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Sprint Cup
CUP: Stewart Looking For More At Talladega
Chevrolet driver Tony Stewart hopes to build on his Daytona momentum…
Tony Stewart (14) links up with Denny Hamlin (11) to form a two-car draft at Daytona back in February. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Tony Stewart easily could have won the Daytona 500, a race that remains on his “to-do” list.
He had mastered the two-by-two drafting technique that dominated Daytona Speedweeks and was rolling along in the top five in the 500’s twilight laps. But Stewart and drafting partner Mark Martin got shuffled out of the front group in the closing miles, and Stewart finished a disappointing 13th.
He hopes to build on the learning process that began with the new drafting technique at Daytona and turn that into his second Talladega Superspeedway victory in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499. He has finished second six times at the sport’s biggest track.
“You had to have a partner [at Daytona],” Stewart said. “There was no choice. There wasn’t anybody that ran by themselves that didn’t go a lap down. There wasn’t any, ‘Well, I might or might not get a partner.’ You had to have a partner. There was no doubt. And you both had to know where each other was going all the time, and that was the hard part.
“Somebody had to lead. Somebody had to follow. The guy that was following had to trust the guy that was leading. The guy that was leading had to trust that the guy he was leading was going to do everything that he was supposed to do behind him.”
The racing at Talladega this weekend will be the same, Stewart said.
“I think it will be identical to Daytona, actually,” he said. “It’s a wider track, so instead of just three-wide, you might be able to get guys four-wide there pretty comfortably.”
Stewart said he’d rather run in the two-car drafts than in the 20- and 30-car packs that typically have defined Talladega racing. Each driver has more control of his destiny, he said.
“At least the two guys could do something,” Stewart said. “Two guys could race. You weren’t good enough by yourself, but you still could race that way. You still could race. You still could draft guys, pass guys. You actually had a chance to race.
“It was just different than what we’ve ever seen before. Different than anything that’s ever been done in the sport.”
Stewart said the new form of drafting has been a work in progress.
“As technology advances, as race cars get better, as race tracks get better, it makes the driver have to find that next thing to go faster,” he said.
“What we’re doing now was shaping up back when Talladega was first paved, and it’s been building and building since. It’s evolved. We went from 30‑car packs to two‑car packs. It’s just the evolution of the sport and how things are changing.
“I don’t know what it’s like to look at and watch, but I know what it feels like. When you’re in that third group and you catch a group that’s running side-by-side, they can’t get away from each other, but you’re running five to eight miles per hour faster. The guy behind you can’t tell if you want to slow down, so you have to find a hole when you get there. If you don’t find one, you almost have to make one, to a certain degree.”
Stewart said that the drivers have reached a place of trust with each other in the new draft.
“The guys that are driving these things are watching,” he said. “Everybody is watching out for each other. Everybody knows that we can put each other in a bad spot in a hurry if we don’t give each other room. You don’t see guys blocking like we’ve seen in the past.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
He had mastered the two-by-two drafting technique that dominated Daytona Speedweeks and was rolling along in the top five in the 500’s twilight laps. But Stewart and drafting partner Mark Martin got shuffled out of the front group in the closing miles, and Stewart finished a disappointing 13th.
He hopes to build on the learning process that began with the new drafting technique at Daytona and turn that into his second Talladega Superspeedway victory in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499. He has finished second six times at the sport’s biggest track.
“You had to have a partner [at Daytona],” Stewart said. “There was no choice. There wasn’t anybody that ran by themselves that didn’t go a lap down. There wasn’t any, ‘Well, I might or might not get a partner.’ You had to have a partner. There was no doubt. And you both had to know where each other was going all the time, and that was the hard part.
“Somebody had to lead. Somebody had to follow. The guy that was following had to trust the guy that was leading. The guy that was leading had to trust that the guy he was leading was going to do everything that he was supposed to do behind him.”
The racing at Talladega this weekend will be the same, Stewart said.
“I think it will be identical to Daytona, actually,” he said. “It’s a wider track, so instead of just three-wide, you might be able to get guys four-wide there pretty comfortably.”
Stewart said he’d rather run in the two-car drafts than in the 20- and 30-car packs that typically have defined Talladega racing. Each driver has more control of his destiny, he said.
“At least the two guys could do something,” Stewart said. “Two guys could race. You weren’t good enough by yourself, but you still could race that way. You still could race. You still could draft guys, pass guys. You actually had a chance to race.
“It was just different than what we’ve ever seen before. Different than anything that’s ever been done in the sport.”
Stewart said the new form of drafting has been a work in progress.
“As technology advances, as race cars get better, as race tracks get better, it makes the driver have to find that next thing to go faster,” he said.
“What we’re doing now was shaping up back when Talladega was first paved, and it’s been building and building since. It’s evolved. We went from 30‑car packs to two‑car packs. It’s just the evolution of the sport and how things are changing.
“I don’t know what it’s like to look at and watch, but I know what it feels like. When you’re in that third group and you catch a group that’s running side-by-side, they can’t get away from each other, but you’re running five to eight miles per hour faster. The guy behind you can’t tell if you want to slow down, so you have to find a hole when you get there. If you don’t find one, you almost have to make one, to a certain degree.”
Stewart said that the drivers have reached a place of trust with each other in the new draft.
“The guys that are driving these things are watching,” he said. “Everybody is watching out for each other. Everybody knows that we can put each other in a bad spot in a hurry if we don’t give each other room. You don’t see guys blocking like we’ve seen in the past.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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