One More Year: 2016 Will Be Last For Tony Stewart in Cup Series

By Aaron Burns No one knew what to expect when Tony Stewart broke into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1999. As a rookie with Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart was tasked with the job of chasing a Winston Cup title while driving an orange No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac. The fact that Stewart began his career driving a Pontiac in the Winston Cup Series accurately dates just how long he’s been a part of NASCAR’s highest level of competition. But he’s been more than just a part of it. He’s played a lead role for the better part of two decades. It…

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Five Lessons Learned: Joe Gibbs Racing Can Do No Wrong

By Jared Turner 5 Lessons Learned At New Hampshire Kevin Harvick’s Back Is Against The Wall Kevin Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers rolled the dice at New Hampshire by trying to stretch their final tank of fuel to the finish, knowing well that the strategy may not pay off. It didn’t. Harvick, who had the race’s dominant car and led 216 of 300 laps, ran out of gas with three laps to go and finished 21st. Instead of punching his ticket into the next round of the Chase, the defending Sprint Cup Series champion is ranked 15th among the 16 Chase…

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Grow Up, Harvick: Defending Champion Not Representing Sport Well

By Jared Turner After running out of gas while leading with three laps to go in Sunday’s second race of the Chase, Kevin Harvick was not surprisingly upset. Anything less than disappointment under such circumstances would be unnatural and downright strange for a driver who has built a reputation as one of the sport’s most fiery and temperamental competitors. But rather than taking it on the chin like a man and answering reporters’ questions about his team’s late-race gamble that went all wrong, the reigning Sprint Cup Series champion jumped out of his car and made a beeline for the New Hampshire…

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Poor Pit Strategy: Harvick, Childers Have Made Bad Choices

  By Jerry Bonkowski Sometimes, quick success can make you feel infallible and bulletproof. When Kevin Harvick and Rodney Childers won the Sprint Cup championship in their first season together at Stewart-Haas Racing last season, it seemed like everything that could go right did. And given the way Harvick dominated the first 26 races this season, with two wins and 10 runner-up finishes, many thought it might be a slam dunk for Harvick and Childers to repeat again as champs in 2015. But given what the pair has experienced in the first two races of the Chase, can anyone come up with…

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New Hampshire Motor Speedway Preview: The Clock is Ticking

By Jared Turner After a wild and unpredictable finish to last weekend’s opening round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway, the Sprint Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend with a lot on the line for a lot of drivers. In by far the most coveted position among the 16 championship-eligible drivers is Denny Hamlin, who with a win at Chicagoland punched his ticket to the next round of the Chase, formally known as the Contender Round. But with only races at New Hampshire and Dover still to be run in the Challenger Round, several…

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