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What's Up with Tony?
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
By Heather Pohlabel
For the past two years, Tony Stewart was the "man of the hour" in NASCAR stock car racing. If he wasn't in trouble or in the middle of it, he was winning races like it was his business. Oh yeah, it is! Or was, rather. The 2006 year has not been kind to Tony Stewart, not that it needed to be. The way I see it, it's time to give someone else a chance!
Take for example, Jimmie Johnson, who, in my eyes, would have won last year were it not for Tony Stewart and his super fast orange Home Depot car. Too many races I watched in anticipation only to see Tony blow Jimmie off the track or wreck anyone in his path. He was ruthless. He still is. But the field is not parting for him this year. No, Tony did not make the Chase. Instead, he made the news - several times - and very seldomly for a win!
Let's take a look at Tony's stats this year:
Engine problems in the second race of the season, resulting in a DNF (did not finish)
A win at Martinsville
Two back to back second place finishes - one at Phoenix (finishing behind Harvick) and the next at Talladega (finishing behind Jimmie Johnson)
An accident at the Coca Cola 600 resulting in a did not finish
An accident three races later at Michigan (Kasey Kahne won BOTH the Charolette and the Michigan race - coincidence?) resulting in a did not finish
A bad finish at Infineon (where he dominated last year)
A win at Daytona (too bad for Tony it wasn't the February Daytona race)
Back to back bad finishes at Chicagoland and New Hampshire (where he won in 2005)
Another bad finish at Bristol
A less than perfect finish at Richmond - which put him OUT of the race for the chase.
Tony has only two wins this year compared with last year's five wins. He wrecked and dislocated his shoulder blade, which inevitably affected the next few races he raced, but he stuck with it and gave it a shot. NO, 2006 was not Tony Stewart's year to shine. It seemed to be telling him to slow down. Love him or hate him, he's not going to be a contender in the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship.
The ten contenders for the championship are as follows:
former champion Matt Kenseth;
the I almost win this every year contenter Jimmie Johnson;
former champion and most all time winningest driver of the Busch series, the infamous Mark Martin;
current Busch series points leader Kevin Harvick (who, if he happens to win the Nextel Cup this year, will be the first ever driver to take the championship in both series in a single season);
the hunky female favorite - in at the last minute contender Kasey Kahne;
the equally hunky femal favorite superstar Jeff Gordon;
the most beloved Dale Earnhardt Jr.;
comeback kid Jeff Burton;
the youngest NASCAR racer Kyle Busch (brother Kurt is a former Cup champion);
and the rookie (possibly Rookie of the Year) Denny Hamlin.
The chase is going to be a wild one with so many favorites contending this year. But it will be quite unusual to not be pulling either for or against Stewart. Where will the fun be?
Nascar.com has a driver vs. driver match up where fans can go to choose the winner of each duel. Listed for the next race (Sylvania 300) are
Matt Kenseth vs. Jimmie Johnson
Kevin Harvick vs. Kyle Busch
Denny Hamlin vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mark Martin vs. Jeff Burton
Jeff Gordon vs. Kasey Kahne
Fans can choose who will lead and by how many points - sort of a fantasy league. Notice Tony Stewart was not invited.
Will he mess things up intentionally? Will the Home Depot number 20 be out on the track causing oh, say, Kyle Busch's demise? Will he be supporting his Busch series car owner's husband (got that?) Kevin Harvick? Will he be enabling a draft with teammate Denny Hamlin?
Since Tony is not in contention for the Nextel Cup, he surely will be getting the spotlight in some other manner. HOW he goes about it is going to be the fun part to watch.
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