Stewart had to resort to his backup car Friday morning after making contact with the wall coming out of turn 2 during the opening Sprint Cup practice session.
“I got loose and caught it but just ran out of race track,” said Stewart, whose No. 14 Chevy sustained damage to the right side. “As the session went on, the track got more grip in it.”
Stewart arrived here on a hot streak with three straight top-seven finishes in tow. He won for the first time two weeks ago at Dover and was fourth last weekend at Pocono.
“I feel like our organization is gaining on it,” he said of the streak, which saw him jump from 21st to 13th in the standings. “I’ve been really encouraged the last couple of weeks.
“We definitely have made big gains in the last month so I’m pretty encouraged by that.”
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