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CUP: Darlington Continues to Be a Mystery to Stewart
Written by: SceneDaily.com
SceneDaily.com   
05/08/2008 - 10:34 AM
Darlington, S.C.
 
Tony Stewart has no wins for 15 tries at Darlington Raceway. (Chris Trotman/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos

Tony Stewart has two championships and 32 victories on his impressive Cup series resume, but venerable Darlington Raceway, which has been hosting races since 1950, mystifies him.

Stewart does have two top-five finishes at the 1.366-mile track, but that’s his lowest amount on any track that hosts Cup races. In 15 races at Darlington, site of Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500, he has zero victories and eight top-10 finishes.

“I could probably run backward and run about the same as I do going forward,” Stewart said. “That’s how close I feel like I am to figuring out Darlington. We’ve run decent at Darlington. I mean, I’ve run in the top-five there before, but every time I think I have something figured out, I normally whack the wall and go, ‘Oh boy, I really did figure it out, didn’t I?’ I don’t know that I’ll ever feel like I’ve got Darlington totally figured out.”

Stewart has led only eight laps at Darlington, a mere 0.08 percent of the 9,953 laps he’s led in his Cup career. And seven of those laps came in the 2002 spring race – before he crashed.

“As a race team we’ve kind of struggled there,” Stewart said. “I don’t really believe we’ve had a race there where I felt like we had the car to beat or that we were a top-three car. Typically, we’re a 10th-place car there. It’s a place where we need to be better.

“It’s one of those tracks where if you’re not having a good
day, it makes you miserable. But that’s what makes Darlington fun if you do get around there well. It’s hard to be good there, and the guys who are good – it’s a fun day for them. Hopefully we can get ourselves in a position where we can get our balance a little better there and keep working toward being a top-five car instead of just a top-10 car.”

Stewart’s task could be harder – or easier – this time around. Darlington officials repaved the track’s surface after last year's race, making it a new track, in essence.

“From what you hear, the tire’s fairly hard, really fast and speeds are crazy,” said Greg Zipadelli, Stewart’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing. “It’s going to be completely different than what you’ve seen in the past. What I’m hearing is that you run 15 or 20 laps and your fastest lap is 20 laps in.

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SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action.
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