Tony Stewart News

Tony Stewart put forth a workmanlike performance Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon to finish 23rd in the Bad Boy Off Road 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. But the hard work netted little reward for the three-time Sprint Cup champion as the result dropped Stewart to 15th in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, 11 points outside the top-12 cutoff to advance to the Round of 12.

Stewart is still among the 16 drivers competing in the Chase, but following next Sunday’s race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, the field gets whittled down to 12. Only those who have won a race or are among the top-12 in points will be able to continue their championship pursuit.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, led the four-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon by setting the 13th-fastest lap in qualifying for Sunday’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Busch turned a lap of 28.348 seconds at 134.359 mph on the 1.058-mile oval in the final qualifying round.

Qualifying consisted of three rounds. The first was 20 minutes, with every driver on the track vying to set the fastest lap. The 24 fastest drivers from the first round advanced to the second, 10-minute round and the fastest 12 drivers from that session advanced to the final, five-minute round where they battled for the pole. Positions 1-12 were set by speeds in the final round. Positions 13-24 were set by speeds in the second round. The remaining 40-car field was set by speeds posted by those who did not advance past the first round.

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Sept. 20, 2016) – In the 12-year history of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, there’s probably no track during its 10 races that causes greater anxiety among the 16 drivers bidding to advance beyond the first round than New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

The 1.058-mile oval rivals Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for Chase tracks most likely to instantly turn a good race into a horror show for drivers battling for the sport’s championship. Its history is filled with early race accidents, late-race controversy and close, hard racing. That peril, combined with the importance of Sunday’s race, will keep Chase drivers awake at night this week.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), began NASCAR’s 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup with a 16th-place finish in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 Sunday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. The finish dropped Stewart from 11th to 12th in the Chase but kept him in contention among the 16 Chase drivers.

The Chicagoland race marked the beginning of the 10-race Chase and the first of the three first-round races that will eliminate four drivers from the title competition.

Rain canceled Friday’s qualifying session for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. As a result, the 40-car field for Sunday’s 267-lap event around the 1.5-mile oval was set by current 2016 owner points, per the NASCAR rulebook.

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Sept. 13, 2016) – As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins its 16-driver, 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has some specific strategy he says led to success over the years as both a Chase-winning driver and championship-winning car owner.

He’s followed that strategy and even imparted the wisdom to SHR teammate Kevin Harvick, who won a championship in 2014. But don’t count on ever hearing about any specifics from Stewart.

No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet driver Tony Stewart closed out the 26-race NASCAR Sprint Cup regular season Saturday night with a 33rd-place finish at Richmond International Raceway, but he sits 12th among the 16 drivers who qualified for NASCAR’s 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup that begins next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.

Saturday night proved a tough Richmond farewell for Stewart, who has long called the .75-mile, D-shaped, Virginia oval his favorite track on the circuit.

KANNAPOLIS, North Carolina (Sept. 6, 2016) – After 18 years of Sprint Cup competition and 34 races at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway – a place he calls his “very favorite” track – No. 14  Code 3/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver Tony Stewart will take the green flag for the final time at the .75-mile oval Saturday night.

But this weekend isn’t about nostalgia for the 45-year-old Stewart. There’s work to be done, and lots of it.

The Richmond race marks the end of NASCAR’s 26-race regular season and signals the transition to the 16-team, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs that begin the following weekend at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Stewart will join SHR teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch in the playoffs.

No. 14 Coca-Cola Chevrolet driver Tony Stewart raced in the top-10 during Sunday night’s Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C) Raceway before late-race engine problems left him with a 35th-place finish in his final NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the historic oval. But all was not lost this weekend, as the Coca-Cola car won the vote for the best paint scheme during the sport’s annual “throwback weekend” to honor its heritage.

“Our car was awesome tonight, but it was overheating and it finally grenaded,” Stewart said. “It was 375 degrees on water temperature. There’s a screen in there that keeps all the trash from getting into the radiator, and it got separated from its mount, so all the trash was getting underneath it and going up inside the radiator, and it just kept blocking it until we finally lost the motor.”

With severe weather from Hurricane Hermine postponing scheduled on-track activities Friday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, NASCAR officials elected to cancel Sprint Cup Series qualifying, scheduled for Saturday afternoon, and replace it with a pair of practice sessions to give drivers more time to prepare for Sunday night’s Southern 500.

As a result, the 40-car field for the 367-lap event around the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval was set by current 2016 owner points, per the NASCAR rulebook.