Need for Speed
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jared Turner
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Stewart can't catch a break
Jun
24
Poor Tony Stewart.
The guy just can't catch a break this season. It seems that wherever trouble lurks, Stewart inevitably finds it.
It happened at Bristol, when Stewart crashed after a bump from Kevin Harvick in the final laps. Instead of finishing second - that's where he was running at the time - he limped home 14th.
It happened at Charlotte when a cut tire sent Stewart from the lead to pit road with a win just over three miles away.
It happened again on Sunday at Sonoma when, running second in the closing laps, Stewart was swept up in a multicar spin.
While Stewart has certainly had his share of bad luck, his failure to win in 2008 can ultimately be traced to no person or circumstance besides his own failure to run in the front - and I'm not talking about just near the front - on a consistent basis.
The same goes for Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Harvick and a host of others whom many thought would have hoisted a winner's trophy by this point in the season.
While it's easy for drivers to blame their absence from victory lane on other drivers, poor equipment or bad breaks, failure to win is ultimately a result of failing to lead laps and failing be in good POSITION to win week after week.
In other words: Lead more laps and lead more often and your day will finally come. The laws of probability teach us nothing else.
Just look at Kyle Busch. The 23-year-old hasn't won five races this season by sleep-walking his way through races and hanging around the top five or top 10 hoping to capitalize on others' mistakes or misfortune.
He has won five races by spanking his competition unmercifully over and over and over again.
If Stewart and others want a winning formula, they need to look no further than Busch to find it.
The guy just can't catch a break this season. It seems that wherever trouble lurks, Stewart inevitably finds it.
It happened at Bristol, when Stewart crashed after a bump from Kevin Harvick in the final laps. Instead of finishing second - that's where he was running at the time - he limped home 14th.
It happened at Charlotte when a cut tire sent Stewart from the lead to pit road with a win just over three miles away.
It happened again on Sunday at Sonoma when, running second in the closing laps, Stewart was swept up in a multicar spin.
While Stewart has certainly had his share of bad luck, his failure to win in 2008 can ultimately be traced to no person or circumstance besides his own failure to run in the front - and I'm not talking about just near the front - on a consistent basis.
The same goes for Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Harvick and a host of others whom many thought would have hoisted a winner's trophy by this point in the season.
While it's easy for drivers to blame their absence from victory lane on other drivers, poor equipment or bad breaks, failure to win is ultimately a result of failing to lead laps and failing be in good POSITION to win week after week.
In other words: Lead more laps and lead more often and your day will finally come. The laws of probability teach us nothing else.
Just look at Kyle Busch. The 23-year-old hasn't won five races this season by sleep-walking his way through races and hanging around the top five or top 10 hoping to capitalize on others' mistakes or misfortune.
He has won five races by spanking his competition unmercifully over and over and over again.
If Stewart and others want a winning formula, they need to look no further than Busch to find it.
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Comments
1 response to "Stewart can't catch a break"
Angie Martin said:
Jun 30, 2008 at 10:21 AMYou know, they say you make your breaks. I think you're bang on...Tony get to the front and STAY there! Your run this season reminds me of some of the years Bill Elliot had - if he didn't have bad luck he wouldnt have had any luck at all! Make your luck Tony - spank the competition - you're the man!
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