Tony Stewart The One That Got Away

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

She’s a mature lady with a robust personality and a devil-may-care attitude. A little rough around the edges, she has broken the hearts of many. Her take-no-prisoners approach is simply irresistible to her most ardent suitors. And like a moth to a flame, they all keep coming back for more.

For Tony Stewart, however, she is more than just formidable. She’s the one that got away. And year after year, she seemingly stays just out of reach of Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing.

She is none other than the “Lady in Black,” the nickname given to venerable Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, site of the 64th running of the Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night.

While Stewart has accomplished much in his 15 seasons as a Sprint Cup driver – three championships and 47 career victories – he still has yet to conquer Darlington. The 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval is one of just two racetracks where Stewart has yet to record a Sprint Cup victory, the other being Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, which was added to the schedule in 2011 and has hosted only two Sprint Cup races.

Stewart has always had a healthy respect for Darlington. From the first time he lapped the track in a stock car, which was August 1996 in a Pontiac fielded by the late Harry Ranier in what was then known as the NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide Series), Stewart has followed the sage advice bestowed on him from the sport’s veterans – race the racetrack.

Since becoming a full-time Sprint Cup driver in 1999 where in his first Sprint Cup race at Darlington he finished a respectable sixth, Stewart has posted solid results. In 20 career Sprint Cup starts at Darlington, Stewart has four top-fives and 11 top-10s. His average finish is 11.8 and he has finished on the lead lap in all but four of those 20 races, earning him a lap completion rate of 98.9 percent. And in the last eight Sprint Cup races at Darlington, no driver has completed more green-flag passes than Stewart (496).

Although Stewart has yet to score a Sprint Cup win at Darlington, he has found success at NASCAR’s oldest track. He dominated the 2008 Nationwide Series race by leading three times for a race-high 90 laps to score his seventh career Nationwide Series win.

NASCAR’s annual pilgrimage to its version of Augusta National is again upon us, and again Stewart will attempt to woo the “Lady in Black”. As he slings his Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet through the corners – especially turns three and four which some might argue make the real Amen Corner – Stewart will drive intent on catching the Lady’s eye. In his 21st attempt at earning a Sprint Cup victory at Darlington, Stewart hopes the adage “persistence pays” means exactly that, so he can take the Lady and her nearly $6 million dollar purse.

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