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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Knocking On The Door Again
Stewart-Haas Racing kept the bar set high with two top-five finishes at Richmond International Raceway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted May 03, 2009   Richmond, VA
Tony Stewart comes in for a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond International Raceway. (PHOTO: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
Stewart-Haas Racing continued to set a stunning pace in its first year, as drivers Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman finished second and fourth, respectively, in Saturday night’s Crown Royal Presents The Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

For Stewart, it was his fourth finish of fourth or better in his last five races, while Newman earned his second consecutive top five. As a team, it was the best result all season, the first time both SHR Chevrolet Impalas finished in the top five in the same race. And now, for the first time all season, both SHR drivers are in the top 10 in points, Stewart third and Newman 10th. Anyway you slice it, that’s impressive for a team that Stewart became co-owner of and retooled over the offseason.

Stewart, the driver and 50 percent owner of the team, beamed like a proud papa after the race. “I was most impressed tonight with our pit crew,” said Stewart. “We had one bad stop that we lost about six spots, but the majority of the night, I mean, they were gaining us track position. Man, it makes my job a lot easier when they do that. So really proud of our guys. Proud of the whole organization. I mean, Ryan, I think Ryan's fourth place run was more impressive than our third place finish. I think we backed up into it with the luxury of getting tires towards the end. But still, just to see how good a night Ryan had, I was proud and happy for those guys, just proud for our whole organization.”

And although Stewart is ahead of Newman in points, Newman has improved tremendously after a slow start during the first month of the seasons. Now, both SHR cars are competitive most weekends and their respective drivers and crews are on the same page.

“After that fourth week was over, we've been basically running the same pace,” said Stewart. “In practice at all four events we were running about the same. Just may have took a couple weeks longer for them to kind of get the combination like Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and I have got. I feel every week we go out, and yesterday in practice, Ryan was really happy with his car. I was a little off. That's kind of where we ended up today. But it seems like when we sit down and talk about our cars, we understand what each other is talking about. The crew chiefs are working well together.”

Newman was equally as happy as his boss. “Overall it was a good run for the U.S. Army Chevrolet and a good points day,” he said. “I told the guys if we keep doing this we'll get what we want and obviously we want to be in victory lane. We showed that we could lead and we had a car that could race with Kyle (Busch) no doubt. We persevered and made it home with a strong finish. A great effort for Tony Stewart and everybody at Stewart Haas Racing. We got two cars in the top five, which was a first for us, and hopefully it's a first of many. It's been a long time for me with two straight top fives.”

But with the way both SHR cars are running, the best may be yet to come.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE RESULTS: RICHMOND

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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