Sunday, June 6, 2010

NASCAR Review Of Tony Stewart At Pocono...



With Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala, taking the checkered flag last year at the 2.5 mile track at Pocono Pa. It was Tony Stewart's 34th career Sprint Cup win, his first as Driver-Owner with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) just after leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, where Tony Stewart spent his first 12 years as a NASCAR driver with the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet Impala.

Tony Stewart's first run at Pocono was held on the infield road course back in 1986, where at just 15 years old, Stewart raced a go-kart with the World Karting Association. Returning to Pocono with a 3,400 pound stock car back in June 1999 as a Rookie, with a 6th place finish to follow up with a4th place finish the following. Stewart took his first pole position at Pocono in July 2000. Tony's first win came in June 2003.

With Pocono Raceway being called the Tricky Triangle, with just 3 turns and the least degree of angles at the turns compared to the other tracks. Tony Stewart takes you through a lap at Pocono: “Turn one is probably the easiest of the three – you drive it in kind of deep and then try to float the car through the corner. You go down the backstretch and into the tunnel turn and it’s basically one lane. It’s flat and very line-sensitive. You’ve got to make sure you’re right on your marks every lap when you go through there. Then you’ve got a short chute into turn three. It’s a big, long corner and it too is very line-sensitive. Add the fact that we’ve got a straightaway that’s three-quarters of a mile long after that, and it’s very important that you get through the last corner well. You need to come off the corner quickly so that you’re not bogged down when you start down that long straightaway. Each corner has its challenges, and each one tends to present a different set of circumstances with each lap you make.”