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Bob Pockrass: A year ago today, Smoke began to build the fire
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Stewart-Haas Racing's Tony Stewart leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings after 18 races this season.
Jim Fluharty
NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
It’s been a year since Tony Stewart announced that he would become a co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and to see him one year later leading the Sprint Cup points standings is amazing.
Let’s face it. Haas CNC Racing wasn’t exactly an organization contending for victories a year ago. In fact, the reasonable question that faced Stewart when he announced the partnership wasn’t whether he could attract enough good people to win but rather could he handle running 10th to 15th every week in the transition.
To see Stewart virtually have no transition from old team to new team is incredible. No matter how many good people he could bring in, there was no way to predict the kind of success he’s had. The best he could have hoped for was to be competitive enough to make the Chase For The Sprint Cup, and then by the 27th race of the season be good enough to challenge for victories and challenge for the title.
Maybe some of us underestimated the number of people who would migrate to the team with Stewart. Maybe we underestimated the impact of an increased technological alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. Maybe we didn’t know how good some pieces of Haas CNC Racing were.
Stewart obviously got a little help with the economy, which resulted in plenty of good people looking for work and others looking for a place with maybe a more stable outlook. He also had the benefit of his other racing enterprises (his other race teams and race tracks) that he could offer to potential sponsors to sweeten deals.
But maybe the thing we’ve missed the most is that Stewart is driving really well right now. He hasn’t made many mistakes. When he’s had to go to backup cars, he hasn’t missed a beat. At his most recent win at Daytona, he drove just about a perfect race and did what he had to do to win (sorry, Kyle Busch).
While Stewart’s leap into ownership wasn’t like some other drivers who had to pour at least part of their life savings into the starting of a team (Stewart was pretty much given half of the Haas organization), Stewart still put his reputation on the line. Everyone knew he was a great race car driver, but few knew he would be able to be the leader he has been. It’s his name on the door and from all appearances, he has been involved and doing everything he is supposed to do in his duel role.
As they say, it’s always easier to get to the top than stay there. But stay there or not, this has been a successful season for Stewart. He has established that he could build a successful organization and that will go a long way in securing future sponsors, future drivers and future crewmen.
So on the 1-year anniversary, Stewart should be proud of what he’s done. It couldn’t have been as easy as it looked.
Mentioned Drivers: Tony Stewart
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6248 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -184 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -192 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -239 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -279 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | -312 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -340 |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | -402 |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne | -414 |
| 10 | Carl Edwards | -437 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | -448 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -556 |
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Comments
13 responses to "Bob Pockrass: A year ago today, Smoke began to build the fire". Post a Comment.
manzytrophygirl said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 10:24 AMAnd the fire continues to roar...all the way to the Championship podium...GO SMOKE GO!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSheilaLovesNASCAR said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 12:13 PMYes, indeed. Tony has always been a fierce competitor. He's all grown up now. Still hates to loose. Still does what it takes to win. But no longer acts like an idiot for the press. Way to go Smoke. By the way, the media dubbed him Smoke. Who calls Kyle "Rowdy"? Himself.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportga20fan said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 12:39 PM#2 - Tony was never an idiot.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSheilaLovesNASCAR said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 1:26 PMNo, he never was an idiot. But he did pull a lot of stunts with the press. Gibbs sent him to anger management. Maybe he should do the same for Kyle. But idiot is Kyle's style.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportLaurieW said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 2:09 PMTony's drive and talent are unstoppable. Hopefully we'll see another win at Chicagoland tonight! It's also nice to have him back in a Chevy this year.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportejb919 said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 2:33 PMSmoke,U have amaized everyone in this industry as what a new owner/driver can do with a crew that backs U 100% and fans that applaud U 4 efforts,,,,go 4 the championship,we're watching and supporting U all the way....
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» Confirm Abuse Reportejb919 said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 2:36 PMSmoke,,,Just thing what the possibilities can/will B as the team growes and strenghtens...good luck team..
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnathan56 said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 2:41 PMWhy all the hoopla about Tony's success? He is a great driver, has Hendrick engines and chassis. I would have been surprised if he didn't do good. He is like an extension of Hendrick Motorsports. To compare him to Rudd and Kulwicki is like apples and oranges.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmdhutton said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 6:44 PM#8, no it's not apples and oranges. Someone still had to convince people like Darian Grubb, Tony Gibson, Bobby Hutchens and the many crew members to leave very comfortable jobs with proven organizations to come to SHR. Someone had to go find millions of sponsorship dollars in a lousy economy. Someone has to motivate hundreds of men and women at the shop to take pride in their work each week. Rudd and Kulwicki didn't do any of these things half as well, and neither was the caliber of driver Tony is.
Report as AbuseI know the guy who literally sweeps the floor at the shop each night at SHR. He goes to work with an attitude of "I'm going to be the best floor sweeper there is tonight" every day. He views his job as just as important as anyone else's, and that everyone there is equally as important. THAT is why Tony is light-years ahead of where Rudd and Kulwicki could ever dream about. The tone of any organization is set by its leader.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSS396Chevelle said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 6:48 PMIt was clear from the start that Tony was not at all pleased with the move to Toyota. He has been a Chevy man and won two championships in a Chevy. #8 Haas CNC had Hendrick engines and chassis and they didn't fair well. Tony put together a team of talent and brought with it the knowledge to build a contending team. He had many talks with Chevy before making the change and Chevy assured him of full factory support. The results are first in the chase and two great wins. He is no longer a long shot to win the chase.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSS396Chevelle said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 7:26 PMThe great news for SHR fans is that Chevy is still committed to Nascar and will continue with engine support and technology for the rest of this year and next year as well. Chevy is working on it's advertising program and Nascar is apart of it.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmotorsportsphotography said:
Jul 11, 2009 at 11:48 PMWe will see how much money the government will let GM give NASCAR teams. The government owns 61% and has plenty to say on how they spend millions of dollars.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPhoenix987 said:
Jul 12, 2009 at 10:47 AMI find it amazing really how well SHR has done. Not because I thought they'd be terrible this season, but because they are even outperforming the team that gives them the equipment to race. If Stewart wins the Championship, it will surprise a good number of people, but it will only show that a team isn't just as good as its equipment- Haas CNC last year had the very same equipment- but that driver talent is also important in success. While I applaud what Stewart has done this year, I don't think too many people are surprised to see him winning already. What's probably the most surprising part is that Newman hasn't won yet, or that their start to the season at Daytona went about as well as a good number of people though their whole year would go. Even though it was a fluke, seeing the #39 team flirt with the Top 35 in owners' points for a couple weeks brought back speculation that maybe Stewart had bitten off more than he could chew, but now that team's knocking on a win and running extremely well. It's going to be a great Chase, since almost half the field will be Hendrick or Hendrick affiliates.
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