Gluck: Tony Stewart's title hopes dangling by a thread
LOUDON, N.H. — If Tony Stewart has any magic left, now would be the time to show it.
Stewart heads to the first-round playoff elimination race at Dover International Speedway on Sunday ranked 15th of 16 drivers and trailing the cutoff by 11 points — or 11 positions on the track. Four drivers will be eliminated from contention after Sunday's race so he either needs a lot of help (other drivers ahead of him having trouble, combined with a good finish by Stewart) or a victory (which would automatically put him through to the next round).
But it’s not looking good for Stewart at the moment — not after he finished 16th and 23rd to open the Chase for the Sprint Cup. In addition, Stewart is in a slump; he hasn’t had a top-15 finish since Aug. 7 at Watkins Glen International.
On his team radio Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Stewart seemed exasperated. “I'm trying every trick in the book I know,” he told crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, to no avail.
Bugarewicz said he knew Stewart was doing what he could. Stewart responded by saying he just wanted to make sure the team understood he was trying.
Late in the race, Stewart sounded more resigned: “We're not good enough now to accomplish what we need to accomplish,” he said.
It was likely bittersweet that Stewart’s teammate Kevin Harvick won the race. Harvick drives for Stewart-Haas Racing, so that meant a win for Stewart as an owner. But as a driver, Stewart was unable to produce in the same equipment.
Now it’s on to Dover, where Stewart has three career wins — most recently in June 2013 — but has also finished 20th or worse in seven of his last 11 starts there.
Stewart seemed optimistic entering the playoff, even though he wasn’t a favorite. But the results haven’t come, and it’s not because of some unforeseen circumstances like a wreck or mechanical failure. The performance just hasn’t been there.
So is Dover really Stewart’s last stand? In some ways, it would be a disappointment to see his final run at a title end this way; on the other hand, his mere presence in the Chase has been a bonus.
After breaking his back in a sand dunes accident before the season, Stewart’s playoff hopes were largely dismissed because of both the injury and his lack of competitiveness over the last few years.
But he returned after missing just eight races with two goals: To win a race and get into the top 30 in points. The former seemed somewhat unlikely, but after catching a timely caution at Sonoma Raceway in June, Stewart passed Denny Hamlin on the last lap to get himself a Chase berth — one of the season’s most stirring moments, to be sure.
Once he made the playoff, he wanted more. The prospect of a run like Jeff Gordon had in his final full season last year — when Gordon made it all the way to the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway — seemed possible.
This sputtering start to the Chase, though, has quickly crushed most of those dreams.
Stewart hasn’t spoken much to reporters since the playoff began, but he’s scheduled to meet with the media this week before going to Dover. It would be a surprise if he indicated anything but a belief he can go to the 1-mile concrete track and get the job done.
Despite the long odds, it would be a mistake to overlook Stewart. He might be 45, but he’s still this generation’s best all-around American racer. Doubt him at your own risk.
“Everybody bet against Tony to even be in the Chase,” Harvick said Sunday. “I think as you look at Dover, he can go to any racetrack and perform. He can go to any racetrack and win. He's Tony Stewart. I wouldn't bet against him.”
Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck