With nothing to lose, Tony Stewart ends 32-race winless skid

Tony Stewart kept alive his streak of seasons with at least one win, moving it to 13 by capturing Monday's Geico 400.


Because he didn't have anything to lose, Tony Stewart finally won.

Entering Monday's rain-delayed Chase for the Sprint Cup opener ranked ninth of 12 drivers, the two-time NASCAR champion rolled the dice on strategy and captured the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Stewart led 28 of the last 30 laps around the 1.5-mile oval, coaxing his fuel-starved No. 14 Chevrolet to the checkered flag as several championship contenders ran out of gas.

"We had to press," Stewart said after ending a 32-race winless streak that dated to last October. "We had nowhere to go but up. What are we going to lose if it doesn't work? We really weren't taking a gamble.

Updated Chase standings
Rank, driver Points Prev. Mon. (points)

1. Kevin Harvick 2054 2nd 2nd (42)

2. Tony Stewart 2047 9th 1st (47)

3. Carl Edwards 2044 5th 4th (41)

4. Kurt Busch 2043 7th 6th (40)

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2041 10th 3rd (41)

6. Brad Keselowski 2040 11th 5th (40)

7. Ryan Newman 2040 8th 8th (37)

8. Jimmie Johnson 2038 6th 10th (35)

9. Kyle Busch 2035 1st 22nd (23)

10. Matt Kenseth 2030 4th 21st (24)

11. Jeff Gordon 2029 3rd 24th (20)

12. Denny Hamlin 2013 12th 31st (13)

Next race: Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sunday (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)

"I was more worried about getting the win than what was going to happen if we didn't."

With his 40th career victory (tying Mark Martin for 16th on NASCAR's all-time list), Stewart kept intact a streak of having won in each of his 13 Cup seasons. He also jumped to second in points but still didn't seem ready to remove a self-applied underdog label. Last week, Stewart left himself off list of pre-Chase title favorites.

"Today doesn't change my mind," said the Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner, who notched his third consecutive top-10 finish for the first time this year.

"I feel better about it, obviously.One day doesn't change the whole season. We've got nine more hard weeks, and we have some tracks that have been a struggle. But this gets us off to the right start."

Runner-up Kevin Harvick, who took over the points lead, isn't ruling out Stewart.

"That's pretty funny that he counts himself out," he said. "There's no way they're going to be totally out to lunch."

Five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson was one of many drivers to run out of fuel. He wound up 10th. Others — Matt Kenseth (21st), Kyle Busch (22nd) and Jeff Gordon (24th) — were less fortunate.

Johnson is eighth in points, 16 behind Harvick.

"From my driving style, I've never been all that good with fuel mileage," Johnson said. "Not what we wanted."

NASCAR to investigate Gordon's claims against Menard

Team owner Richard Childress, right, on accusations against driver Paul Menard: "Anyone who knows Paul Menard, especially Jeff Gordon . . . knows him personally enough that if we had ordered it, which we did not, he wouldn't have done it because he's that type of person."


NASCAR is investigating Jeff Gordon's charge that Paul Menard might have spun intentionally to help Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick win last Saturday at Richmond International Raceway.

But the available evidence might preclude a definitive answer on the explosive allegations heading into the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said Friday that officials would review the video of Menard's spin, which occurred with 16 laps remaining and Gordon leading Harvick at the 0.75-mile oval. After pit stops under caution, Harvick retook the lead and held on for his fourth victory of the season (and three extra bonus points to start the Chase).

"In light of the suspicions, we're going to look into it," Helton said. "And a lot of it is going to be interpretation. But certainly, it's on us to understand exactly what all we can find as far as facts are concerned. We have in the past reacted to cars that caused cautions during a race. It doesn't necessarily mean we would find something after the fact and react to it."

Helton said the audio involving the incident also would be reviewed. NASCAR requires that all communications between drivers and their crew chiefs and spotters must be broadcast on analog channels that also are monitored by NASCAR officials, media and fans.

But teams also are allowed to use digital frequencies for communications not involving the driver between crewmembers and car owners. Those channels aren't for public consumption, but a Speed Channel report this week stoked debate about what might have been said on a private channel used by Richard Childress Racing.

On the network's "Race Hub" program, Speed analyst Jimmy Spencer analyzed the final 70 laps of traffic on Menard's radio channel. Menard was given frequent updates about the race between Gordon and Harvick. He asked whether the team needed a caution and also seemed puzzled when asked about the voltage in his No. 27 Chevrolet (which was running more than 70 laps behind after an earlier crash).

Shortly before Menard's spin, RCR director of competition Mike Dillon is heard asking Slugger Labbe, Menard's crew chief, to "switch to channel two," which teams frequently refer to as their digital channel.

Spencer implied RCR might have discussed bringing out the caution on their private channel and relayed a coded message to Menard to trigger the yellow. After Dillon's transmission, Menard radioed he had a tire going flat and spun a few laps later.

"When Paul suspected his right rear was going down, he wasn't advised to come to pit road, even though he was 80 laps down and everyone behind him was out of the race," Spencer said. "Why stay out on the track and risk damaging your car or taking someone else out when it's impossible to lose any more spots?"

Menard told SBNation.com and SceneDaily.com that the reason he had asked about the yellow was because he was trying to gauge when to retaliate against Matt Kenseth for an earlier crash. He didn't want to cause a caution that would have impacted Harvick's chances.

Team owner Richard Childress also categorically denied that any team orders were given for a spin.

"Anyone who knows Paul Menard, especially Jeff Gordon … knows him personally enough that if we had ordered it, which we did not, he wouldn't have done it because he's that type of person," Childress said.

NASCAR drivers don't have the scrambled digital channels in their cars during races, but they do have access during practice. Five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson said his Hendrick Motorsports team was among the first to embrace its usage.

"We use it during practice so that we can talk openly on our channel and not give away our shock settings and our spring settings and the adjustments we're making to everyone else," Johnson said. "NASCAR understands there needs to be a level of privacy there and allows it to happen, but those digital radios cannot be in the race car. I am on the digital radio when the car is parked. There is a rule there that the car has to be stopped and the engine off in order for us to use the digital radio. When I come in they literally unplug one radio and plug me into the digital so that I can join that conversation."

Recurring issue: Helton was vague on what sort of punishment — if any — might be taken if NASCAR determined there was wrongdoing at Richmond. But he was firm the race results wouldn't be affected.

He also said NASCAR had "broad authority in the rulebook" to mete out penalties if it felt "team orders" were affecting race outcomes. Formula One attempted to outlaw the practice several years ago after teams routinely ordered drivers to pull over for teammates (sometimes with a win at stake) but since has relaxed its rules.

NASCAR drivers were warned in their prerace meeting at Richmond not to try to meddle in race outcomes.

"We routinely remind the guys to let the race unfold itself," Helton said. "We joke about there not being gentlemen's agreements anymore in our sport. But I do feel like there's a code of ethics among drivers that is alive and well and very strong, particularly in the Sprint Cup garage."

Bowyer on the move?Michael Waltrip Racing confirmed Friday the team is in "productive discussions" with Clint Bowyer, who apparently will leave RCR after the season. "However we don't have anything finalized, and we're not in a position to make any formal announcements," Waltrip said.

During a Friday morning interview on Sirius Satellite Radio, Rusty Wallace confirmed that Five-Hour Energy was leaving his Nationwide team next year for Sprint Cup and was shopping itself as a package deal with Bowyer. "I hear they'll run about 20 races," Wallace said. "They've been with me for over four years and put a lot of money in our team and been awesome partners of mine, but they want to move to the Cup series, and I'm not in the Cup series. They aligned with Clint Bowyer because he was out of a ride with Childress."

Wallace said the 2012 sponsorship prospects for Rusty Wallace Inc. remained solid.

Danica Patrick dishes on Indy exit, NASCAR and Daytona 500

Danica Patrick discusses her outgoing IndyCar career while ramping up for her full-time move to NASCAR.

Danica Patrick didn't make her decision on racing full time in NASCAR until this season. The seed was planted much earlier: In her stock-car debut at Daytona International Speedway in February 2010, Patrick rebounded from a spin and soldiered to a sixth in an ARCA race.

"I had so much fun, I still get excited about it," she says. "It was the first time I got to bump and bang, and it was like, 'This is fantastic. I'm bumping. Yeah! This is really fun.'

"I guess I kind of knew then it's what I wanted to do."

She still spent the rest of 2010 vacillating over whether IndyCar or NASCAR was her future.

"Every time I went to the track, whether NASCAR or IndyCar, that's where I wanted to be," she said. "I'd go to IndyCar and say, 'I've been here so long, and it was a good weekend. This is what I know.' Then I'd go to NASCAR and say, 'God, that was so fun. I love the people, the racing was great.' I spent the whole year flip-flopping and thinking, 'Am I really ready for a change?'

"This year I knew, though. Because I started to do better."

She set a record for the best finish by a woman in an NASCAR national series and has six top-20 finishes in eight starts this year after none in her first 12 races. Next year, she will race full time in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports and run a part-time Sprint Cup schedule with Stewart-Haas Racing that could become a full-time ride in NASCAR's premier series in 2013.

Patrick, who has three more Izod IndyCar Series races remaining, spoke with USA TODAY about her career path before last Friday's Nationwide race at Richmond International Raceway.

Q: Have things slowed down at all since the announcement?

A: No, because the commitments, schedule and sponsor appearances don't change. It gets more busy, because you get more popular, and the more popular you are, it actually gets more busy. They're like, 'Yeah, let's use her, she's hot right now. Let's do a shoot!'

Q: Is it a relief not to hear the same questions anymore about what you're doing next year?

A: Yeah, from a legal negotiation perspective, it's been a long road because there was only so much I could say. That'll be nice to be done with all that. It'll be nice to change the questions. I'm sure you're damn relieved as many other journalists are. You probably get sick of asking the same questions I would imagine. But God forbid, you don't ask the question one time, and that's the time I'm willing to answer it. So I feel very guilty because I continued to give the same boring answer. But I really couldn't do anything else. So as legally soon as I could, I did.

There definitely was a perspective of, 'Do you wait until the end of the IndyCar season?' Because staying in IndyCar obviously isn't going to be the news. So do you do that because you want to keep everyone working hard for you? Quite honestly, it got to be so much. There was so much speculation and so much news out, it was just time, and it had to happen. I love my IndyCar guys. They're great guys, and I get along with them very well. Hopefully, it gives them more time to pressure the team for answers or find other opportunities. But hopefully it works out from a positive perspective.

Q: So you didn't want to overshadow IndyCar with the wait, but you also didn't want it to be a distraction?

A: That's the other thing. If you wait until the last (IndyCar) race in Vegas, you overshadow the champion. Or you wait until Homestead, and you overshadow the NASCAR champion. I'm not saying my story is going to be the lead story necessarily, but you don't want to be in that position that people can hate you for something.

It's just better to get it out of the way, and it gives us more time to set up sponsors or opportunities for the future. It's just better.

Q: Was it becoming a distraction for you and all the teams involved?

A: Tony and I were talking, and I said, 'You're probably ready for this to be done.' He said, 'You know what, I like messing with them!' It was funny, and I told him I heard an interview that he had quite the smartass comment to someone's question about it. But I just feel bad the media had to keep asking the same damn questions and keep getting the same answers.

And I don't want fans to get resentful that they keep reading the same story about the same person. The story is the same. And then the fans resent me for all of that because you're not telling them anything new. Why are you in the news all the time? So I don't want the fans to resent me, either, for something out of my control.

I'm very fortunate it's a problem that could exist, trust me. But there definitely were some media stories that started turning fans in a negative way of, 'Oh, maybe we won't miss her.' So, it was better just to get it out there.

Q: Did your impending departure receive a good reception in IndyCar?

A: It did. Mario (Andretti) was very nice. Even Marco (Andretti) at Sonoma. He came in the truck and just looked at me and had this sad look. He gave me a hug and said, 'I'm going to miss you.' It was this very sincere, brotherly kind of thing. I've gotten along really well with Marco the last two years. So there has been a quiet procession of people who have come to myself or my husband saying they'll really miss that we'll be gone. So it's really meant a lot. It's been really nice.

When I first arrived at the track, and you see your guys and crew, they didn't know what to say. They were really quiet and didn't say much to me. But once we broke the ice about it, it was fine, and it's all the same now. They're great guys, and they're happy for me. They really are. There are some people who were like, 'Look, you need to do this. You should do this. We have no problems.' I'm lucky that I have good guys in IndyCar who are still working hard for me.

Q: Did it feel special to finish sixth at the Baltimore Grand Prix after some people said you would give up on the IndyCar season?

A: Yeah, because that's never the case. I will say I'm a little more detached from the results when they're not good because I'm moving on. But when you're out there working on the weekend, it's still the same drive as I've ever had. It's still my reputation. If I don't do well, it's only me that looks bad. Or it's me that's especially going to be judged for it. Especially with all the news surrounding me, it's easy to point in the direction of, 'You're not trying. You don't care.' It's very easy for people to do that, and it would seem even more my fault than ever before. So I can't let that happen.

Q: After seven seasons, will the end of your IndyCar career seem surreal?

A: The last two races are going to be fun in Kentucky and Vegas. And at this point, I'm really excited about moving on and really looking forward to it, so I don't know if it's like buying a new house that you're really excited about, and you're like, 'I don't care about this one anymore!' You're ready to move on, and there are things you'll miss about it, but you're ready to move on. Because I chose to do this. It's not like I was forced. It's not like it was a terrible compromise in some way.

This is what I want to do. If I loved absolutely everything about IndyCar, I wouldn't be leaving. There are things I'm not going to miss. I'm looking forward to it. I have a feeling the last race in Vegas might be a little bittersweet, though. Especially being on an oval, and that being the primary core of most of my success and my fun moments especially.

Q: So you have no buyer's remorse?

A: No, I'm excited about my new big house. It's got a bigger cockpit. It needs a good air-conditioner, though. I'm going to step up the A/C game in NASCAR, or I'm going to look like a wuss. I got some new packs that aren't as cold as ice, but they stay cold longer, so I'm going to try them out this weekend.

I saw Jimmie Johnson take something similar out after the race last weekend at Atlanta. I'm like, 'All right, I'm not a total wuss!' I don't want to be a wuss. But if 'Five-Time' does it, I can do it.

Q: So is the plan to start your Cup career at the Daytona 500?

A: Yeah, that would be a good idea because Tony thought it'd be a good idea to do some tough racetracks in Sprint Cup as part of my eight to 10 races. I need to learn, so you might as well cut your teeth. I would imagine it's going to be like Darlington, Bristol, Dover — all the hardest ones, because I'll need the most practice. I feel I'll get some slack in those first 10 races. People are going to be watching, but hopefully they cut me the same slack as they did in Nationwide. It's about the long term.

But it would be nice to start somewhere like Daytona so your Sprint Cup debut wasn't a disaster. It's a track where you can have a chance to have a good day. It'd be great from a fan perspective, too. It'd probably be a lot of work for Tony and them to get the cars ready, but I think it'd be good. But we haven't figured that out yet.

Q: How far along is Stewart-Haas Racing in assembling its part-time Cup team for you?

A: I don't know. It's going to start from the ground up. I'd think they're probably in the process of hiring people. But that's another good thing about announcing earlier is that they can start talking to people and put a good quality team together and start talking to people instead of just picking up who you can.

I know Tony's working on it. I don't know if anyone's been hired yet. I know they've started to put it together.

Q: What is the time frame for deciding if you still would race the Indianapolis 500 next year?

A: To be boring, I don't think I have to know anytime soon. I'd imagine when the NASCAR schedules come out, maybe it'll be part of where we decide where it's going to fit in it or not. I'm going to make that suggestion that when we announce the NASCAR schedule, we announce whether I'll be back for the 500 or not.