LONG POND, Pa. – Tony Stewart’s summer event at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway ended much like his first one did after earning a top-five finish in Monday afternoon’s weather-shortened Pennsylvania 400.
The finish tallied another top-five to Stewart’s final Sprint Cup season slate since winning at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in late June. Since his 49th career victory, “Smoke” has registered three top-five finishes in the last five races, only separated by a 26th at Daytona (crash) and an 11th place (speeding) run last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We were kind of a like a yo-yo today,” Stewart said of his performance at the time of the red flag for visibility. “I was pretty happy to see the race end. I hate it for the fans who came back to see us race on Monday.”
The caution for fog flew with 27 laps remaining, and the field circled several laps under yellow. When NASCAR threw the red flag, stopping the race with 22 laps to go, Stewart was in fifth place. Nearly an hour later, the race was officially called.
“I don’t know what would have happened if we started again,” Stewart said. “We could have gained a few positions, but we probably could have lost some as well. But for just us, we’ll take a fifth-place finish and be happy with it.”
Happy he should be.
In 36 career starts at the 2.5-mile triangle, Stewart delivered two wins, 13 top-fives and 24 top-10s, overall. Nearly 66 percent of the time the Sprint Cup Series competed in Long Pond, Stewart finished inside the top-10. In the summer event at Pocono in July 1999, the 45-year-old Stewart finished fourth after starting 12th in his Home Depot Pontiac.
The mid-season surge for the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing finds the Columbus, Indiana native gaining momentum and delivering championship-like performances in a stretch of races NASCAR fans have been accustomed to seeing the three-time champion at his prime.
With his six top-10 finish of the season earned, Stewart sits 27th in the championship standings, but 66 points ahead of 30th place championship contender David Ragan with five races remaining before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins at Chicagoland Speedway in September.
And unless disaster strikes between Watkins Glen and Richmond International Raceway, Stewart will have an opportunity to contend for his fourth series title.
With the sport underlined in a variety of topics and chatter, Stewart is quietly (for some) showing the speed, consistency and strength that could make him a viable threat come Chase time in September.
That would not be a bad thing.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01
