You have to go all the way back to Sept. 27, 1998 to find the last time a driver-owner won an event in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Ricky Rudd raced to victory that day at Martinsville Speedway. After eight races this season, #14-Tony Stewart appears poised to end that drought. Stewart comes into Sundays Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway fourth in the series points “ and comes off a season-best second-place finish at Phoenix. Stewart, in his first year heading up the new Stewart-Haas Racing operation, has accelerated the progress of his team and now, he comes to one of NASCARs fastest tracks, the 2.66-mile Talladega tri-oval. The high-banked layout also happens to be the place where Stewarts last previous NASCAR Sprint Cup win occurred. Last October, Stewart captured Talladegas fall race “ his final victory for his former team at Joe Gibbs Racing. Although hes still after his first win as a driver-owner, Stewart has quickly developed a championship style consistency. Which means, for the first time since Alan Kulwickis magical march to the series title in 1992, the words”driver-owner” and”championship” are compatible when used in the same sentence.”This is the best start to the season that Ive ever had in my career,” Stewart said.”The last three weeks have just been amazing. I mean, its been so much fun. Weve been in contention. Weve led laps. Were doing everything right. Its just a matter of time. We are consistent now and thats the way youve got to be. Were just clicking them off one at a time here. I dont think any of us would have predicted we would be in the top five in points.”(NASCAR PR)(4-25-2009)
