TONY STEWART
STIRS UP CHICAGOLAND
SAGA RAGES ON

Joliet, IL: Tony Stewart had the strongest car. He led the most laps (160 of 267) and won the Tropicana 400 with a decisive lead at Chicagoland Speedway. Still, this wasn't enough to prevent the continuation of the media's favorite soap opera "Let's get Tony Stewart Suspended".

After Tony crashed his primary vehicle during first practice on Friday, he qualified 10th with a back-up car that had completed only 1 lap on the track. Prior to Sunday's race, Tony praised his Home Depot crew for their hard work on Saturday, getting the car to run as well as it did. We found out just how good the car was when Tony took the lead on lap 24 and left the rest of the field behind with as much as a 4 second interval between himself and the 2nd place car.

After a round of green flag pit stops, Tony once again gained the front position. Then, it happened. During a caution brought out when Ricky Craven lost his engine, Kasey Kahne came off of pit road with the lead. He had taken just 2 tires to gain track position. Sterling Marlin followed Kasey with 2 tires as well. Tony came out behind Sterling with 4 new tires. On the ensuing restart, Tony got a big jump on Sterling and moved ahead of him. As the field headed into the first turn, Kasey appeared to check up in front of Tony. Tony bumped the rear of Kasey's #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge sending him spinning into the wall. The field behind, which was building speed, began crashing. The wreck took out the #99 Comcast Ford of Jeff Burton, the #10 Valvoline Chevrolet of Scott Riggs, the #30 AOL Chevrolet of Dave Blaney and the #1 Kraft Foods Chevrolet driven by John Andretti. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also sustained damage to the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, but after several pit stops, he remained in the race.

Tommy Baldwin, Jr., crew chief for Kasey Kahne, ran down to Tony Stewart's pit to confront Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for Tony. Unfortunately, his crew followed and a fight broke out between the 2 crews. NASCAR officials broke up the melee, but the media had a feeding frenzy.

After reviewing the on track incident several times, the NBC commentators debated as to whether or not Tony's contact was deliberate. When asked what happened, Kasey said he wasn't sure; he had gotten loose and slid up the track. He didn't know what happened after that. It was then that the pit reporter, with blatant instigation, asked Kasey if he thought the bump by Tony was due to some past animosity between the 2 drivers. With a stunned look on his face, Kasey replied that he didn't know he had been hit by Tony. It wasn't until later that Kasey accused Tony and the cry for suspension spread through the garage like a lit fuel leak.

Was Tony deprived of his victory lap at the end of the race or was he forewarned by his crew chief of the brewing controversy? Tony denied the accusations that he had deliberately pushed Kasey out of his way. He said it appeared that Kasey had checked up or slowed down for some reason that caused him to bump the rear of his vehicle.

How long will this saga continue? Will NASCAR allow the media to convict Tony which may cause his suspension and end his opportunity to compete for the Championship? No, I think the ratings are still too high. This soap opera may go on for years until some other situation arises that the media can sink their teeth into. Until then, Tony will continue to be the scapegoat.

Lost in the frenzy of the saga was the remainder of the race that included a great comeback for Jeff Gordon and a heartsick ending for Mark Martin.

The Hendrick cars did well again, 3 out of 4 finishing in the top 10. Jimmie Johnson extended his lead in the Championship standings when he brought the #48 Lowes Chevrolet in 2nd. Jimmie had passed Tony on lap 182, but that was the only time he had enough power to get past the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet. A few adjustments by the Home Depot crew on the next pit stop put Tony in the best position to win.

What looked like another disappointing day for Dale Jarrett turned out to be a pleasant one. DJ cut a tire and had to pit out of sequence. Unfortunately, Ricky Craven's engine expired and DJ ended up a lap down with the caution. Later, DJ was able to make it back onto the lead lap. He was able to make his way to the front and finished 3rd in the #88 UPS Ford.

Although Jeff Gordon had started from the pole for the 4th consecutive week, it was immediately evident there was a problem with the #24 DuPont Chevrolet. Losing the lead to Kasey Kahne on lap 15, Jeff continued to fall back through the field. He had dropped as low as 35th before his crew discovered the problem was a loose jack bolt. Jeff had an amazing comeback as he battled his way to the front to come in 4th.

Even though Jeremy Mayfield came off pit road in front of Tony at the final pit stop, his 2 tires were not enough to retain the top spot for long. Jeremy came in 5th in the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge.

Once again showing that veterans still have the right stuff, Terry Labonte brought the #5 Kelloggs Chevrolet in 6th. His team used pit strategy early to gain track position. It was a doubly good weekend for Terry. His son, Justin, had won the Busch race the day before.

Not having finished in the top 10 for quite some time, Sterling Marlin was determined to stay on 2 tires to keep track position. He finally succeeded by bringing the #40 Coors Light Dodge in at 7th place.

Both Joe Nemechek and Michael Waltrip had relatively quiet days. They were able to stay out of trouble and finish 8th & 9th respectively. Joe in the #01 USG Sheetrock Chevrolet and Michael in the #15 NAPA Chevrolet.

Kevin Harvick struggled in the #29 Goodwrench Chevrolet all day. He had a problem with his oil overheating, then he had a tire go down. So, it was shocking that he was able to finish the race 10th which was a relief as it helped him to retain his 8th place position in Championship points.

But, it seemed that everyone felt the heartache of Mark Martin. He had led the race on lap 89 with what looked like a promising day ahead. He was threading his way through the top 10 and approached Jimmie Johnson who was currently in 2nd position. Suddenly, with 3 laps left, the #6 Viagra Ford gave out and coasted onto pit road. Mark dropped from 3rd to 24th and may have lost any opportunity to compete for the Championship in the last 10 races.

Article by S. Kipple
07/11/04

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