When Tony Stewart first turned a lap at Phoenix International Raceway back in 1993, it was love at first sight for the driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS.
The setting was the famed Copper World Classic where a 21-year-old Stewart was competing in the season-opening USAC Silver Crown race. Stewart qualified second to Davey Hamilton – a former IndyCar veteran – and led 31 of the 50 laps before finishing second to Mike Bliss – the 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. The $3,500 payday for his second-place effort made eight-hour days at $5 an hour in the cold confines of the machine shop where Stewart worked in Columbus, Indiana, seem unnecessary. Packing the rest of the 1993 season with Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget races across the nation, Stewart’s quick ascent up the racing ladder began.
When Stewart returned to Phoenix in November 1999, he was a rookie all over again, but this time in the elite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. While the rookie label was applicable to Stewart in NASCAR’s premiere series, it was anything but when it pertained to Stewart’s history at Phoenix. Prior to 1999, Stewart had raced USAC Midget and Silver Crown cars, Indy cars, Supermodifieds and NASCAR Xfinity Series cars on the relatively flat, one-mile oval carved into the hillside of the Estrella Mountains.
Stewart knew every inch of the track, and after starting 11th in the 43-car field, he took the lead for the first time on lap 87. He would go on to lead three times for a race-high 154 laps en route to the win, his second of three Sprint Cup victories that rookie season.
This Sunday in the CampingWorld.com 500k, Stewart will make his 26th career Sprint Cup start at Phoenix. In 16 seasons as a Sprint Cup driver, Stewart has augmented that 1999 victory with eight top-fives, 12 top-10s and 555 laps led while completing 99.8 percent of the laps available.
Phoenix has often served as a bright spot for Stewart, and there’s no better time than now for some good fortune to shine on Stewart. The 2015 season has not begun well for the three-time Sprint Cup champion. Accidents in the season-opening Daytona 500 and the series’ second race at Atlanta left Stewart 35th in points coming into last Sunday’s race at Las Vegas, where an ill-handling racecar coupled with a steering box problem conspired for a 33rd-place finish.
From the ashes of the season’s first three races, Stewart wants to rise like the Phoenix. With 33 races still ahead of Stewart and his Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team, there’s plenty of opportunity to renew the optimism they all shared before cars hit the racetrack in February at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Phoenix has provided optimism before. In 2011 when Stewart was locked in a tight championship battle with Carl Edwards, he and the No. 14 team used Phoenix as a springboard to the championship. In the season’s penultimate race at Phoenix, Stewart led five times for a race-high 160 laps before finishing third. The performance meant only three points separated Stewart from Edwards before the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There, Stewart kept the pressure on, leading four times for 65 laps en route to the race win and the series title.
Now a Sprint Cup veteran, Stewart returns to Phoenix seeking a return to the style of lights-out racing that has highlighted his career. Just as the Phoenix rises, so can Stewart’s fortunes at Phoenix.
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