Redstate Sports

By Leon H Wolf Posted in NASCAR — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

If he is capable of such introspection, Tony Stewart will spend some time this week wondering why, as the defending champion, he found himself completely missing the Chase this year. One hopes, for the good of the sport, that Stewart can internalize the fact that his own ridiculous antics are solely to blame for his fate this year.

Stewart is without a doubt one of the most talented racers - if not the most talented racer - in the sport. However, he is also without question a man who often lets his temper get the better of him, and responds in ways that are dangerous to others and himself. For instance, at Daytona, Stewart was black flagged twice for retaliating to supposed mistakes by Matt Kenseth and Jamie MacMurray - despite this, he finished fifth, clearly indicating that if he had only kept his cool, he would almost certainly have won the race. Stewart was also black-flagged at Pocono for his ridiculous stunt with Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer, in a race in which he ultimately finished seventh. If he had only been able to refrain from being a childish jerk on either of those occasions, Saturday's 18th-place finish would have been good enough for him to make it into the Chase for the Cup, where he undoubtedly would have been a favorite to repeat. Instead, Stewart finds himself on the outside looking in, hopefully engaging in some thoughtful meditation about whether about the error of his ways.

If history is any guide, the chances of Tony Stewart doing so are slim-to-none; after it was pointed out to him after Daytona that his cut-down on Kenseth was very obvious and could very well have killed the current points leader, Stewart made reference to some incident that no one else on the track saw, and boldly declared, "He started it, I finished it." After Pocono, Stewart again refused to apologize, and even criticized NASCAR officials for black-flagging him. I don't know whether Tony Stewart is trying to gain a reputation as the new "intimidator" of NASCAR, or whether a congenital personality defect is to blame, but until Stewart can mature past the emotional age of five, he will just be the guy who could win the championship every year, but instead is just the jerk who puts everyone else's lives in danger out on the racetrack.

Meanwhile, the beneficiary of Stewart's buffoonery was Kasey Kahne, who turned in another miraculous clutch performace; registering a third place finish on a track ill-suited to his driving style, Kahne managed to edge out Stewart by a scant 18 points. Kahne ended up tenth in the standings, just two points behind Jeff Gordon, who battled a car that seemed to want to quit all night, and ultimately finished 31st. Jimmie Johnson continued his customary fall swoon with a 23rd place finish to enter the Chase in second place behind Matt Kenseth, who finished 8th on one of his worst tracks. The dominant racers of the night were Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who fought their way back to the top after every pit stop, and battled each other right down to the last lap, where Harvick slid past Kyle Busch to gain the win. Harvick's gutsy performance, despite having his spot locked in midway through the race, combined with Kenseth's strong finish, mean that a person would probably be wise to take those two drivers against the field when the Chase for the Cup begins this weekend in New Hampshire (Chase preview to come later this week).