Stewart hung on for a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, a late-race caution diminished his chance for a top-five result.
The No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) earned his 22nd top-10 finish of the season and his 13th top-10 in 22 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
Crew chief Darian Grubb stated “It was definitely a survival day for us, “We were a lot better taking off on a run at the start of the race. We made the car better all day. About the middle of the race, we had the car really good, but had a bad pit stop that dropped us back in traffic. We had to make up for that and try a little strategy, but it ended up putting us back in the field. We were able to run up into the top-five from there, but late cautions didn’t play out for us. We struggled to hang on to a top-10 in the end.”
A sequence of events in the final 50 laps of the 501-lap race provided a view of the up-and-down day Stewart, Grubb and the entire No. 14 team endured.
After making what would turn out to be his final pit stop on lap 444, Stewart restarted the race in 11th-place on lap 448. From there, the two-time Sprint Cup champion picked off six drivers in front of him and was in fifth position by lap 466.
He fell back to sixth on lap 478 when his teammate, Ryan Newman, slipped past him, but with slightly more than 20 laps remaining, it appeared a top-five could still be in the cards for Stewart.
When the caution came out on lap 485, Stewart and Grubb knew immediately they had a tough decision to make – stay out and maintain the track position or pit for fresh tires. The duo decided to stay out, but unfortunately for them, every car behind them entered pit road, meaning every car behind the No. 14 would have the advantage of more grip and a faster racecar.
Stewart put up a valiant fight against the faster cars chasing him, and he was aided by a late caution from laps 496-499 that ended the race in a green-white-checkered finish.
“Everything didn’t fall precisely the way we needed it to,” Grubb said. “It wasn’t what we wanted. I think we had a good top-five car. We just needed to get the car up in track position and we just didn’t get it when it was all over with.”
Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Chevrolet Impala SS, finished seventh to score his 15th top-10 finish of 2009 and his 8th in 16 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
The last time both Stewart/Haas cars finished in the top-10 came back in September at Dover (Del.) International Speedway when Stewart finished 9th and Newman placed 10th.
Denny Hamlin beat three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson under caution to win the TUMS Fast Relief 500 and score his 7th career Sprint Cup victory, his 3rd of the season and his 2nd at Martinsville.
Non-American Florida native Juan Pablo Montoya finished 3rd, while Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five.
Both Stewart/Haas Racing drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart protected his fourth in the standings, but is now 192 points behind Chase leader Jimmy Johnson. Newman gained one spot to seventh, 312 points out of first.
With only four races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:
1. Jimmie Johnson (6,098 points) +/- 0
The No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) earned his 22nd top-10 finish of the season and his 13th top-10 in 22 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
Crew chief Darian Grubb stated “It was definitely a survival day for us, “We were a lot better taking off on a run at the start of the race. We made the car better all day. About the middle of the race, we had the car really good, but had a bad pit stop that dropped us back in traffic. We had to make up for that and try a little strategy, but it ended up putting us back in the field. We were able to run up into the top-five from there, but late cautions didn’t play out for us. We struggled to hang on to a top-10 in the end.”
A sequence of events in the final 50 laps of the 501-lap race provided a view of the up-and-down day Stewart, Grubb and the entire No. 14 team endured.
After making what would turn out to be his final pit stop on lap 444, Stewart restarted the race in 11th-place on lap 448. From there, the two-time Sprint Cup champion picked off six drivers in front of him and was in fifth position by lap 466.
He fell back to sixth on lap 478 when his teammate, Ryan Newman, slipped past him, but with slightly more than 20 laps remaining, it appeared a top-five could still be in the cards for Stewart.
When the caution came out on lap 485, Stewart and Grubb knew immediately they had a tough decision to make – stay out and maintain the track position or pit for fresh tires. The duo decided to stay out, but unfortunately for them, every car behind them entered pit road, meaning every car behind the No. 14 would have the advantage of more grip and a faster racecar.
Stewart put up a valiant fight against the faster cars chasing him, and he was aided by a late caution from laps 496-499 that ended the race in a green-white-checkered finish.
“Everything didn’t fall precisely the way we needed it to,” Grubb said. “It wasn’t what we wanted. I think we had a good top-five car. We just needed to get the car up in track position and we just didn’t get it when it was all over with.”
Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Chevrolet Impala SS, finished seventh to score his 15th top-10 finish of 2009 and his 8th in 16 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
The last time both Stewart/Haas cars finished in the top-10 came back in September at Dover (Del.) International Speedway when Stewart finished 9th and Newman placed 10th.
Denny Hamlin beat three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson under caution to win the TUMS Fast Relief 500 and score his 7th career Sprint Cup victory, his 3rd of the season and his 2nd at Martinsville.
Non-American Florida native Juan Pablo Montoya finished 3rd, while Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five.
Both Stewart/Haas Racing drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart protected his fourth in the standings, but is now 192 points behind Chase leader Jimmy Johnson. Newman gained one spot to seventh, 312 points out of first.
With only four races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:
1. Jimmie Johnson (6,098 points) +/- 0
2. Mark Martin (5,980 points, -118) +/-0
3. Jeff Gordon (5,948 points, -150) +/-0
4. Tony Stewart (5,906 points, -192) +/-0
5. Juan Pablo Montoya (5,898 points, -200) +1
6. Kurt Busch (5,858 points, -240) -1
7. Ryan Newman (5,786 points, -312) +1
8. Greg Biffle (5,748 points, -350) -1
9. Denny Hamlin (5,746 points, -352) +2
10. Carl Edwards (5,685 points, -413) +/-0
11. Kasey Kahne (5,659 points, -439) -2
12. Brian Vickers (5,568 points, -530) +/-0
The next Scheduled event on the Sprint Cup is the Nov. 1 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Super speedway.
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