RICHMOND — Tony Stewart, the reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup champion, will have to muster every bit of racing talent and experience he possesses and still have a good measure of luck on his side just to receive a chance to defend that title.
Stewart tonight will be one of nine drivers fighting for eight remaining spots in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, NASCAR’s playoff in its premier series, in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Stewart qualified 40th out of 43 to make the lineup and coming from that deep in the field on a short, three-quarters of a mile track will be a problem. Stewart is a hard-charging driver who can rapidly make up lost ground. But even for him, this will be a tough assignment.
Denny Hamlin, the top rookie on the circuit this season and one of Stewart’s teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, won the pole, his third of the campaign, to continue his unheralded rush to the front. Hamlin completed his qualifying lap at 127.986 mph compared to Stewart’s 124.642, a significant difference.
Jeff Burton took the other front row spot, while Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin are on the second row. Others fighting for the final spot were Kevin Harvick, fifth; Kyle Busch, 12th; Kasey Kahne, 20th, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., 33rd.
The situation is this: 10 drivers (or more if there is a tie for 10th place) qualify for the 10-race playoff. Two drivers, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson, have clinched positions. Spots 3 through 10 are separated by just 117 points with one driver, Kahne, 30 points out of 10th place.
The race is so tight that only the top two drivers are safe. Any one of the others currently in the top 10 could be bumped depending on what happens tonight. On the other hand, Kahne could win tonight and also capture the 10 bonus points and still not qualify for the playoff.
Hence the importance of qualifying and the positioning that goes with it last night. Better qualifiers also receive better more advantageous pit assignments.
Stewart’s problem started early yesterday. He took his orange Chevrolet out for practice, ran too high and quickly ended up in the wall, seriously damaging the left side. The team was forced to unload the backup car and use it.
Stewart, 31 points behind the seventh-place Hamlin in the standings, ran poorly in practice, his best lap just 123.6 mph. Then his team had problems getting the backup through technical inspection and he had to run his qualifying lap last instead of 12th.
It doesn’t get any better. Richmond is an impound race, meaning cars were impounded by NASCAR immediately after they qualified and crews cannot work on them until after the race starts tonight. That means even if Stewart’s crew knows how to fix whatever problems are there, they are powerless to do so.
Hamlin, just 25, said he overdrove in two turns last night but hit the other two perfectly to record his top lap.
“I kind of find it hard to believe I’m racing with the guys for points that I am,” Hamlin said, “especially as inexperienced as I am. I think qualifying up front is going to be a big deal. Hopefully we can get out there and hopefully at least lead one lap then we can finish 17th instead of 16th.”
The latter was a reference to where Hamlin has to finish to ensure he makes the playoff, 16th. If he runs a conservative race as he has done lately, that should not be a problem.
But Stewart has to finish seventh — depending on what Kahne does — to make sure he has a spot in the title run for the third straight season, a tough assignment from 40th.
“It’s not good to start back anywhere but on a short track like this, it’s even tougher,” Gordon said. “But Tony runs so good here, it’s hard to say that’s a hole for him.”
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