Tony Stewart praises track conditions at MIS
Written by Kristen Criswell | | krapin@toledofreepress.comTony Stewart is looking forward to the “flexibility” of Michigan International Speedway’s (MIS) racetrack as he revs up for the CARFAX 400 on Aug. 15.
“Michigan is a very, very wide racetrack. The good thing with that is, it gives us, as drivers, an opportunity to move around to different spots of the track and help ourselves out as far as if our cars aren’t handling exactly the way we want,” Stewart said during a July 6 press teleconference.
“That’s one thing about MIS that I think all the drivers really like, is that there are so many options. It’s not a track that’s ‘line committed’, we call it, where you’re stuck in one spot on the racetrack. We have the flexibility to move around. That gives us the opportunity to make our cars drive a little better without having to make changes.”
Tony Stewart
Stewart, a two-time winner of the Sprint Cup, finished fifth during his last appearance at MIS in June, moving him up within the Sprint Cup rankings.
Stewart is ranked eighth in the Sprint Cup, 361 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. In Stewart’s most recent race, the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, he finished second.
Stewart said how he’d like to run at MIS is “obvious.”
“Nobody goes into a race going, I think I’ll just try to run 30th to 35th. We obviously want to win every time we go out. That’s what we’re hoping for,” he said. “We’re trying to improve every week on where we run. We had a good run there at MIS last time. Hopefully, we can have a better one this time and finish a little higher.”
Stewart drives and owns the No. 14 Office Depot Old Spice Chevrolet.
In 2008, Stewart announced he would become a driver/owner in the Sprint Cup Series as Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart-Hass Racing owns two cars, Stewart’s and teammate Ryan Newman’s No. 39 Army Chevrolet.
Stewart doesn’t foresee the team expanding to include more cars.
“I would say there’s probably a zero percent chance we’ll expand to a third team for next year. We’re still trying to fill the void when Old Spice changes this year,” he said. “We’re talking to a lot of great people. There’s a lot of good opportunities out there. It’s just a matter of finding a package that works for somebody to fill our spot.”
The CARFAX 400 is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Aug. 15 and will air on ESPN. For MIS tickets, visit www.mispeedway.com.
