Stewart has exceeded expectations

Ron Green Jr. - The Charlotte Observer

CONCORD -- It still hasn't been a full year since Tony Stewart, crew chief Darian Grubb, director of competition Bobby Hutchens and the rest of the Stewart-Haas team officially went to work together.

There was a foundation in place from the merger with Haas Racing but little else when their new professional lives began last November.

More than anything, there were questions about whether Stewart, who left his successful run with Joe Gibbs Racing to become a team owner, could win again considering the established multi-car powerhouses that had dominated the sport.

The notion of winning the Sprint Cup championship this year in a start-up operation — albeit a well-funded one with top-line talent — was far-fetched.

Or so it seemed.

When the green flag drops on the NASCAR Banking 500 tonight at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Stewart will still have a chance to claim the points championship.

He starts tonight in fourth place, 84 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. But what seemed impossible in January seems only improbable with six Chase races remaining.

““…We exceeded our expectations of what we thought and what everybody else thought we could do. We're happy about it,” Stewart said.

When Stewart announced last year that he would step into an ownership role while maintaining his seat in a car, it was the most significant new tentacle in Stewart's expanding world that includes track ownership.

While approximately 100 members of Haas Racing remained with the new organization, Stewart put together a team that pulled from across the NASCAR garage.

Grubb came from Hendrick Motorsports, Hutchens from Richard Childress Racing, driver Ryan Newman came from Penske Championship Racing and his crew chief, Tony Gibson, came from Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.

With all of them coming from different points on the racing compass, they melded into a team that won its first race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May when Stewart captured the Sprint All-Star Race.

“It made things easier in a lot of circumstances because we were able to sit down and have conversations about decisions we were making,” Grubb said of the team building.

“It also made things harder in some cases because people had opinions about the way they thought things should be done.

“Tony does a very good of (making decisions) and of coming in helping us and saying what is the most logical decision.”

When the season began, Stewart established his own personal timeline. Monday through Thursday, he worked primarily as a car owner. Friday through Sunday, he went back to being a driver, answering to Grubb on matters related to the car.

“When he shows up at the race track, he says what are we doing next, boss?” Grubb said. “When he gets to the track, he switches to full-on driver mode and trusts everyone around him to run the business side.”

Having won two championships driving for Joe Gibbs (2002, 2005) with Greg Zippadelli as his crew chief, Stewart and Grubb quickly found a comfort level working together despite different personalities.

“Darian doesn't get worked up over anything ever, even when something drastic happens,” Stewart said.

When the team finished eighth at the Daytona 500, it was an indication of how quickly it was coming together.

With six races remaining in the Chase, Stewart has four victories and four seconds.

His June victory in Pocono was the first time in 375 official Cup races a driver/owner won, the last being Ricky Rudd at Martinsville in 1998.

Stewart insists he hasn't used his doubters as motivation.

“Contrary to everybody's popular belief we don't care all that much about what everybody says in the media center and it doesn't motivate our life or change the direction of our life,” Stewart said.

“We do it because we want to do it, not because people say we can or can't do it. We do what we think is right.”

Stewart still loves the rush of driving, whether it's at Lowe's Motor Speedway or a dirt track in middle America.