Round 23 of 36
GFS Marketplace 400
Michigan
Car No.: 20 — Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot Chevrolet Monte Carlo SSTeammates: Denny Hamlin in the #11 FedEx Chevrolet & J.J. Yeley in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
|
Primary Team Members |
|---|
| Driver: Tony Stewart |
Crew Chief: Greg Zipadelli |
| Car Chief: Jason Shapiro |
Engine Builder: Mark Cronquist |
| Engine Specialist: Jarrad Egert (pronounced "Egg-ert") |
Spotter: Mark Robertson |
|
Over-The-Wall Crew Members |
|---|
| Gas Man: Jeff "Gooch" Patterson |
Front Tire Changer: Ira-Jo Hussey |
| Catch Can: Brian "Shaggy" Larson |
Front Tire Carrier: Tom Dean |
| Windshield: Scott Geerts (pronounced "Gurtz") |
Rear Tire Changer: Todd Foster |
| Jackman: Jason Lee |
Rear Tire Carrier: Jody Fortson |
|
Other Crew Members |
|---|
| Truck Drivers: Scott "Scooter" Crowell |
Brent Swim |
| Tire Specialists: Jerold Shires and Bill Byrne |
Brake Specialist: Jason Shapiro |
| Shock Specialists: Ronny Crooks and Dave Hansen |
Engineer: Adam Stevens |
| Pit Support: Jerry Cook, Alan Copley, Byron Goggin and Jim Williams |
|
Team History at Michigan International Speedway |
|---|
| Year |
Event |
Start |
Finish |
Status/Laps |
Led |
Earnings |
| 2006 |
*3M Performance 400 |
17 |
41 |
Accident/58 |
0 |
$122,666 |
| 2005 |
Batman Begins 400 |
3 |
2 |
Running/200 |
97 |
$174,461 |
| 2005 |
GFS Marketplace 400 |
36 |
5 |
Running/200 |
0 |
$135,491 |
| 2004 |
DHL 400 |
27 |
24 |
Running/200 |
0 |
$106,543 |
| 2004 |
+GFS Marketplace 400 |
4 |
9 |
Running/200 |
0 |
$112,493 |
| 2003 |
Sirius 400 |
2 |
8 |
Running/200 |
51 |
$110,843 |
| 2002 |
Sirius 400 |
10 |
16 |
Running/199 |
0 |
$92,618 |
| 2002 |
Pepsi 400 |
24 |
2 |
Running/200 |
0 |
$136,183 |
| 2001 |
Kmart 400 |
37 |
25 |
Running/198 |
0 |
$57,490 |
| 2001 |
Pepsi 400 |
10 |
27 |
Running/161 |
0 |
$55,890 |
| 2000 |
*Kmart 400 |
28 |
1 |
Running/194 |
13 |
$123,800 |
| 2000 |
Pepsi 400 |
19 |
41 |
Accident/36 |
0 |
$41,250 |
| 1999 |
Kmart 400 |
28 |
9 |
Out of Gas/198 |
0 |
$34,450 |
| 1999 |
Pepsi 400 |
37 |
3 |
Running/200 |
4 |
$60,505 |
* Race cut short due to weather.
+ Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner pointsCar History - Chassis No. 122
This car had been the team's workhorse until May of this year. It debuted Feb. 26 at California Speedway, qualifying 12th and leading twice for 28 laps before a late race engine failure relegated it to a 43rd place finish. Prior to California, its only track time had been at Las Vegas during January testing. It returned to Las Vegas for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, where it qualified a strong second and led six times for 54 laps before a flat right rear tire relegated it to a 21st place finish. The spring Texas race marked Chassis No. 122's third career start - one that finally secured a solid race run with a solid finish. There, Chassis No. 122 came from 40th in the field to lead twice for a race-high 99 laps before finishing third - Stewart's best career Nextel Cup result at Texas. After the Texas race, it participated in a Goodyear tire test April 25-26 at Indianapolis and in an open test at Charlotte May 1-2. But in its next outing at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600, a cut right front tire on lap 32 sent Chassis No. 122 into the turn one wall and Stewart to the hospital with a fractured right scapula. With a new front clip and bodywork, Chassis No. 122 returned to action at Indianapolis. It rebounded nicely, rallying from its 32nd place starting spot to finish eighth.
| Year |
Event |
Start |
Finish |
Status/Laps |
Laps Led |
Earnings |
| 2006 |
California (Spring) |
12 |
43 |
Engine/214 |
28 |
$119,453 |
| 2006 |
Las Vegas |
2 |
21 |
Running/270 |
54 |
$130,036 |
| 2006 |
Texas (Spring) |
40 |
3 |
Running/334 |
99 |
$286,286 |
| 2006 |
Charlotte (Spring) |
32 |
42 |
Accident/32 |
0 |
$135,456 |
| 2006 |
Indianapolis |
32 |
8 |
Running/160 |
0 |
$237,111 |
Notes of Interest
The GFS Marketplace 400 will mark Stewart's 271st career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start and his 16th career Nextel Cup start at Michigan.
Stewart is currently seventh in the Nextel Cup point standings with 2,794 points, 21 points behind sixth-place Mark Martin and 447 markers behind series leader Jimmie Johnson. Stewart gained two point positions after his second-place finish last Sunday at Watkins Glen - his third straight top-10 finish. At this point last year Stewart was first in the standings with 3,113 points, 105 markers ahead of second-place Johnson. Stewart has scored 319 fewer points this year than he did last year heading into the 23rd race of the season. Last year, Stewart won the championship.
Stewart is second in miles led this season, pacing the field for 1,010.10 miles. Greg Biffle is first with 1,237.51 miles led. Matt Kenseth is third with 890.70 miles led. Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin is fourth with 726.61 miles led. Jeff Gordon is fifth with 587.46 miles led. Kasey Kahne is sixth with 563.41 miles led. Jeff Burton is seventh with 544.19 miles led. No other drivers have led more than 500 miles this season.
Stewart has led at least one lap in 15 of the 22 races held this season. Stewart's total of 930 laps led is the most of all drivers. Greg Biffle trails Stewart with a total of 872 laps led. Matt Kenseth is third in laps led with 649. No other drivers have led more than 370 laps. As a result, Stewart has earned a total of 95 lap leader bonus points, tying him with Biffle for the most of any Nextel Cup driver and 50 more than championship point leader Jimmie Johnson.
Stewart has the seventh-best average running position (13.467) in the 22 races held this season. Jimmie Johnson leads this category with an average running position of 10.760, just 2.707 positions better than Stewart.
Stewart has recorded the fastest lap on the race track a total of 410 times in the 22 races held this season, second only to Greg Biffle who has recorded the fastest lap 463 times.
Stewart has the second-best driver rating 22 races into the season. His 99.6 rating is 0.1 of a point higher than third-place Greg Biffle (99.5) and 2.2 points lower than Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth, who are tied for first (101.8). The driver rating is a formula consisting of wins, finishes, top-15s, average running position while on lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, laps led and lead lap finishes.
Stewart is the second-fastest driver early in a run in the 22 races held this season. His season rank of 6.889 is 1.075 points below series leader Greg Biffle (5.647), the best among Nextel Cup drivers during the first 25 percent of laps in a pit window under green flag conditions. Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin is third with a 7.950 rating. Jeff Burton is fourth with an 8.550 rating. Jimmie Johnson is fifth with an 8.952 rating.
Stewart is the fastest driver late in a run in the 22 races held this season. His season rank of 6.722 is 1.397 points ahead of second-place Jimmie Johnson (8.286). Kevin Harvick is third with an 8.737 rating. Jeff Gordon is fourth with a 9.278 rating. Mark Martin is fifth with a 9.286 rating. Stewart is the best among Nextel Cup drivers during the last 25 percent of laps following a pit stop.
Stewart scored his fifth career Nextel Cup win at the 2000 June Michigan race. He started 28th in that race, the farthest back any Nextel Cup driver has come to win at Michigan. He now has 26 wins to his resume, with the last one coming five races ago at Daytona.
Stewart has five top-three finishes at Michigan, with the most recent being a second-place result in last year's June visit to the track. In all, Stewart has nine top-10 finishes in his 15 career Nextel Cup starts at Michigan, with an average finish of 14th. Stewart has finished in the top-10 in six of his last eight races at Michigan.
During Stewart's rookie year in 1999, the June Michigan race was the site of the No. 20 team's only DNF for the season. Stewart earned a ninth-place finish despite running out of gas and not making it across the stripe.
In the 2003 June Michigan race, then Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Bobby Labonte and Stewart qualified 1-2 to mark the first and only time two Joe Gibbs Racing cars sat on the front row for a point-paying Nextel Cup race.
Of the four races remaining before the chase for the championship, Stewart has won at three of those venues - Michigan (6/11/2000), Bristol (8/25/2001) and Richmond (9/11/1999, 5/5/2001 & 5/4/2002). The only venue where Stewart has yet to record a victory is California.
Of the 10 races in the chase for the championship, Stewart has won at seven of those venues - New Hampshire (7/9/2000 & 7/17/2005), Dover (6/4/2000 & 9/24/2000), Charlotte (10/11/2003), Martinsville (10/1/2000 & 4/2/2006), Atlanta (3/10/2002), Phoenix (11/7/1999) and Homestead (11/14/1999 & 11/12/2000). The only venues where Stewart has yet to record a victory are Talladega, Kansas and Texas.
"You Must Be a Local" - mechanic Bill Byrne is from Marne, Mich., and fabricator and catch can man Brian "Shaggy" Larson is from Escanaba, Mich., while just to the south is mechanic Jerry Cook from Toledo, Ohio; engine specialist Jarrad Egert from Elmore, Ohio; and engineer Adam Stevens from Portsmouth, Ohio.
Home Depot store No. 3662, located in Steele Creek, N.C., will be represented on the lower rear quarterpanel of the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet during the GFS Marketplace 400. Store No. 3662 was judged to be the outstanding store of the past week, thereby earning its place on the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing machine.
In 2001, Stewart won Round III of IROC XXV at Michigan for his first career IROC win (6/9) en route to finishing second in IROC points to former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bobby Labonte.
In addition to a Cup win and an IROC win, Stewart almost added a NASCAR Busch Series win to his Michigan resume. In the 2003 Busch Series race at Michigan, Stewart led twice for 85 laps in his Chance 2 Chevrolet and had his first Busch Series win in sight before his pit strategy was ruined by rain. After making his final pit stop while under green on lap 100, rain began to fall, stopping the race 15 laps short of its scheduled 125-lap distance. Kevin Harvick gambled on fuel economy and stayed out, holding the lead when the rains came. Harvick earned his 11th career Busch Series victory while all Stewart had to show for his efforts was an 11th place finish. Stewart finally earned his first Busch Series win at last year's season-opening Busch Series race at Daytona, and successfully defended his victory by winning this year's Busch race at Daytona. They are the only two wins among Stewart's 60 career Busch Series starts.
Stewart will make a return to the NASCAR Busch Series on Saturday driving the #33 Old Spice Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc., in the Carfax 250. It will be Stewart's second career Busch Series start at Michigan. The Carfax 250 will mark Stewart's eighth race as part of his 12-race Busch Series schedule for 2006. Stewart has a total of two wins, four poles, 13 top-fives and 15 top-10s in 60 Busch Series starts.
7 starts for Kevin Harvick in 2006 (won at Daytona; 12th at Las Vegas; DNF at Talladega; led 12 laps at Darlington before a crash with a lapped car dropped him to 29th; DNF at Charlotte; 12th at Daytona; ninth at Chicagoland)
11 starts for Kevin Harvick in 2005 (won at Daytona; 2 poles - California & Watkins Glen; 2nd at Atlanta; 4th at Watkins Glen; 5th at Phoenix; 15th at Spring Richmond; 23rd at Indianapolis; 5 DNFs - California, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte and Richmond)
1 start for Joe Gibbs in 2005 (crashed while contending for the lead at Fall Charlotte)
1 start for Richard Childress in 2004 (2nd at Spring California)
1 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004 (led a race-high 105 laps at Kansas but crashed while leading last lap - finished 25th)
2 starts for Kevin Harvick in 2004 (5th at Spring Charlotte and 11th at Atlanta)
1 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003 (led a race-high 46 laps at Michigan but finished 11th when rain cut race short)
22 starts for Joe Gibbs in 1998 (2 poles - Spring and Fall Rockingham; 5 top-five finishes)
5 starts for Joe Gibbs in 1997 (1 top-five - 3rd at Fall Charlotte; two top-10s - Fall Charlotte and Fall Rockingham)
9 starts for Harry Ranier in 1996 (best start and finish were at Spring Bristol, 7th and 16th, respectively)
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