NASCAR WCUP: Stewart Seeks Three-Peat at Dover Downs
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 31, 2001
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Stewart and Pontiac are on a definite roll at Dover. The last time NASCAR's top tour visited Dover, Pontiac Grand Prix drivers Stewart and Johnny Benson swept the top two positions, while Bobby Labonte finished fifth.
The same three drivers are expected to be among the leaders again at the end of the 400-mile tilt on Sunday. Stewart, who has posted four consecutive top-five finishes in 2001, swept both races at Dover last year. During Stewart's four career starts at "The Monster Mile," he has notched a fourth, a second and the back-to-back victories.
If Stewart pulls off the "three-peat," he'll become just the fourth driver to do so at Dover. David Pearson won the fall race there in 1972 and then won both races in 1973. Rusty Wallace claimed the checkers in the 1993 fall event and added two more consecutive victories in 1994. Jeff Gordon was the last driver to complete a string of three in a row at Dover, winning in the fall of 1995 and twice in 1996.
With a victory Sunday, he would also become the second driver in the Winston Cup Series to hold an active three-race winning streak at one venue. Chevrolet driver Jeff Gordon claimed wins in the last three races at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
Thoughts From Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac Grand Prix
(ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTENDING YOUR WINNING STREAK TO THREE AT DOVER?) "It's a place that I'm looking forward to going back to, but the tire is different again. It can always change the variables around just as easy as anything can. We went and tested there and felt like we had a pretty good test, so I'm excited about going back. I would love to keep the streak going."
(DID THE RECENT SPRING RUBBER RULE CHANGE MAKE YOUR TEST OBSOLETE, OR CAN YOU STILL BENEFIT FROM YOUR NOTES?) "I think we're still able to take quite a bit away from it. Our cars have always driven well there, so I don't think it's really going to matter to us which package they make us run. We'll adjust around it."
(DOES TROUBLE HAPPEN FASTER AT DOVER?) "I don't think it's any worse there than anywhere else. Where the problems normally happen as far as accidents are concerned, it's not usually getting into the corners and through the center of the corner, but coming off the corners. The straightaways have so much banking that a car that crashes into the wall coming off the corner -- it's kind of a 'two-for-one special.' - you get the outside wall and then you slide down and hit the inside wall. That's where you can get into a lot of trouble as far as catching other drivers in the same accident."
(AFTER THE MONTH OF MAY, IS IT GOOD TO GET BACK ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE AGAIN?) "Yeah, definitely. It's just going to be nice to get back to the normal deal. My schedule during the first half of the year is extremely busy. I'm really looking forward to the last half of the year. My schedule opens up and I get to do some things I want to do. I'll get more of a chance to relax and at that point, it will start getting a lot easier. "The reason we booked everything early in the year and tried to do as much stuff as we're doing is because since January 1st, I've felt like getting stuff done. I'm excited about getting it all done and getting it out of the way. That way I can focus on hopefully trying to get caught up in the points the last half of the year."
(ON THE RESURGENCE OF JOE GIBBS RACING) "We've done a lot of testing and we've tried a lot of things that we've never tried before, and some of it has helped. I'm not sure what the reason is. I just know we're doing better. We're not scared to try new things and I think with this tire you h ave to try things that are a little bit off par and a little bit different. Some other guys have already done that and been successful with it. It's not trying to re-invent the wheel, but you just kind of get stuck in a rhythm and get stuck with a certain way of setting the car up for different tracks. Now this tire has forced you to drive different, to set the car up different for that. I'm not sure we've got it yet, but I think we're getting a little better handle on it right now."
Text provided by Al Larsen
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