate race at Daytona is an anomaly on the Busch Series schedule, as D-shaped ovals like California make up the majority of the Busch Series’ venues. Stewart wants to add a non-restrictor plate Busch Series win to his ever-growing resume, and with the powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing organization behind him at California, Stewart may very well make a “Z-Line” to victory lane with his No. 18 Z-Line Designs Chevrolet.

Tony Stewart – driver of the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series race at California Speedway

Fontana looks like a lot of the other 1.5-mile to 2-mile D-shaped ovals that the Busch Series visits. Is it?

“California is a lot like Michigan. I like to call it Michigan West. I’m not sure that it has the amount of banking that Michigan has, but it is a flatter track than Michigan. The way you approach the weekend is pretty much the same as far as setups on Z-Line Designs Chevrolet go. You just don’t have the banking to help you like you do at Michigan.”

What percentages would you put on a comparison between the importance of horsepower and handling at California?

“It’s probably about 50/50. You need to have an aerodynamic car, but you’ve got to have the horsepower to pull it, too. You can’t have one and not the other and expect to go to California and win the race.”

How much do you think the Busch Series has changed from when you ran there fairly regularly in 1998?

“I think the Busch Series has progressed the same way the Nextel Cup Series has progressed. The sponsorship dollars have gone up and the level of competition has gone up. There are still a dozen good cars each week that can go out and win the race. You’re still working with the same group of people who can go out and win each week.

“The cars have changed quite a bit. They have more horsepower and they’re a lot more similar to a Cup car than they used to be. And the series still has some really, really good teams out there. But there’s a bunch of new guys out there that you don’t really know too much about. So you always have to be careful when you go out there and run with guys you don’t know. You’ve got to learn what they do and what they don’t do.”

Was there much of a difference in the feel of the two cars when you made the transition from Busch to Cup in 1999?

“It’s hard to say. I had a different group of guys working on my Busch car than what I had, and still have, in Nextel Cup with The Home Depot team. It seemed like it was quite a bit different in some ways, but at a big track like California, I don’t anticipate there being much of a difference between the two series.”

Can the knowledge that you gain from running the Busch car translate to the Cup car and vice versa?

“Absolutely. Anytime you’re running for the same organization, obviously they’re a little more willing to share notes. It’s a lot easier than it is when I run for another team and we try to share the information.”

Late Race Crash Ends Strong Speedweeks

Tony Stewart wanted to end Daytona (Fla.) Speedweeks much like he started it. After scoring back-to-back wins in the two non-point races held at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway – the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel – Stewart was intent on capping the week with a victory in the Daytona 500, thereby becoming the only driver to ever sweep all three Nextel Cup events held during Daytona Speedweeks.

But after leading twice for 35 laps, including laps 150-152 when Stewart paced Kurt Busch around the 2.5-mile oval, a nudge from the nose of Busch’s Dodge into the left rear bumper of Stewart’s No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet sent Stewart hard into the turn four wall. Stewart emerged from his mangled race car unscathed, as did Busch, who also smacked the turn four wall after his contact with Stewart. However potent Stewart’s run had been, it ended with a 43rd-place finish, 50 laps off the pace.

“I’m okay,” said Stewart after being evaluated in the infield care center. “Not completely sure what happened out there. All of a sudden it took off on me.”

Stewart’s drive was as impressive as it was strong. After leading 32 of the race’s first 80 laps, Stewart dropped back to 40th after making a secondary pit stop on lap 82 to complement the scheduled pit stop he had made a lap earlier. That pit stop came under a caution for debris, as a cut right rear tire on Kyle Petty’s Dodge shredded his quarterpanel, leaving chunks of sheet metal all over the race track. Stewart had run through a lot of the shrapnel left from the Petty machine, and with plenty of laps left in the race and a dominant car to care for, Stewart and crew chief Greg Zipadelli opted to come down pit road and look the car over for damage, mainly to the front valance and undercarriage. With a clean bill of health, the Home Depot Chevrolet rejoined the field, albeit deep in the pack.

“I was really proud of how we got back to the front,” said Stewart. “It took a little longer than I anticipated. The car was just so tight back there. It was hard to drive back there without clean air.

“If you’re up front, it’s not too bad. But if you get in the back, the tire is so hard and the air is so dirty, it’s hard. I wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. You just get back there and your car is wicked tight. But I never got worked up and we just drove our way back to the front.”

After restarting the race in 40th on lap 80, Stewart methodically worked the draft to climb back into the top-three by lap 142. Leading at that time was Kurt Busch, while his younger brother Kyle served as a buffer between Stewart and first-place.

On lap 147, Stewart passed Kyle for second on the outside of turn four with a helpful push from fellow Chevrolet driver Martin Truex, Jr. That momentum allowed Stewart to get alongside Kurt, with Stewart wrestling the lead from him on lap 149 as the duo raced off turn two. Three laps later, both drivers were in the wall, each of their races over.

“I’m still excited about our season,” said an upbeat Stewart, reminiscent of his nature following the 2002 Daytona 500, where he finished 43rd after an engine failure on just the second lap, but rallied back to claim his first Nextel Cup championship at Homestead (Fla.) nine months later. “The guys on this Home Depot team have done such a good job all week. I’m just proud of everybody at The Home Depot, all 350,000 associates that were rooting for us today. We’ll just come back next year and get one.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed right now, but when we look back a week or two from now – to win two races this week is a pretty strong week. We had an awesome Speedweeks. We had two of the three days go absolutely perfect, so this is the only one that didn’t go right.”

Stewart’s JGR teammates – J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin – finished 12th and 28th, respectively, in the season-opening race. As a result, Yeley is 12th in points while Hamlin is 28th. Stewart is 41st in points.

Kevin Harvick won the Daytona 500 to score his 11th career Nextel Cup victory and his first at Daytona. Mark Martin finished second by .020 of a second, while Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton finished third. Mike Wallace and rookie David Ragan rounded out the top-five. Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, pole-sitter David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek and Jeff Gordon comprised the remainder of the top-10.

Orbitz 300 Race Recap

Tony Stewart and the Old Spice team persevered though a lengthy race with a loose handling race car to bring the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS home in the eighth position Saturday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. For Stewart, the finish snaps a two race win streak in the season opening Busch Series event.

Starting 38th in the 43-car field, Stewart knew it would take a lot of work to get the No. 33 Old Spice Chevy to the front. Once the green flag waved, Stewart began to pass cars each and every lap, before settling into the 14th position on lap 25. Five laps later, Stewart radioed to the crew explaining that the car was really loose on the 2.5 mile tri-oval. “We will make a track bar adjustment to get you better,” said crew chief Dan Stillman atop the Old Spice pit box. When the caution flag waved on lap 63 for debris on the backstretch, the crew called Stewart onto pit road for a trackbar adjustment, four tires and fuel. This is exactly what the Old Spice team was looking for to get back into contention. Once the green flag waved on lap 69, Stewart was on the move. On lap 81of a scheduled 120, Stewart found himself racing inside the top-15 in the 12th position.

Getting the word from Stillman over the radio that they were set on fuel to the end, Stewart had his sights set on getting to the front of the field. After fighting a loose race car all day, Stewart got the help he needed from his pit crew on the last stop by tightening the car up and getting him back out for a chance at a third straight season opening win. Over the next 20 laps, Stewart got drafting help from NEXTEL Cup Series regulars Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth to catch the lead drafting pack.

Over the final 10 laps, Stewart worked his was into the top-10 racing on the low line of a 12 car group. The No. 33 Old Spice Monte Carlo SS proved it is always a competitor when it is on the track. Stewart worked his way to the seventh position with four laps to go before falling one position and crossing the finish line in eighth.

“We were really loose all day, but the guys in the pits did a great job. We went two rounds in the left rear, one in the right rear and down three rounds in the trackbar, but that is what we had to do to be competitive,” said Tony Stewart after a third straight top-10 finish in the season opener.

Post Race Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by our race winner of the first duel today, and that’s Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet. For Joe Gibbs racing, this is their 100th professional victory as a race team organization, and Tony Stewart has been responsible for 35 of those wins. This is his second Gatorade duel victory. Talk about winning this duel and talk about your thoughts as you prepare for the Daytona 500.

TONY STEWART: I mean, obviously it’s an awesome day, and I’d be crazy not to say I’m real excited for Sunday obviously. I mean, it’s ?? I don’t know how you could have a better start to the season than what we’ve had and a better ending to the year than what we had. We’re sitting here today with five, six wins since December 29th.

I don’t know how I could be any happier than this. You know, felt like at the start of the race we tried to be patient. Dale, Jr., and I were together and Denny was with us, just never seemed like Denny and the 48 car could get going very good at the start. Finally enough cars went around us on the outside, it was just time to try something, and I hated to put Denny in the middle like that and go without him, but it was just something that had to be done.

We moved down, Junior went with us, of course, and off we go toward the front.

Guys had great pit stops, just everything went right today. I mean, we just ?? we had a textbook day today, really.

Q. Tony, the week that you’ve had here and as good as this car has been, when it goes this well, do you think that ?? do you feel like this is it, that it can’t be be any better than this? Is this going to be your 500?

TONY STEWART: I hope so. It’s like I told the guys on the stage here getting ready to take pictures, I hope we’ve got one more in us. There’s a lot that can happen today. Only half the field ran today. The other half is getting ready to go out right now. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen.

I feel like this is the best opportunity that we’ve had so far to win the 500. This is definitely the most momentum we’ve had going into a 500.

You know, I’m excited, the team is excited. The hard thing is we’ve got to wait until Sunday now. I mean, the next two days we’re ?? the one thing that I want to stress is that we’re not going to just lay down the next two days and say, hey, our car is good enough, and we’re going to continue to go out there each session and try to see what we can learn and see what we can do to gain speed and go faster. Every one of those guys today that were behind us are going to do the same thing.

So if we get lazy right now, then we’re vulnerable. We’re just going to go out there and keep going through the next two days like normal and hope that when Sunday comes around, we’re still good enough.

Q. Tony, it took a while for you to get into Victory Lane in the Pepsi 400. You’ve been able to do that two years in a row now. This is your third win in a row here in a Cup car. Just talk a little bit about how you’ve kind of kicked the door in with victories here.

TONY STEWART: Yeah, just not the right ones yet. Any time you get in Victory Lane here, it’s special, though, but I would ?? we joked around Saturday night, and I said I’d trade all 10 of them in, even today with 11, I’d trade all of them in for Sunday if I could do that. That shows how important this weekend is to us obviously, and we’re hopeful that everything that we did today we can duplicate on Sunday.

Q. Tony, your gut feeling for Sunday, is it too early to have one, or do you start to get the buildup of any nerves at all like this is yours?

TONY STEWART: No, there’s not one ounce of me that feels like it’s mine. Like I say, there’s 500 miles, and I’ve been hands?down the best car going at Indy 500s and a blown motor or something happens. Unless we’re in the lead with one to go, I can’t tell you even that with ten to go if we’re leading that it’s ours. It’s definitely too early to tell.

We’ve got two more days of practice, and like I said, there’s ?? just because what we run today doesn’t mean that it’s going to be good enough for Sunday. I’m happy with the way the week is going obviously, and I’m going to sleep really good tonight. I feel like we’re in a good position.

But there’s not one ounce of me that feels like it’s a done deal yet by any means. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we have to be smart. Am I nervous? Not the least bit. When we’re in situations like this, this is when I get comfortable and start really fine?tuning and nitpicking in both how the setup is and how I am inside the car.

It’s just a good position to be in. I mean, like I said, we’re not laying down, we’re not stopping our work, but right now we’re exactly where we want to be.

Q. What’s your take on the cheating, and do you feel it’s been handled properly, the way it should be handled?

TONY STEWART: I’ll be honest, I have no opinion of it. Like Poole said, I don’t mind not being in a story like that, especially when I’m not involved in it. That’s why we’ve got NASCAR as a sanctioning body.

Q. Talk about just the good feelings and the success so far this week. What do you feel is different this year as opposed to other years? Why do you feel like you’re having this success now, and can you get a sense of either the team, you, or what’s making this week seemingly so special?

TONY STEWART: Just things come together. It’s not that we’ve not been in this situation before because we’ve won qualifiers and won Shootouts in the past. It just seems like this is one of those weeks that it seems like everything seems to be coming together and everything has been really good so far.

Now, is there going to be a hurdle in the road in the next two days before the race or is there going to be a hurdle during the race, we don’t know. So far everything seems to be going really smooth. With the exception of the first day of qualifying practice, I mean, we had a problem with the caution on the racetrack, then we had a problem with the fuel pump, and we thought, man, is this going to get any worse and is this the way the two weeks are going to go. We rebounded from that and haven’t had a bad day since. Hopefully that’s the end of the bad luck.

Q. Tony, we talked with Michael a lot about the emotional roller coaster he’s been on this week. You experienced that at the Brickyard and maybe even here a little bit. Is that just part of racing, that you have to be able to deal with it?

TONY STEWART: Oh, definitely. I’m sure he’s had probably the ?? I bet he feels like he’s been here a month where I feel like I’ve been here about three days. I’m sure it’s been a real long week for him, and I’m sure even when Sunday is over, it’s not totally going to be over for him.

But he’s a great person. I mean, he’s been great for NASCAR and he’s not going to go away. Nobody wants him to go away by any means. He’ll rebound from all this. I mean, it’s a huge bump in the road obviously. He’s got good people around him and he’s got a lot of friends in this garage area, and I’m sure when it’s all said and done, everything will be fine.

Q. Has the way ?? have these tires kind of changed the way that you drive the racetrack? Some other guys were saying that they actually are maybe contemplating hitting the brakes going into the corner, which I think is different than normal; is that right?

TONY STEWART: I hope they all do. I’d love for them to do that. I’ll keep trucking if I can.

It’s been a little different week. It’s not been the normal week here at Daytona by any means from a driving standpoint. It’s just been a little bit odd because of the harder tire, and the day after we sat here and talked about it after Saturday night, Sunday one of the Goodyear engineers told me the reason they did that is because guys were wearing out tires in the 400 last year. Well, that makes sense because it’s July, it’s hot, and we’re all sliding around, and when you’re sliding a tire across a racetrack you’re going to wear it out.

I’m not sure why they brought it for February, and I said, “Could you have gone it a little bit harder but not this hard; I think maybe you went overboard.” He said, “Well, maybe we did.” It’s definitely changed things. It’s not a typical February by any means as far as how we get in big packs two wide and we run there forever and ever. We just don’t see it staying that way for long.

Q. Tony, with everything that’s happened this week already early and all the possible story lines for this year, not just you individually but the whole Series, do you see this as being a very interesting year overall?

TONY STEWART: Oh, yeah, that’s pretty obvious. That’s the most obvious statement of the year. It’s going to be one of those years with the Car of Tomorrow, the new points systems, the way Daytona has gone with controversy here. It’s already started controversial. It’ll be that way all year, I’m sure.

Q. Dale, Jr., was asked about how difficult it will be to beat the 20, and he mentioned the 38. I’m wondering if you’ve had a chance to race Gilliland. Is he mature enough? Is he a guy you worry about?

TONY STEWART: Yeah, any time he’s that fast, you know, he’s come a long way in a short amount of time. He’s a sharp kid, he’s smart and he’s with a good organization and a fast race car. That’s all the key ingredients to being good here. There’s tricks of the trade here and there’s ways of winning races and losing races, and like you say, 500 miles here is a long day. I mean, it feels like you’re here forever. We’ll see what happens on Sunday, but he’s definitely fast.

Q. Tony, just to follow up on some comments you were making with Michael and the tough week he’s had, would it surprise you to know that he woke up thinking this morning that he might not want to race, that he felt like he didn’t want to do it? And does it concern you to know that there’s a guy possibly in this race who didn’t have his head in the game?

TONY STEWART: No, it doesn’t worry me. When it came time and he made the decision to get in the car today, he got in it and did his job like he always does. No, I’m not worrying about anybody making it sound like he’s one step away from the psych ward. That’s not what we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with a guy who was embarrassed with what was happening with his new venture. I don’t think anybody in this room can understand the amount of pressure he’s going through as a driver and a team owner and all of that. Nobody knows what he was feeling other than him this morning.

Like I said, this is a stressful week. I mean, this is our biggest week of the year. It’s not unimaginable for him to have those thoughts, I guess.