Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images
Credit it to a good car or a lower downforce package, one thing is for sure Tony Stewart was all smiles Sunday afternoon following a season-best seventh place finish in the 48th annual FireKeepers Casino 400.
The Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner and driver qualified a superb third on Friday afternoon and was able to transform the speed into the 200-mile race Sunday afternoon, running as high as third, but eventually finishing seventh.
“Not only today, but just the whole weekend, I am tickled to death with these guys,” said Stewart. “That is the kind of weekend I’ve been looking for all year out of this group. Today is proof that we can do it. I would rather have this than win a race and run 15th/20th the next week. From start to finish all weekend, it’s been solid and that is what we are looking for right now. I’m tickled to death.”
Even when Stewart was challenged with falling out of the top-ten at least twice during the race, a well-balanced race car allowed Stewart to make up the deficit and race back inside the top-ten, where he remained for much of the race.
While it’s clear that’s still a little more work to do with Stewart’s No. 14 Rush Truck Centers / Mobil 1 Chevrolet to make him competitive enough to compete for wins, the performance on Sunday, like the new rule package was definitely a step in the right direction.
Stewart agreed.
“I love it. I absolutely love it. The package is good,” added Stewart. “The aero package is starting to catch up now. The whole equation to this to make it all where everybody wants it to be are tires and aero. Up to this point, Goodyear has been way ahead of NASCAR. NASCAR is finally catching up. So, now we are getting the split between the two groups closed up. The good thing is Goodyear is primed and ready to do all the stuff they need to do. They have been waiting on NASCAR. It’s coming around. It’s going to get back to… you know today we got to drive the cars.
“We got to make a difference in the car and manipulate things. That is what we have all been wanting. We are not running Mach 12 around here in the middle of the corner. I don’t know what everybody else is going to say, but I thought it was pretty good. It may not be perfect yet, but it is more than definitely going in the right direction for sure.”
The finish also was helpful for Stewart in his quest to enter the top-30 in the Sprint Cup standings with hopes a victory would propel him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup in his final season of competition. Entering the race 36th in points, Stewart rose to 35th and now sits 45 points behind 30th place runner Brian Scott.
Stewart heads to Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in two weeks where he looks for his third win in 18 career starts at the 2.52-mile road course.