Stewart unusually pleased with fifth-place finish, will donate his winnings
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Joe Gibbs Racing's Tony Stewart was especially pleased with his fifth-place finish in Sunday's LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. That was, in part, because Stewart was donating his portion of the race winnings to the American Red Cross in Columbus, Ind., to aid flood victims.
Stewart returned home from Pocono Raceway a week ago to find his home town swamped by the floods, leading him to make the pledge.
His positive outlook was also because Stewart had a best finish of 18th in his last four NASCAR Sprint Cup races. So running well and then managing to also finish well felt good for Stewart and his team.
"I'm happy we got a top-five for everyone in Columbus, Indiana, and that we can do something to help our community out," he said. "It's been on my mind all weekend. That's what this top-five is for. It feels like a win. As bad as we've been the last couple of weeks, this feels like a win. We've just been frustrated all year.
"But we got a good top-five and raised a lot of money for the people in Columbus, and that's the main thing. … When it's your own community and your own neighbors, it's good to generate a good amount of winnings for our community."
Crew chief Greg Zipadelli admitted the race was a constant struggle to get a handle on the car. Stewart led for one lap, but his team found itself constantly chasing the setup of the car on the 2-mile track before settling in for the solid finish.
"Our car wasn't good enough in the beginning to get up there," Zipadelli said. "We made a lot of adjustments on it. Rubbers in, rubbers out, air pressure - just a ton of stuff. It worked out today to get at least a top-five out of it."
