NASCAR WCUP: Stewart Can Tighten Short Track Stranglehold at Richmond

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 7, 2001

DETROIT - Pontiac driver Tony Stewart has proven to be a winner on all types and sizes of racetracks during his three seasons on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. He owns 12 career victories in just 93 starts, and they've come on everything from flat tracks to banked tracks, from concrete to asphalt, from road courses to speedways. But even as well-rounded as his talent is, Stewart's forte at the moment appears to be NASCAR's short tracks.

Stewart has won the last two short-track races held, beginning with the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway back in May. He tacked on another win at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago, which gave him back-to-back short track triumphs. Adding in his win at Martinsville Speedway last October, Stewart has claimed three of the past four short track races run.

But Stewart's short track prowess extends even further back. Since he began competing in the Winston Cup Series in 1999, Stewart has run in 16 short track events. He has won four times, which stands as the most short track wins by any driver during that period.

This Saturday night the tour returns to Richmond, and Stewart will look for another opportunity to put his name in the record books. A victory there would be his third straight on short tracks this season, which is something the Winston Cup series hasn't seen since Rusty Wallace did it in 1993, also behind the wheel of a Pontiac Grand Prix.

Thoughts From Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac Grand Prix

(DO YOU HAVE DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS AT RICHMOND SINCE YOU'VE WON THERE TWICE?) "I think that with the way our season is going, we have to look at it like it's just another race. But it's going to be hard to not have in the back of our mind that because we've won there twice we should expect to run well. I'm not sure we'd go in there and expect to win again. I think we've got a shot to win, but to go there and expect it - we don't do that. But we do expect to run well and hopefully contend for the win."

(THERE ARE A LOT OF TRACKS COMING UP ON THE SCHEDULE WHERE YOU'VE WON BEFORE. DOES THAT MAKE THIS PART OF THE SEASON MORE FUN?) "They're all tracks where we've typically run well in the past. To have three or four of them right there together -- that could be a powerful month for us if we can get on a roll. But we've had some curve balls thrown at us with some rules changes that we didn't have last year, and that's making us re-think a lot of our approaches at some of these tracks."

Text provided by Al Larsen

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