Bill Fleischman: Stewart hopes to ride second-half spurt into NASCAR's Chase

ELEVEN RACES into the season, Tony Stewart was an uncharacteristic 18th in Sprint Cup points. Seven races later, the two-time Cup champion is ninth. What magic legal potion did Stewart and his No. 14 Chevrolet team find in their toolboxes?

"I don't know if there is one particular thing that has really changed it all for us," Stewart said on a Tuesday conference call. "It's kind of like last year [in reverse]. We had a great first half, then just kind of fell off. We didn't really feel like we were doing anything different. We just weren't hitting on the things that we needed to in the fall to keep us good."

Last year, in his first season as a co-owner, Stewart led the points standings for the 13 weeks leading to the Chase for the Championship. He won four races and finished sixth in the standings.

"I think it's worked the opposite way this year," Stewart said. "We just weren't finding the things to make the car happy. Every week, we're just learning a little more about what to do to get the feel in the car that I like.

"I'm still not really comfortable where we're at in the point[s] standings, but we're definitely making gains. It's a lot of little things. The engine department, they keep making gains. Our chassis are getting better.

"You don't have to find one big chunk to make a big gain. A lot of time, it's very small details that each individual department will find that helps bring the whole performance of the team up."

As co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, the 39-year-old Indiana native has more on his mind away from the track than racing. Like several owners, Stewart is searching for sponsors for next year.

"I would say there's probably zero percent chance we'll expand to a third team for next year," he said. "We're still trying to fill the void when Old Spice changes [after] this year."

Office Depot will continue with Stewart, who said he has other sponsorship opportunities.

"It's just a matter of finding a package that works for somebody to fill our spot," he said. "There's still races we're trying to take care of on Ryan's car."

Teammate Ryan Newman is 15th in points, 80 behind Carl Edwards, who holds the 12th and final Chase for the Championship qualifying position.

Believe it or not, cheetahs were a discussion topic during Stewart's call. Hey, it's NASCAR: You never know where interviews will go.

A television reporter mentioned she was preparing a feature on cheetahs at the Indianapolis Zoo for airing before the Brickyard 400 on July 25. Stewart helped build a cheetah exhibit at the Indy Zoo. A cheetah from the zoo named Ro spent a day at Stewart-Haas Racing filming TV spots to promote the zoo. The videos are at YouTube.

"Toward the end of the day, I was walking Ro around the shop," Stewart recalled. "It was really cool to do that."

Tony Stewart and a cheetah, walking around the race shop . . . just when I thought I'd heard and seen it all.

Many racing fans went through several boxes of tissues after Dale Earnhardt Jr. won Friday's Nationwide Series race at Daytona in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Dale Sr. drove the blue-and-yellow No. 3 Wrangler-sponsored car.

After saying his late father would be proud of him, a smiling Junior added, "I'm proud of myself. I just want everybody to be happy."

Later, Junior reiterated it's the last time he'll drive a No. 3 race car.

"I have to move on," he said.

The Wrangler car probably will be on display at the NASCAR Museum in Charlotte, N.C., and at the Richard Childress Museum in Welcome, N.C. Earnhardt Sr. won six Cup series titles driving for Childress.

Please, no more conspiracy theories. Does anyone really think NASCAR could persuade the other drivers to let Dale Jr. win? Even if NASCAR tried it, the gossip flow in the garage area is like the BP oil spill: No one can stop it. Someone would say something if the race had been, uh, arranged.

A TNT prerace Saturday-night feature on Dale Sr. finally winning the Daytona 500 reminded me of an unforgettable scene. After Earnhardt won the 1998 Daytona 500 and was coasting down pit road toward victory lane, all the opposing crews lined up to high-five him. One of the classiest sights I've ever seen in sports.

The Grand-Am Rolex series makes its third appearance at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville July 16-18. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas have won six of eight Grand-Am races this year driving for the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team. Pruett and Rojas teamed to win last year's race on the 2.25-mile Thunderbolt Raceway course.

Lifelock.com 400, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.

When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

TV/Radio: TNT/WPEN (950-AM), WNPV (1440-AM), WDSD(94.7-FM)

Course: 1.5-mile oval

Distance: 267 laps/400.5 miles

2009 winner: Mark Martin

2009 pole: Brian Vickers (184.162 mph)

Track qualifying record: Jimmie Johnson, 188.147 mph (July 8, 2005)

Track facts: Jimmie Johnson's wife, Chandra, gave birth to a daughter yesterday. No other details were released . . . Mark Martin led four times, for 195 laps, including the last 16, in winning last year. Jeff Gordon was runner-up; Kasey Kahne was third . . . Gordon is making his 600th Cup start (all consecutively). His 47-race winless streak matches his career high, first set before he won at Texas in April 2009 . . . Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart are two-time winners at Chicagoland. Harvick won the first two Cup races at the track (2001 and '02) . . . Chevrolet drivers have won seven of the nine Chicago Cup races . . . Todd Parrott is Elliott Sadler's new crew chief. They worked together in 2004 at Yates Racing. Parrott was Matt Kenseth's crew chief until two races ago . . . Nationwide Series crew chief Curtis Aldridge (Mark Green's No. 49 car) and Gary Showalter (Johnny Chapman's No. 40 car) were fined for rule violations involving their cars' specs during last week's event at Daytona International Speedway.

Wins: Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, 5 each; Kevin Harvick, Kyle and Kurt Busch, 2 each; Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, 1 each.

SPRINT CUP STANDINGS (Through 18 of 36 races)

1. Kevin Harvick 2684

2. Jeff Gordon 2472

3. Jimmie Johnson 2459

4. Kurt Busch 2439

5. Denny Hamlin 2400

6. Kyle Busch 2376

7. Matt Kenseth 2322

8. Jeff Burton 2319

9. Tony Stewart 2251

10. Greg Biffle 2234

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2177

12. Carl Edwards 2170

13. Mark Martin 2131

14. Clint Boywer 2121

15. Ryan Newman 2190

16. Kasey Kahne 2016

17. David Reutimann 2000

18. Joey Logano 1997

19. Jamie McMurray 1945

20. Martin Truex Jr. 1930

Up next: Brickyard 400, July 25, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Ind., 1 p.m.; TV: ESPN; last year's winner: Jimmie Johnson.