June 7, 2008
By Brenda Benedict
Tony Stewart’s ‘Prelude to the Dream’ charity race on Wednesday, June 4, was a win-win for Tony. Through the support of the NASCAR community and fans, the Prelude raised over one million dollars for the Tony Stewart Foundation and Victory Junction Gang Camp, the charity founded by Kyle and Patti Petty in honor of their late son Adam. Victory Junction provides a camping experience for children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses.
Tony spearheads this charity race each year at his own track, Eldora Speedway, in New Weston, Ohio.
This year Tony scored a double win by taking first place in the 30 lap dirt track race, that is run by a long list of Sprint Cup drivers. Tony led for all 30 laps.
Wednesday night’s win stood in sharp contrast to Tony’s Cup racing results this spring.
There is an old country music song that says, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” This could be Tony Stewart’s theme song for the past two months.
The first 13 races this season have been rough for Tony. Right now he is dangerously close to falling out of the 'Chase' with just 35 points separating him from 13th place.
Tony’s troubles seem to be the result of racing bad luck.
In three races, Tony was running strong before a wreck took him out of contention.
At Talladega, Tony had lead for 61 laps at before wrecking 14 laps from the end of the race. He finished 38th.
Contact with Elliott Sadler took Tony out of contention at both Darlington and Dover. Tony finished 21st at Darlington after contact with Sadler sent him into the wall on the first lap.
Tony appeared on his way to his first win at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Tony was leading at lap 397 of 400 with Kasey Kahne running more than 5 seconds behind. That’s when the bad luck struck again. Tony blew a tire allowing Kahne to win with Tony finishing 18th.
Tony’s bright spot was at Richmond where he finished 4th.
Tony finished 41st at Dover after a wreck early in the race took out six of the top twelve Cup racers. Elliott Sadler triggered the multi-car mix-up after contact with David Gilliland in turn 2. Denny Hamlin was knocked out of the race. Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Clint Bowyer all had their cars towed to the garage and missed laps.
Tony sarcastically admitted the fault for the wreck was his for coming close to Sadler.
"I take 100 percent responsibility," said Stewart. "It's my fault for being anywhere close to Elliott. If I'm within half a lap of him, I expect that to happen. It's my fault -- I'm the one that hit him. When I hit him it caused all the guys behind us to wreck, so it's my fault."
Tony’s good natured joking must be covering frustration at so many heartbreaking finishes -- after promising starts.
Tony Stewart’s fans have been telling me that Tony always does best in the summer racing season. In fact, Tony’s record shows that he often hasn’t had his first victory until mid-season. But it is June now and it is time for Tony to begin the climb to the top.
Tony’s uncertainly about his future is adding to the drama circling around him. He announced during April that he is exploring options that may not include Joe Gibbs Racing. The distraction that this brings to his team may, in some form, be contributing to the lack of success on the track.
There seems to be a correlation to when Stewart’s announcement of future plans and his downward spiral in racing results.
It’s time for Tony to put the uncertainly behind him and return to a focus on the track and what happens there.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
