Tony Stewart is back in black. The No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS he drives for Stewart-Haas Racing is all black for this weekend’s Camping World RV Sales 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
It’s a fitting paint scheme since Stewart is often lights out in Loudon. And the mood of Stewart’s competitors typically darkens whenever the three-time Sprint Cup champion walks into the Granite State’s garage area.
Stewart has a pole, three wins, 10 top-threes, 14 top-fives and 17 top-10s in 28 career Sprint Cup starts at New Hampshire. He has led a total of 1,218 laps around the 1.058-mile oval, second only to Jeff Gordon’s tally of 1,316 laps – but with eight fewer starts than Gordon. Stewart’s average start at New Hampshire is 11.2 and his average finish is 11.4. Stewart also has a NASCAR Nationwide Series win (2008) and an IZOD IndyCar Series victory (1998) at New Hampshire.
And in NASCAR’s brave new world of loop data analytics, Stewart has the best driver rating (111.7), the most laps led (887 laps or 18.6 percent), is the fastest driver early in a run (with an average speed of 125.683 mph), is the fastest driver on restarts (with an average speed of 121.045 mph) and is the fastest driver in traffic (with an average speed of 124.021 mph) in the last 16 Sprint Cup races at New Hampshire.
In addition to a sharp-looking Mobil 1 Chevrolet, Stewart also brings to New Hampshire a sharp-looking record. In five of the last seven Sprint Cup races leading into Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301, Stewart has finished in the top-10. Four of those finishes were top-fives. One was a win – June 2 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway – and another was a second-place finish – last Saturday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Currently 10th in the championship point standings, Stewart is in his sweet spot of the grueling, 36-race Sprint Cup schedule. It’s hot and the tracks are slick – the ideal recipe for Stewart, who honed his talents sliding Sprint Cars sideways around dirt bullrings from the Midwest to the Southwest.
With plenty of sun and a high of 83 degrees with 64 percent humidity forecasted for Sunday’s race, it all plays into Stewart’s experienced hands. There may not be any dark clouds looming on raceday at New Hampshire, but there is one very dark racecar looming in the minds of 42 other drivers – the No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS of Stewart.
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