Tony Stewart Chicagoland Preview

Wednesday July 11, 2007

 

ATLANTA (July 11, 2007) - Jake and Elwood Blues, better known as the Blues Brothers, broke out of Joliet, Ill., in the summer of 1979 and led Chicago police on an inner-city chase that ended with a siege on the Daly Plaza in downtown.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing, will look to channel the Blues Brothers as he uses Joliet’s Chicagoland Speedway as his breakout venue to seize the checkered flag for the first time this year in Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.

Stewart’s No. 20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS is a marked improvement over Jake and Elwood’s 1974 Dodge Monaco. Despite Elwood’s boasting that his car had, “…a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant. It’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It’s a model made before catalytic converters so it’ll run good on regular gas,” Stewart’s Home Depot Chevrolet puts out over 800 horsepower and hits 200-plus mph.

The two-time Nextel Cup champion has put that power to the pavement numerous times at Chicagoland, winning the pole in 2003 and the race in 2004. In fact, Stewart is second in laps led at Chicagoland, as he’s paced the field for 276 laps, 48 more laps than third-best Kevin Harvick - winner of the first two Nextel Cup races held at Chicagoland (2001 and 2002).

Stewart was ready to log his fifth straight top-five finish at Chicagoland last year until a thirsty fuel cell forced him to relinquish his third-place position and pit for gas with four laps to go. The result was a disappointing 32nd-place finish.

Stewart has endured more than his share of disappointments in 2007. Whether it’s been getting bested by other’s fuel mileage, bounced out of contention by mechanical failures, or bashed by accidents, Stewart has yet to visit victory lane in a points-paying Nextel Cup race. His trophies from wins earlier this year at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel - both non-point races - are all he has to show for his efforts.

Stuck on career win No. 29 since dominating at Texas Motor Speedway last November - a span of 20 races - Stewart and Co. are intent on getting win No. 30 and their first of the season.

With Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 Stewart’s next opportunity to score that much-desired win, expect Chicagoland’s victory lane to be eyed by the orange-and-black attack the same way the Chicago police department eyed the back of Jake and Elwood’s Dodge Monaco.

After a couple of disappointing races, are you looking forward to going to Chicagoland?

“We’ll see what happens. We always seem to run well at Chicago. We’re cautiously optimistic that we’re going to run well. We need a good week, that’s for sure. The good thing is that the morale of the team is up. This team has battled adversity so many times that it takes a lot to beat this team down.”

A lot is being made out of the fact that you haven’t won yet this year. Is it as big of a deal as it seems?

“It’s not like we’re not running well, because we are. We’ve just had some circumstances that haven’t gone our way. You’ll have that. We’re decent in points and we tend to be a late-blooming team anyhow. We plan on doing the same thing we do every week. We’re not changing our approach. Every week our goal is to win the race, and that’s not going to change. That’s how we’ve won two championships. If we go out and win the race, the points take care of themselves. It’s always been that way, and it always will be that way. We’ll try to go out and win the race each weekend, and at the end of the day we’ll look at the point standings and see where we’re at. If we don’t win, we’ll try to get as many points as possible.”

A race that looked like you might’ve had a chance to win was last week at Daytona, but an early crash with your teammate, Denny Hamlin, who also had a shot to win, ended that chance. It’s never good to crash, and even worse when that crash involves a teammate. What kind of an impact does that have on a race team?

“Denny and I can handle anything that happens on the race track with each other. We’re both professional drivers and can handle it. Everybody is good and we’re all focused on doing what we all do every week. We’re over that hurdle.”

After your accident at Daytona when you were back in the garage area, you had some harsh words for Denny Hamlin. How much of that was emotion and adrenaline talking?

“Most of it was just the disappointment of getting knocked out of the race knowing that we had two good cars. Here we are as a team running first and second and all of the sudden the first- and second-place cars are knocked out of the race. Something happens, you get right out of the car, and a camera is right in your face. You get that pure emotion. I’m the first one to open my mouth before I think about what I’m saying. I’m the king of doing that, as far as staying stuff that I wish I wouldn’t have said.

“We don’t get a cool off period like other sports do. We don’t have that luxury as race car drivers. But that’s a lot of what has drawn fans to NASCAR. They get that honest emotion right off the bat. When you do interviews right after something like that happens, you’re only seeing it from your side and where you were sitting versus where the other guy was sitting.”

You competed in a 360 winged sprint car in the Old Spice Summer Sizzler Tuesday night at your race track - Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Is that kind of extra-curricular racing therapeutic after enduring the kind of weekend you had at Daytona?

“It was absolutely therapeutic for me to come and run at Eldora. Even though you’re still working hard, this type of racing takes a lot of the stress away. I look forward to this event and I had a lot of fun. I don’t know how relaxing it is. It’s still a lot of work, but it’s no stress, which makes it a lot of fun for me. I drive a car I’m not used to driving. It’s got a wing on it, which is an adjustment. I used to run the non-winged cars here a lot, but to run the winged car is a totally different experience. The winged cars are about two seconds quicker than the non-winged cars at Eldora, so it’s definitely different, which is what makes it fun.”

Despite having a limited amount of practice time at Chicagoland in 2004 and 2005, as you endured crashes in practice during both years, you’ve performed very well, as a win in 2004 and a fifth-place finish in 2005 indicate. Is Chicagoland a venue where you don’t need a lot of practice, or is it just a matter of the team being so prepared that it doesn’t matter whether you start the race with your primary or backup race car?

“You don’t necessarily need all the practice time, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning your car to get it driving the way you want it to there. I’d rather take a chance on not having a guarantee to win the race versus crashing and knowing I can win the race. It’s back to the cookie-cutter mile-and-a-halves, and the guys that are good on those mile-and-a-half tracks are good at Chicagoland because the package is pretty similar wherever you go.”

Chicagoland and its sister track in Kansas look exactly alike. Are they?

“They’re about as close as you can get to being the same. You aren’t going to find any two tracks that are more identical than Kansas and Chicago. The only difference between the two tracks - the backstretch at Chicago is a little bit rounded while Kansas’ is straight.”

Have the two tracks matured in the same way since they were both constructed at the same time?

“It’s been impressive to see how much the groove has matured, to where it’s moved up, giving us more racing room and more options. At some tracks it takes years for the groove to move up, but Kansas and Chicagoland have been very similar in the way the groove has moved up the race track. It’s made the racing better.”

Can you pretty much pass wherever you want at Chicagoland?

“I think you can pass anywhere, really. If you get a guy that misses the bottom of the corner and he bobbles, you can get around him. But even if someone doesn’t make a mistake and you’ve got a little better car than they do, the groove is so wide that you have plenty of room to get a run on a guy. But as the tires wear out and grip goes away, drivers will make mistakes and a car’s handling will become more important. And when a guy makes a mistake you need to be there to capitalize on it. You can really pass anywhere as long as the right opportunity comes up.”

Track position and pit strategy seem to be the two biggest variables at Chicagoland. When and how do you make the decision to sacrifice tires for track position, or depending on the circumstances, track position for tires?

“I think it just depends on how your car is working. If your car is driving well, one that keeps you up toward the front all day because it’s fast, then just two tires can keep you pretty quick. In that situation, you could make a big gain at the end by just taking on two tires and maintaining your track position. Even some guys who are behind and don’t have their car the way they want, by taking on two tires, the track position they gain helps out more than four tires would. But when you get right down to it, I think Chicago is a track where if your car’s good, then it doesn’t matter whether you take two tires or four.”

What percentages would you put on a comparison between the importance of horsepower and handling at Chicagoland?

“It’s probably about 50/50. You need to have an aerodynamic car, but you’ve got to have the horsepower to pull it, too. You can’t have one and not the other and expect to go to Chicago and win the race.”

Car No.: 20 - Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Teammates: Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS and J.J. Yeley in the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS

Primary Team Members:

Driver: Tony Stewart
Crew Chief: Greg Zipadelli
Car Chief: Jason Shapiro
Engine Builder: Mark Cronquist
Engine Specialist: Jarrad Egert (pronounced "Egg-ert")
Spotter: Mark Robertson
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:
Gas Man: Jeff "Gooch" Patterson
Front Tire Changer: Ira-Jo Hussey
Catch Can: Brian "Shaggy" Larson
Front Tire Carrier: Tom Dean
Windshield: Scott Geerts (pronounced "Gurtz")
Rear Tire Changer: Todd Foster
Jackman: Jason Lee
Rear Tire Carrier: Jody Fortson

Other Crew Members:

Truck Drivers: Tom "Thumper" McCrimmon and Scott "Scooter" Crowell
Tire Specialists: Jerold Shires and Bill Byrne
Shock Specialists: Dave Hansen and Ronny Crooks
Engineer: Adam Stevens

Chassis No. 143:

This car will make its racing debut at Chicagoland. Built last year, this car has served as a backup on numerous occasions, most of which came when the primary car was Chassis No. 120 - a car Stewart has driven to three wins and 638 laps led in 13 career starts. Chassis No. 143 has had five different bodies placed on it and gone through three front clip designs in an effort to match it to Chassis No. 120. The team believes it has succeeded in building an intermediate track car that matches the wind tunnel numbers posted by the team's stalwart Chassis No. 120. It will get a real world test under racing conditions with this weekend's event at Chicagoland.
Joe Gibbs Racing Chicagoland Anecdotes:

* Joe Gibbs Racing has one Nextel Cup win at Chicagoland: * 2004 race was won by Stewart * Joe Gibbs Racing has one Nextel Cup pole at Chicagoland: * 2003 race pole was won by Stewart

Notes of Interest:

* The USG Sheetrock 400 will mark Stewart's 303rd career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start and his seventh career Nextel Cup start at Chicagoland. * Stewart is currently seventh in the Nextel Cup point standings with 2,234 points, 539 markers behind series leader Jeff Gordon as a result of his 38th-place finish Saturday night at Daytona. The result dropped Stewart one position in the Nextel Cup point standings. At this point last year Stewart was seventh in the standings with 2,274 points, 377 markers behind series leader Jimmie Johnson. Stewart has scored 40 more points this year than he did last year heading into the 19th race of the season. * Stewart had enjoyed a string of top-five finishes at Chicagoland until last year, where he was slated to notch his fifth straight top-five finish. Stewart was running third with less than four laps to go when he ran out fuel, relegating him to a 32nd-place finish. Stewart finished fifth in the 2005 race, won the 2004 race, finished second in 2003 and finished third in 2002. In those four races Stewart led a total of 275 laps, or 25.7 percent of the 1,068 laps available. * In all six Chicagoland races, only one other driver has led more laps than Stewart - Matt Kenseth. Stewart has led a total of 276 laps at Chicagoland to Kenseth's 292 laps led, just 16 fewer laps than Kenseth. Third-best is Kevin Harvick with 228 laps led, 48 less laps than Stewart. * Stewart won his seventh career Nextel Cup pole at Chicagoland in 2003. He set a new track record in the process, lapping the 1.5-mile oval in 29.223 seconds at 184.786 mph. (Jeff Gordon broke Stewart's qualifying record the following year with a time of 28.866 seconds at a speed of 186.942 mph. Jimmie Johnson currently holds the track qualifying record with a time of 28.701 seconds at a speed of 188.147 mph, a mark he set in 2005.) Stewart now has 10 career poles on his Nextel Cup resume, with the last one coming 59 races ago at Martinsville in October 2005. * Race Rewind I - Stewart won the 2004 race at Chicagoland in his backup car. During the weekend's first practice session, Stewart crashed his primary race car in turn three after hitting oil on the race track. It was the first time in the No. 20 team's existence that they had to use their backup race car following a crash in practice. Obviously, the backup car proved to be no slouch, as it qualified 10th and had a four-second lead over second-place Jimmie Johnson by lap 60. If one knew the car's history, its success would have come as no surprise. It was the same car that won the pole and led the most laps in finishing second to Ryan Newman in the 2003 Chicagoland race. * Race Rewind II - For the second time in as many races at Chicagoland, Stewart crashed his primary car in the opening laps of practice for the 2005 race at Chicagoland. It marked just the second time in the No. 20 team's existence they had to use their backup race car following a crash in practice. Joe Gibbs Racing's then NASCAR Busch Series driver - J.J. Yeley - made four laps of practice in Stewart's backup car and then qualified a very respectable 13th. After sitting out Friday's track activities, Stewart returned to action on Saturday to practice the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet. He went on to finish a solid fifth in the race on Sunday. * In his runner-up finish to Ryan Newman in the 2003 race at Chicagoland, Stewart led three times for 80 laps - the most of any driver - to score just as many points as Newman did for winning (180). It was that type of scenario - where the second-place driver earns as many points as the first-place driver - that prompted NASCAR to adjust the points system beginning with the 2004 season. Now, even if the second-place driver leads the most laps and earns the 10 bonus points that go along with leading the most laps, the maximum amount of points he can receive is 180, while the winner of the race is assured of earning 185 points. * Home Depot EXPO store No. 679, located in San Diego, will be represented on the lower rear quarterpanel of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet during the USG Sheetrock 400. Store No. 679 was judged to be the outstanding store of the past week, thereby earning its place on the No. 20 car.

NASCAR Busch Series Notes of Interest:

* Stewart will make a return to the NASCAR Busch Series on Saturday driving the No. 33 Old Spice Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) in the USG Durock 300 at Chicagoland. It will be Stewart's second career Busch Series start at Chicagoland. Stewart competed in last year's Busch Series race at Chicagoland, where he started 17th and finished ninth in a KHI-prepared Chevrolet. The USG Durock 300 will mark Stewart's ninth race as part of his 12-race Busch Series schedule for 2007. Stewart has a total of two wins, four poles, 19 top-fives and 25 top-10s in 73 Busch Series starts. o 3 starts for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2007 (finished 11th at spring California; finished 10th at spring Atlanta; finished 4th at fall Daytona) o 5 starts for Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2007 (finished 8th at spring Daytona; finished 3rd at Las Vegas; finished 2nd at spring Talladega to KHI teammate Bobby Labonte; finished 7th at Darlington; finished 4th at New Hampshire) o 1 start for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2006 (finished 2nd at Fall Texas) o 1 start for Dale Earnhardt Inc., in 2006 (finished 16th at Fall Charlotte) o 10 starts for Kevin Harvick Inc., in 2006 (won at spring Daytona; 12th at Las Vegas; led 25 laps at Talladega before a crash left him with a DNF, finished 39th; led 12 laps at Darlington before a crash with a lapped car dropped him to 29th; DNF at Charlotte, finished 42nd; 12th at Daytona; ninth at Chicagoland; 11th at Michigan; sixth at fall California; fourth at Kansas) o 11 starts for Kevin Harvick Inc. in 2005 (won at spring Daytona; 2 poles - California & Watkins Glen; 2nd at Atlanta; 4th at Watkins Glen; 5th at Phoenix; 15th at Spring Richmond; 23rd at Indianapolis; 5 DNFs - California, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte and Richmond) o 1 start for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005 (crashed while contending for the lead at Fall Charlotte) o 1 start for Richard Childress Racing in 2004 (2nd at Spring California) o 1 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004 (led a race-high 115 laps at Kansas but crashed while leading last lap - finished 25th) o 2 starts for Kevin Harvick Inc., in 2004 (5th at Spring Charlotte and 11th at Atlanta) o 1 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003 (led a race-high 46 laps at Michigan but finished 11th when rain cut race short) o 22 starts for Joe Gibbs Racing in 1998 (2 poles - Spring & Fall Rockingham; 5 top-five finishes) o 5 starts for Joe Gibbs Racing in 1997 (1 top-five - 3rd at Fall Charlotte; two top-10s - Fall Charlotte and Fall Rockingham) o 9 starts for Harry Ranier in 1996 (best start and finish were at Spring Bristol, 7th and 16th, respectively) * In the five Busch Series starts Stewart has made for KHI this year, he has finished in the top-10 each time, with two of those finishes being top-three efforts - the most recent of which was second at Talladega, where Stewart was runner-up to his KHI teammate Bobby Labonte. * In the eight Busch Series starts Stewart has made this year - five for KHI and three for Joe Gibbs Racing - he has finished in the top-10 seven times. The lone finish outside the top-10 was an 11th-place result at California.

Home Depot Corporate Notes:

* Racing to Play - Greg Zipadelli, crew chief of the No. 20 Home Depot Racing Team, is teaming up with volunteers from The Home Depot, Joe Gibbs Racing, KaBOOM! and members of the Chicago community to build a racing-themed playground on Thursday, July 12 with Project Org and Design Studio, Inc. The playground is part of The Home Depot's Racing to Play program that is aimed at making a lasting, positive impression in the lives of children who live in NASCAR race communities.

The playground's design is based on drawings by children who are served by Project Org and Design Studio. The organization provides services to more than 115 children with and without disabilities or development delays and autism in a safe, inclusive environment. Project Org & Design Studio currently does not have a playground. The children only have access to a blacktop area for play activities.

The Home Depot's Racing to Play program will build 10 racing-themed KaBOOM! playgrounds in 2007 and is a partnership between The Home Depot, Joe Gibbs Racing, and KaBOOM!, a national non-profit organization whose vision is to create a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. In the program's first two years, more than 4,400 volunteers donated approximately 33,300 hours of service to build 20 Racing to Play playgrounds that have impacted the lives of more than 11,000 children in race markets across the country.

Racing to Play is part of The Home Depot's $25 million commitment to KaBOOM! to create and refurbish 1,000 playspaces in 1,000 days. As a founding partner of KaBOOM!, The Home Depot provides financial support, materials and numerous volunteers and is part of its ongoing commitment to give back to the communities its stores serve. By the end of 2007, The Home Depot will have built and funded more than 1,000 KaBOOM! play space projects.

This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Beth Lunkenheimer.

 

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