Tony Stewart #StandWithSmoke

Tony Stewart will be turning left and right this weekend at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, but since this time last year, his career has come full circle.

A year ago, Stewart was absent from The Glen. His streak of consecutive starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ended at 521 when in the wee hours of Aug. 5, 2013, an accident in a sprint car race at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, left him with a broken right tibia and fibula.

Stewart’s season was over, and he did not return to a racecar until Feb. 14, 2014 when practice for the Sprint Unlimited began at 5 p.m. EST at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. #StandWithSmoke was the mantra upon Stewart’s return, and it’s appropriate that #StandWithSmoke reappears in Stewart’s return to Watkins Glen.

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, is 19th in points with only five races remaining before the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins. Fifty-three points and six drivers separate Stewart from the top-16 cutoff necessary to make the Chase.

While Stewart could get in on points, a win would ensure a Chase berth, as any driver among the top-30 in points who wins during the 26-race regular season earns a coveted spot in the 16-driver Chase.

Watkins Glen is more than just the next-best opportunity for Stewart; it’s perhaps the best opportunity for Stewart to win during this five-race stretch before the Chase.

Stewart is the winningest Sprint Cup driver at The Glen with five victories. His seven top-twos and 10 top-10s in 14 career starts at the 2.45-mile road course gives him an average finishing position of 7.9. Stewart’s 225 laps led at The Glen are second only to Jeff Gordon, who has led 233 laps at Watkins Glen. The next best driver in laps led at Watkins Glen is Kyle Busch with 188.

Bolstering these traditional statistics is NASCAR’s loop data, which provides analysis of a driver’s performance profile in the last nine races at Watkins Glen. Stewart ranks first or second in 10 of the 14 loop data categories. He has the best driver rating (120.4), the best average running position (5.661), the most laps spent in the top-15 (678 laps or 93.6 percent), has the most quality passes (195) and is the fastest driver in traffic (118.844 mph). Stewart has the second-most laps led (145 laps or 20 percent), the second-most fastest-laps run (106), is the second-fastest driver early in a run (120.573 mph), has the second-fastest green-flag speed (120.465 mph) and is the second-fastest driver on restarts.

All that speed at Watkins Glen bodes well for Stewart, especially since the regular season is speeding toward its conclusion.

A win puts Stewart into the Chase, and it’s appropriate that Rush Truck Centers is on his No. 14 Chevy SS, as Stewart is in a rush to make the Chase for the ninth time in his career since the inception of the Chase in 2004. A subsidiary of Rush Enterprises, Inc., Rush Truck Centers is the premier service solutions provider to the commercial vehicle industry and the United States’ largest network of truck and bus dealerships, representing industry-leading brands. With more than 100 vehicle centers strategically located in high-traffic areas or near major highways, Rush Truck Centers operate as one-stop centers offering an integrated approach to the needs of its customers.

Watkins Glen could very well serve as Stewart’s solutions provider. Winless thus far in 2014, a win at The Glen provides his solution to the Chase. And after missing the Chase last year due to the broken leg that kept him out for the rest of the season, Stewart can stand tall at The Glen in 2014, preferably in victory lane. It’s time to #StandWithSmoke.

TSC PR