Tony Stewart Battles to Win in Fontana While Top Chasers Struggle

Racin’ with Russ

Tony Stewart can scratch off Auto Club Speedway in California to his short list of tracks he’d never won at after taking the checkers Sunday afternoon, barely edging Clint Bowyer and points leader Jimmie Johnson.

The Indiana owner/driver ran his Chevrolet strong to the finish, needing to rebound from running out of fuel at New Hampshire and finishing a disappointing 24^th.

Jamie McMurray started the day on the pole, but two bad pit-stop performances dragged the Ganassi-Earnhardt driver down to 17^th at the end.

Several drivers took turns out front such as Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Bowyer and McMurray, but most would incur problems before the end, some with dyer consequences.

Gordon was poised to have a top-five finish, if not a win, until a pit lane speeding violation dropped him deep in the pack, only to recover with a very credible ninth-place finish.

Kenseth ran among the top five until his Ford started to give up the ghost late in the run, dropping way back to 30^th at the stripe.

Kyle Busch’s Toyota blew up late in the go, as did his shot at this year’s title.

There was more than the usual side-by-side action in this year’s California event with four and five wide action after several of the restarts.

Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman capped the top five with lap leader Mark Martin finishing sixth.

Notes: The biggest disappointments in this past Sprint Cup race have to come out of the Roush-Fenway camp with Kenseth the highest finisher in 30^th, followed by David Ragan 32^nd (wreck), Carl Edwards 34^th (broken distributor), and Greg Biffle 41^st with a blown engine. Just when we all thought Roush-Fenway Fords were heading back to stronger runs and the whole team ran amuck. Now what? Drag out the old engines and scrap all the new ones?

Chase Points—Jimmie Johnson extends his lead over Denny Hamlin who now sits 36 points back with Kevin Harvick down 54 and Gordon in arrears by 85. Stewart’s latest win elevated him five spots in the standings to fifth, but sits 107 back with six shows remaining.

The rest of the Chasers will struggle and I’ll create a ‘stick-a-fork in-your-chances’ chart that includes, Bowyer (-247), Kenseth (-241), Biffle (-215), Kyle Busch (-187), Jeff Burton (-177), and Edwards (-162). I still don’t like the Chase system. Here we are just four races in, and the list of those without a shot is way too long. What do you think? Drop me a line.

Nationwide—Yes, Kevin Harvick was fast, but his pit crew wasn’t leaving the door wide open for Kyle Busch to add to his already record breaking season, now with 12 Nationwide wins in one season.

The top five in this Auto Club Speedway run included points leader Brad Keselowski, Harvick, Edwards, and Joey Logano. BK’s points lead is nearly 400 with him having only to stay home to lose this year’s title.

Danica Patrick started a season’s best 14^th, and appeared headed for a top 20 only to be turned around into the fence with less than 10 to go, netting her a 30^th-place finish. She has five more races this year to see what she can do.

Open Wheel News—The Formula One race in Japan saw Team Red Bull Renault’s run away with the pole, fast lap and the win by Sebastien Vettel and teammate Mark Webber with Ferrari shoe Fernando Alonso third. Webber tops the charts, but only by 14 points over Vettel and Alonso with three shows to go.

From Rumorville—Former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel lays in an Indianapolis hospital after a horrific wreck during qualifying in a Silver Crown event on Sat. The 30-year-old driver remains in critical condition with neck, back, and head injuries as of this writing. God speed Shane.

—It appears that Jack Roush has set his sights high for newbee Trevor Bayne as arrangements are being made for the 19-year-old Nationwide driver to test the waters in Sprint Cup competition in the upcoming Texas venue in the No. 21 Woods Brother car or a fifth Roush product. Glad to see it.

—Virginia driver Elliot Sadler is said to be considering a step back in his career by accepting a full-time Nationwide position for next year, perhaps with KHI. I’d say that’s a good move to either Nats or Trucks as Sadler’s ‘edge’ is gone. While he can qualify OK, once the green flag drops, all he does is drop to the back with only ONE single top-10 finish to his credit all season and sits 28^th in points!

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the NASCAR Cup and Nationwide action from night time laps at Charlotte along with more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at [e-mail]