pandr
09-04-2011, 06:05 PM
Stress level at Stewart's place? Pegged
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Saturday, Sep. 03, 2011
HAMPTON, Ga. – Darian Grubb stands on a precipice.
From his perch as crew chief for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, he can see two very different views of his future.
One is rather pleasant, in which both Stewart-Haas Racing teams, Stewart's and Ryan Newman's, qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and either or both contend for the 2011 championship.
The other is far more disturbing: Stewart, who has missed the Chase only once since he became a full-time driver in NASCAR, remains winless this season, again fails to make the 10-race playoff and the rumors of Grubb’s exit from SHR come to fruition.
With two races remaining before the 12-driver Chase field is set, either scenario remains possible.
Entering Sunday night’s AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Stewart is 10th in points and clinging to the last guaranteed spot in the field by 21 points over Brad Keselowski.
“The biggest reason the spotlight is on us right now is because we are 10th in points and Tony doesn’t have a win yet this year. He’s won every year he’s been in Cup,” Grubb said.
“He’s won at almost every race track. He’s very consistent and it’s something people have come to expect. He’s going to win, just where is it going to be at?”
Stewart ran strong at Phoenix, and had a dominating car at Las Vegas, but received a penalty on pit road for dragging equipment out of the box. He still managed to finish second, but the opportunity for a win was missed.
“We’ve had a chance to win several races. We feel like we should have won races, but the circumstances of this season have been so different,” Grubb said.
"Even when we’ve had the fastest car, we’ve had a pit road mistake or our strategy didn’t work out.”
There have been some races – such as at Dover in May or last weekend at Bristol – in which Stewart has struggled throughout the event and finished several laps off the pace.
That is very uncharacteristic of the two-time Cup champion and there have occasionally been tense exchanges on the team radio between Stewart and Grubb.
“It’s been very stressful. That’s what we do this for: We all want to win every week. You know it’s not going to always to happen and you are going to have highs and lows,” Grubb said.
“Lately, we’ve been on a lot more of the lows.”
Even so, Stewart remains in a better position than most to cement a spot in the Chase. Teams already eliminated from contention would like to be in the No. 14's position.
Stewart and Grubb expect more.
“We’ve got nine days, basically, to accomplish a goal that’s a year-long goal. So the next nine days will be stressful and tense,” Stewart said.
“The good thing is I think of Darian as a brother and I think it’s just like anything else when you get in situations like this. This is when we’ve got to grab on to each other and work harder with each other.”
There is every reason to believe Stewart could win Sunday night. He won this race a year ago and has finished in the top 10 in 14 of his 24 starts at Atlanta.
There is also reason to believe he could struggle again, or fall victim to a pit road miscue or a mistake in strategy, particularly with fuel mileage playing a larger role this season.
Worse yet, he could go winless for the first time in his career.
“If we don’t win a race it’s not going to be the end of the world and it’s not going to be a disaster, but it definitely would be a streak that I would hate to see come to an end,” Stewart said.
Which Tony Stewart will emerge from Richmond and is Grubb prepared to deal with the worst-case scenario?
“We know when Tony gets in that car he wants to win the race. If he’s frustrated, we all understand that, but we know when push comes to shove, we’re all there to win,” Grubb said.
Knowing that, Grubb said, allows him to put aside the speculation about his future or the second-guessing of his calls as crew chief.
“I know what my contract says and I know whether I will be working tomorrow and nobody else does,” he said.
“I might worry about it when I go home, but when I get go to the shop at 6:30 in the morning until I leave there 6:30 at night, that’s the least thing on my mind.”
Despite the ups and downs of the 2011 season, there is still time to change the storyline.
As the saying goes, there is nothing in sports that a win can’t fix.
"Absolutely, there is a lot of truth to that. If you have a win in your back pocket, it makes you feel different,” Grubb said. “We still know how to do this. We know we can win a race. We know we can win this weekend.
“If we can go out there and get it, it will give everyone that piece of confidence to keep their head up. They’re doing it now, but there is always that little bit of doubt when you haven’t won.
“We need to erase the doubt."
C/P Thats Racin
By Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Saturday, Sep. 03, 2011
HAMPTON, Ga. – Darian Grubb stands on a precipice.
From his perch as crew chief for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, he can see two very different views of his future.
One is rather pleasant, in which both Stewart-Haas Racing teams, Stewart's and Ryan Newman's, qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup and either or both contend for the 2011 championship.
The other is far more disturbing: Stewart, who has missed the Chase only once since he became a full-time driver in NASCAR, remains winless this season, again fails to make the 10-race playoff and the rumors of Grubb’s exit from SHR come to fruition.
With two races remaining before the 12-driver Chase field is set, either scenario remains possible.
Entering Sunday night’s AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Stewart is 10th in points and clinging to the last guaranteed spot in the field by 21 points over Brad Keselowski.
“The biggest reason the spotlight is on us right now is because we are 10th in points and Tony doesn’t have a win yet this year. He’s won every year he’s been in Cup,” Grubb said.
“He’s won at almost every race track. He’s very consistent and it’s something people have come to expect. He’s going to win, just where is it going to be at?”
Stewart ran strong at Phoenix, and had a dominating car at Las Vegas, but received a penalty on pit road for dragging equipment out of the box. He still managed to finish second, but the opportunity for a win was missed.
“We’ve had a chance to win several races. We feel like we should have won races, but the circumstances of this season have been so different,” Grubb said.
"Even when we’ve had the fastest car, we’ve had a pit road mistake or our strategy didn’t work out.”
There have been some races – such as at Dover in May or last weekend at Bristol – in which Stewart has struggled throughout the event and finished several laps off the pace.
That is very uncharacteristic of the two-time Cup champion and there have occasionally been tense exchanges on the team radio between Stewart and Grubb.
“It’s been very stressful. That’s what we do this for: We all want to win every week. You know it’s not going to always to happen and you are going to have highs and lows,” Grubb said.
“Lately, we’ve been on a lot more of the lows.”
Even so, Stewart remains in a better position than most to cement a spot in the Chase. Teams already eliminated from contention would like to be in the No. 14's position.
Stewart and Grubb expect more.
“We’ve got nine days, basically, to accomplish a goal that’s a year-long goal. So the next nine days will be stressful and tense,” Stewart said.
“The good thing is I think of Darian as a brother and I think it’s just like anything else when you get in situations like this. This is when we’ve got to grab on to each other and work harder with each other.”
There is every reason to believe Stewart could win Sunday night. He won this race a year ago and has finished in the top 10 in 14 of his 24 starts at Atlanta.
There is also reason to believe he could struggle again, or fall victim to a pit road miscue or a mistake in strategy, particularly with fuel mileage playing a larger role this season.
Worse yet, he could go winless for the first time in his career.
“If we don’t win a race it’s not going to be the end of the world and it’s not going to be a disaster, but it definitely would be a streak that I would hate to see come to an end,” Stewart said.
Which Tony Stewart will emerge from Richmond and is Grubb prepared to deal with the worst-case scenario?
“We know when Tony gets in that car he wants to win the race. If he’s frustrated, we all understand that, but we know when push comes to shove, we’re all there to win,” Grubb said.
Knowing that, Grubb said, allows him to put aside the speculation about his future or the second-guessing of his calls as crew chief.
“I know what my contract says and I know whether I will be working tomorrow and nobody else does,” he said.
“I might worry about it when I go home, but when I get go to the shop at 6:30 in the morning until I leave there 6:30 at night, that’s the least thing on my mind.”
Despite the ups and downs of the 2011 season, there is still time to change the storyline.
As the saying goes, there is nothing in sports that a win can’t fix.
"Absolutely, there is a lot of truth to that. If you have a win in your back pocket, it makes you feel different,” Grubb said. “We still know how to do this. We know we can win a race. We know we can win this weekend.
“If we can go out there and get it, it will give everyone that piece of confidence to keep their head up. They’re doing it now, but there is always that little bit of doubt when you haven’t won.
“We need to erase the doubt."
C/P Thats Racin