Building blocks: Tony Stewart, Darian Grubb take pride in Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart celebrates his first win as co-owner/driver with Stewart-Haas Racing. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
Tony Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb put their faith in one another when they signed on to build Stewart-Haas Racing into what they hoped would be a championship-contending organization. Their belief in one another and in their ability to take the former Haas CNC Racing, which Stewart now owns 50 percent of, into NASCAR's top ranks drew other top talents to the organization.
They felt a sense of pride in what they were building, and Saturday night they got a taste of just how far this group has come. As Stewart won the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, he took his new group to victory lane for the first time. He did so in a high-profile race in which all aspects of the team - from the engineers who build the cars to the men who pit them to the driver who manhandles them around this track - are put to the test.
Stewart and his group have been building to this point. They rode a streak of five top-five finishes in the last six races into the event and were sitting second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points.
So far, they've made the business of crafting a team look easy with their early successes. Stewart has brought to the organization a new slate of talent on the competition side as well as teammate Ryan Newman and his veteran crew chief Tony Gibson.
And on Saturday, they helped bring him a new sense of accomplishment.
Stewart's no stranger to team ownership, having already formed teams competing in the World of Outlaws and United States Auto Club. But this is his first foray into NASCAR team ownership. He opted to debut at NASCAR's elite level, putting himself behind the wheel of his own car. And then he made it work.
So when he tried to rank the all-star victory - his first in this race - against other career accomplishments such as winning at his home state Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he found himself putting this one pretty high on the list.
"It's awesome," he said. "It's definitely up there. I mean, I've been very fortunate as a car owner with the USAC cars and winning championships and winning the Knoxville Nationals championship with our World of Outlaws teams. … The most fun part about it from the ownership side was getting some of these guys to victory lane that have never been there before. … They've been an awesome group of guys to work with up to this point. And that's the most gratifying part about it."
That and working with Grubb. The two obviously carry a lot of respect for one another's talents.
They had never worked together before they began preparing for this season. Stewart spent his first 10 Cup seasons driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he won two championships. Grubb, meanwhile, was entrenched at Hendrick Motorsports, which has an affiliation with Stewart-Haas.
But they’ve clicked. Stewart was clearly pleased with the way Grubb set up his car for the final 10-lap segment of the all-star race.
"Man, was that a huge 10-minute period in my life, having the opportunity to come in and turn Darian loose," Stewart said. "I think the guy's David Copperfield all the sudden."
These days, the entire NASCAR community is recognizing the magic this group is making.
Stewart has been steadily gaining ground for weeks. Now, the driver many predicted would fail to make the championship field sits second in the standings.
His group is reaping the rewards of an offseason of working diligently to get things ready for this season.
In the offseason, as some teams shut down and as top drivers Stewart and Newman prepared for their new endeavor, crew members lined up to join the organization.
“People really want to be a part of it,” Grubb said.
Saturday night, Stewart was thankful for the people that are.
“My first reaction was, I wish I could have seen the looks on their faces when we came off [Turn] 4, and we had the lead with two to go,” Stewart said of his team. “I didn’t dare say anything on the radio. I didn’t say a word.
“But man, I wanted to see what the pit box looked like those last two laps.”
