Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 - Tony Stewart Notes

TONY STEWART
Late Season Surge Swings Into Atlanta

ATLANTA (Oct. 23, 2003) - Tony Stewart is at it again. His typical late season surge is in full swing as the driver of the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series heads into the fourth to last race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

In the past five races Stewart has finished no lower than fourth, and that includes a win two weeks ago at Atlanta's sister race track - Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The recent run is merely a microcosm of Stewart's five-year Winston Cup career, as five of Stewart's 17 career victories have come during the last two months of season.

Atlanta is a venue where Stewart has an excellent opportunity to add to that number. Since winning there in March of 2002, Stewart has finished fourth and fifth in his two subsequent trips to the ultra-fast 1.54-mile oval. Add to that the performance of Joe Gibbs Racing - which thanks to Stewart's teammate Bobby Labonte has a total of seven wins and two poles at Atlanta - and Stewart becomes an easy pick for racing prognosticators.

With five straight top-five finishes in as many weeks, do you have added confidence coming into Atlanta?

"Yeah, Atlanta's always a big weekend for us with Home Depot's headquarters being down there. It's where I got my first 500-mile win and I have a lot of friends down there. It's a track I like. It's a driver's track even though it's one-and-a-half miles and fast. It's still one of those places where tires give up, which is good, and it gives us a chance to move around on the race track and actually race each other."

What makes you so good in the last part of the season?

"I wish I knew, because if I did, I'd make it start at the beginning of the season and carry it through the whole year. The only thing I can think of is, with my background in Sprint Cars and Midgets, I was used to tracks being slippery and hot, and it seems like early in the year, clear up through May and early June, the tracks are so cool they retain a lot of grip. Everybody is fast when they have a lot of grip. It's kind of like a sticky dirt track. Everybody's fast when it's sticky, but when it gets dry-slick and blows off, the guys that really get their teams working good and their cars going good go to the front. At this time of the year, all the heat from the summer is still in the track, and when the tracks get slippery and the tires do fall off, those are the tracks where we really go good. You have to constantly adjust your line, adjust where you're lifting, where you're getting in the gas and how you're getting in the corner."

Can your win at two races ago at Charlotte be transferred to Atlanta?

"Well, they're different places in all reality. Charlotte has bumps that Atlanta doesn't have. At Atlanta you can take The Home Depot Chevy from the wall to the apron and run anywhere you want, basically - not so much at Charlotte. They each have the same layout, but each of them has their own personality. Some things do apply, but some things don't. So that means that there aren't any guarantees on what you think you might have going into Atlanta."

Does having won a race at Atlanta make you appreciate the track more than some of the other tracks you visit?

"Atlanta is a fun track. Of all the mile-and-a-half ovals we go to, Atlanta has the most personality as far as the race track is concerned. You can run all the way down on the white line when the tires are fresh, but as you get some laps on the tires you start moving up the race track. You can end up running three-wide, with the guy on the outside running right up against the wall. The track is fun because you're able to move around a lot."

How much of a role do aerodynamics play at Atlanta?

"A lot, but the good thing is that even though aero is a big issue there, the track widens out quite a bit. Twenty laps into a run, you've got guys who will run right down on the line on the bottom of the track and you've got guys who will run clear up by the wall. It's a track that gives you the kind of flexibility that we have at Michigan, to where however your car is driving, you can move around on the race track and find a spot that helps you and your car not be so aero-sensitive."

When Atlanta was re-paved in 1997 and drivers were qualifying in excess of 197 mph, it was thought that speeds would slowly come down as the surface aged. But that doesn't seem to have happened, and Atlanta is one of the fastest tracks the Winston Cup Series visits. Does that concern you?

"It's fast, but it's not scary fast. You run really quick there, but the track is really wide. If you make a bobble, you don't have to hold your breathe. I ran a 237 mph average at Indianapolis during rookie orientation for the (1996) Indy 500, so going fast doesn't bother me in the least bit."

What's the trickiest part to making a quick lap at Atlanta?

"It's got its set of bumps. You need to make sure your car gets over the bumps but still turns well. Normally, if you turn after you hit the bumps, you're tight. If you turn before you hit the bumps, you're loose. Just finding that common balance - getting the car over the bumps but having it turn at the same time - that's what you're shooting for. And because the track is such a momentum race track, if you're a little bit off it seems like you're way off. If your stuff isn't right, you can't expect to run with the pack all day. You've got to be on your game, because it seems like there's always two or three guys who always get it right. And everybody's who's just a little bit off - it shows up big time on the clock."

Between you and Bobby Labonte, Joe Gibbs Racing has seven wins and two poles in Winston Cup competition at Atlanta. What is it that makes JGR so good at Atlanta?

"I don't think we really have any secrets. It's just that Bobby has always run well there. I finally got my first win there last year. But there are a lot of really good teams that run well at Atlanta. It's not just us. Hendrick, Childress, Yates - they all run well at Atlanta. And with the caliber of drivers in Winston Cup, a team can hit the right setup and win on any given weekend."

Explain a lap around Atlanta.

"The frontstretch is a D-shape, so you're running a natural arc all the way into (turn) one, but you kind of drop down into one when you turn the car into the corner. There are a couple of bumps that tend to upset the car, and you really have to work on your shock package on Friday and Saturday to get your car nice and stable through there. But as soon as you go through those bumps and you get the car settled down, you're right back in the gas, carrying a lot of momentum off of (turn) two and down the backstretch right into (turn) three. You can carry a lot more momentum into three than you feel like you can, but that can be what hurts you later in a run because you're abusing the tires by getting into the corner so hard. But once you get to the bottom of three, the entrance into (turn) four comes up quick. It's a little bit tight getting in there, so you have to be careful and pay close attention to what's happening around you. Atlanta is fast because it allows you to be on the gas so often."

Chassis No. 77

A new car in 2003, California was its first start, where it dominated early – leading three times for 100 laps – before losing an engine on lap 128. It showed dominance again at Charlotte during the Coca-Cola 600, where it led three times for 68 laps before a faulty spark plug put Stewart 31 laps down. It was dominant yet again at the spring Dover race, leading twice for 67 laps, before a pit road infraction dropped Stewart off the lead lap. Stewart then used Chassis No. 77 to battle back onto the lead lap, whereupon he finished fourth. In its fourth career start at Michigan, it led nine times for 51 laps en route to finishing eighth. In its fifth career start at Indianapolis, it led three times for 60 laps before finishing 12th. In its sixth career start at the fall Dover race, it led twice for 97 laps before finishing third. And in its seventh career start at the fall Charlotte race, it led six times for 149 laps – including the final eight – to earn its first win. It was Stewart’s first win in a points-paying race at Charlotte and the 17th win of his career. All told, Chassis No. 77 has led 592 laps, or 29.3 percent of the 2,020 laps available. It has never led less than 51 laps in any of its seven starts.

Notes of Interest

The Bass Pro Shops/MBNA 500 will mark Stewart’s 173rd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series start and his 10th career start at Atlanta.

Stewart earned his 17th career win two weeks ago at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, the sister track to Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Stewart’s win in last year’s spring Atlanta race was his first win in a 500-mile Winston Cup race. It was also his 13th career Winston Cup victory. Stewart now has three wins in 500-mile races – spring Atlanta in 2002, spring Pocono in 2003 and fall Charlotte in 2003.

Prior to that Atlanta win, Stewart’s best finish at the 1.54-mile oval was ninth in the 2001 NAPA 500, for what was then his only top-10 finish at Atlanta. Since winning at Atlanta, Stewart has finished no lower than fifth.

Model of improvement – Stewart’s average finish in the last five Atlanta races (2001-2003) is sixth. His average finish in his first four Atlanta races (1999-2000) was 24th.

Extra practice – Stewart turned numerous laps in a stock car Thursday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway. As part of a Coca-Cola promotion, Stewart gave 12 lucky NASCAR fans four laps each in a specially prepared race car.

Stewart is currently seventh in the Winston Cup point standings with 3,971 points, 577 markers behind series leader Matt Kenseth, 231 points behind sixth-place Jeff Gordon and 271 points behind fifth-place Jimmie Johnson. Stewart maintained his position from a week ago, while expanding the margin between himself and eighth-place Bobby Labonte to 131 points. At this point last year, Stewart was first in the standings with 4,263 points while holding an 82-point advantage over second place Jimmie Johnson. Stewart has scored 292 fewer points this year than he did last year heading into the 33rd race of the season.

Stewart has led the most laps in four races this year (Fontana – led three times for 100 laps; Chicagoland – led three times for 80 laps; Indianapolis – led three times for 60 laps; and the fall race at Charlotte – led six times for 149 laps), but has only two victories – Pocono in June and Charlotte in October – for what were his 16th and 17th career Winston Cup victories, respectively. In the Fontana, Chicagoland, Indy and Charlotte races, Stewart led 389 of a possible 1,011 laps (38.6 percent).

Late Season Surge – Of Stewart’s 17 career Winston Cup victories, five have come during the last two months of the season (29.4 percent).

Of the four Winston Cup venues remaining on the 2003 schedule, Stewart has won at three of them – Atlanta, Phoenix and Homestead.

Home Depot store #4411, located in Ogden, Utah, will be represented on the lower rear quarterpanel of the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet during the Bass Pro Shops/MBNA 500. Store #4411 was judged to be the outstanding store of the week, thereby earning its place on the orange and black Joe Gibbs Racing machine.

Atlanta is home to Stewart’s Winston Cup sponsor – Home Depot.

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