"What, Me Worry?"
by TonyStewart.com
ATLANTA - Taking a page from MAD magazine's Alfred E. Neuman, two-time and reigning NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Tony Stewart enters Pocono (Pa.) Raceway - site of Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 - with a "What, me worry?" attitude after falling out of the top-10 in points for the first time in 15 races.
The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing is unconcerned about his negative point drop, simply because there are seven more races before the Chase for the Championship begins Sept. 17 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.First up in the seven remaining races is Pocono, where Stewart has a win, a pole, four top-fives and 10 top-10s in 15 career starts. And at the six other venues - Indianapolis, Watkins Glen (N.Y.), Michigan, Bristol (Tenn.), California and Richmond (Va.) - Stewart has totaled nine wins, two poles, 25 top-fives, 37 top-10s and a whopping 2,255 laps led in 69 starts.
And since winning is the goal of Stewart and Co. each time they unload at a Nextel Cup race, their strategy doesn't change even if their point standing has.
| TONY STEWART'S POCONO PERFORMANCE PROFILE | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | Start | Finish | Status/Laps | Led | Earnings |
| 2006 | Pocono 500 | 18 | 3 | Running/200 | 6 | $182,311 |
| 2005 | xPocono 500 | 26 | 29 | Running/201 | 0 | $108,961 |
| 2005 | xPennsylvania 500 | 6 | 7 | Running/203 | 0 | $124,336 |
| 2004 | Pocono 500 | 8 | 27 | Running/194 | 1 | $100,393 |
| 2004 | Pennsylvania 500 | 8 | 35 | Accident/107 | 0 | $99,043 |
| 2003 | Pocono 500 | 4 | 1 | Running/200 | 37 | $214,253 |
| 2003 | Pennsylvania 500 | 33 | 37 | Engine/153 | 15 | $105,203 |
| 2002 | %Pocono 500 | 7 | 7 | Running/200 | 0 | $96,043 |
| 2002 | *Pennsylvania 500 | 10 | 7 | Running/175 | 0 | $96,043 |
| 2001 | Pocono 500 | 4 | 7 | Running/200 | 0 | $64,340 |
| 2001 | Pennsylvania 500 | 13 | 3 | Running/200 | 0 | $91,880 |
| 2000 | Pocono 500 | 9 | 6 | Running/200 | 38 | $73,490 |
| 2000 | Pennsylvania 500 | 1 | 26 | Running/199 | 0 | $56,490 |
| 1999 | Pocono 500 | 12 | 6 | Running/200 | 1 | $53,255 |
| 1999 | Pennsylvania 500 | 12 | 4 | Running/200 | 0 | $70,970 |
* Race cut short due to weather.
% Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.
x Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish.
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