Browse > Home / Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Ryan Newman, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart / Can Stewart-Haas Duo Conquer Daytona?

Can Stewart-Haas Duo Conquer Daytona?

User Avatar

by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

February 15, 2009 1:42 am CST 3 Comments

Sprint Cup races at Daytona International Speedway - and the Daytona 500 in particular - are really tough to predict. The combination of big, two and three wide packs of drafting cars, restrictor plates that slow the field - and level the competition, blur the differences between the haves and have-nots of NASCAR’s top series. Surprise winners are not unusual.

A win by Tony Stewart or his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate\employee, Ryan Newman, would be a surprise. To me, at least.

Even though, as Robby Gordon said in Scene Daily…

“One, Tony’s is not a startup team. It’s a team that’s been in business for six years now. So it’s completely different than how we did ours…”

Start up or not, Stewart-Haas is a new team. A new - albeit talented - organization. Established teams that make changes take time to gel-if they ever gel at all. Winning the first time out should be just about impossible. Except at Daytona.

NASCAR’s Loop Data support hope from the Stewart and Newman crowds.

Smoke has the top Loop Driver Rating for Daytona the last three years with a score of 105.4. He has the best Ave Start - 6.8 and  Passing Differential. Tony also led the most laps - 415, 28.6 percent. 

Newman is the 2008 Daytona 500 winner and has the third best Driver Rating - 94.9 - and is at the top of the Quality Passes stat. 

Looks promising so far. At least it did until Happy Hour practice Friday, when Newman - already in a back-up car - tangled with the boss on track. Both Stewart-Haas drivers now start in the back of the field with Newman in a third car and Stewart in his back-up. 

Bad enough. But the incident is being blamed - at least by driver Stewart - on NASCAR’s Goodyear tires. This is familiar ranting territory for Smoke. And he took up the cause with his usual gusto. It’s kind of fun to watch Tony firing sarcasm bolts at Goodyear and NASCAR. It’s vintage stuff.

But in the past, when he wrecked a race car, it was just his car. If a teammate also broke somehow, Tony might or might not have felt - what, sympathy? But his focus would have been on his own car and the immediate team surrounding it. Now it’s a different deal. He must be concerned about the Army team too. He is the team owner. Both cars. There almost has to be a diversion in his focus. I would think that it will affect on-track performance Sunday. We’ll see.

Kyle Busch has the second best Driver Rating for Daytona - 98.3. He won the second Gatorade Duel 150 race on Thursday. Kyle will be tough.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Mark Martin and Jimmy Johnson all have top ten Driver Ratings. Johnson’s is fourth best overall plus he has top stats in Laps in the top 15 and the best Average Position - 10.0.

Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer are the others in the top ten in Driver Rating. Kevin Harvick is 11th.

I picked Carl Edwards ON PIT ROW this week and I still like Carl here. But as the week has gone, I’m leaning towards Mark Martin. He’s been very strong all week and every report I read or hear is positive. Could be another feel good finish at Daytona Sunday.

Nationwide Series Opener Shows Stewart at his Best

The Nationwide Series ran today. Tony Stewart won the race in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy. Maybe focus isn’t a problem.

The coolest looking car in that race though, was the no. 27 Baker-Curb racing Ford Fusion driven by Jason Keller. You couldn’t see it well on the telecast, but the special paint job featured the faces of employees of the Kroger Company. 

The “Faces on the Car” program was established as part of the long-standing partnership between Kimberly-Clark and retail partner Kroger and celebrates employees that have gone to great lengths in providing exceptional service. The hood of the race car also will garner the tag line that embodies the mission of all parties involved in the program “Together, we’re powered to win.”

The car is pictured above. Photo credit goes to Getty Images

Filed under: Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, NASCAR Fantasy Gaming, Ryan Newman, Sprint Cup Series, Stewart Haas Racing, Tony Stewart 

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Digg This | Save to del.icio.us

Comments

3 Responses to “Can Stewart-Haas Duo Conquer Daytona?”

  1. Ryan Newman Fan on February 15th, 2009 10:04 am

    I think it will be interesting and good to see them starting from the back and hopefully be able to work together and get up front.

    Of course Newman is in his California back up car now and Stewart is in a back up. But I heard Jeff Gordon say yesterday that at Daytona it doesn’t really matter how good your car is. It’s there for anyone to grab. He thought Newman was maybe 10th best car or so last year he won.

    I am real curious to see how that Stewart-Haas crew does!

  2. User Avatar Charlie Turner on February 15th, 2009 12:26 pm

    Remember the first year the CoT s ran at Daytona? A couple guys - I think Gordon may have been one of them - had to run their Bristol cars because they wrecked primaries and there weren’t any proven intermediate cars yet? I am with you. The story lines are terrific for this race.

  3. Art Almond on February 16th, 2009 5:30 pm

    Charlie…

    I have tahh say that Stewart-Haas impressed me in Daytona… never would I have thought ahh new team like this could be so completive… ‘n this cummin’ frum ahh JR Fan!

Got something to say?

Did you know you can log in with your Thunder Lounge account, and have your personal avatar and site link available when you comment at On Pit Row?

Don't have an account yet? Sign-up for free.





Powered by WP Hashcash

March Madness

Play the Rattles from the Catch Can contest

Blogroll

Fantasy Sports Partners

Racing Websites

ON PIT ROW at RaceTalkRadio
Backstretch Boys: 30% Off New CD!
Jayski's: See what the buzz is about.

We've got your game.

Advertisement