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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Five Stories You Might Have Missed
Tony Stewart has proven to be as savvy a team owner as he is a driver...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted November 17, 2009   Charlotte, NC
SHR Team members Ryan Newman (Left) and Tony Stewart (Right) are both in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The incredible performance of Jimmie Johnson and to a lesser extent his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon has been a black hole this year, headline-wise.

But while the news has seemed to be All Hendrick, All The Time, there have been a number of other compelling stories this year, most of which have nothing to with the most powerful team in NASCAR.

So here are five of the biggest stories in the Sprint Cup garage this year outside of the championship race:

1. SHR COMES ALIVE — When reports surfaced in early 2008 that Tony Stewart was pondering becoming co-owner/driver of Haas CNC Racing, at first it seemed unbelievable. After all, from 2005-08, the Haas crew started 209 Sprint Cup races, yet posted just one top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. Put politely, the team spent most its time as backmarkers, frequently shuffling drivers, crew chiefs and other personnel.

But this year has been a 180 degree shift. Stewart hired Darian Grubb away from Hendrick to be his crew chief, signed Ryan Newman as driver and Tony Gibson as crew chief of the team’s other car and lured Bobby Hutchens away from Richard Childress Racing to be competition director.

Using about 70 percent of the old Haas CNC crew, Stewart and his minions have built a winning operation, with both drivers in the top 10 in points and new sponsors brought in or coming into the sport.

“Just by getting two cars in the Chase and winning the races we've won this year exceeded more than what any of you guys could have anticipated and we could have anticipated we were able to do,” Stewart told reporters last weekend at Phoenix. “We knew on paper that it was possible, but the reality of it was going there and competing against great race teams every week. So to be able to accomplish this goal has been an awesome year for us.”

2. KURT’s BIG YEAR — By all that’s right and proper, Kurt Busch shouldn’t be fourth in points at the moment. Let’s add up some of the obstacles Busch and his Penske Racing team have faced this season:

• Chrysler LLC, Dodge’s parent company went bankrupt in April.

• In June, Chrysler named Mike Accavitti, the company’s biggest NASCAR supporter, president and CEO. By the first week of October Accavitti had “resigned, effective immediately, to pursue other interests.”

• In mid-September, Busch’s crew chief, Pat Tryson, announced he would leaving the team at the end of the year. Subsequently, Tryson was forbidden to come to the shop except for the team’s weekly debrief.

• Of Busch’s teammates, Sam Hornish Jr. is 29th in driver points and David Stremme already has been released.

Yet despite all that, Busch is fourth points — and best of the non-Hendrick drivers, too — having scored two victories and 20 top-five finishes so far in 2009. “Our team has an upbeat feel,” Busch said. “We’ve had a long year. We’ve had a successful year. There’s no better way than put together a 100 percent effort this next week and go out with a bang and hopefully a win.”


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