Stewart Comments After His Practice Crash

TONY STEWART was involved in a single car accident in turn three at Pocono Raceway during practice for Sunday’s race. He will drop to the back of the field prior to the start of the race. He met with the media after the accident to answer questions.

WHAT HAPPENED?
“I just…I screwed up. I got in too deep and got loose and couldn’t save it.”

LAST TIME HERE YOU CAME FROM THE BACK AND WON, DOES THAT GIVE YOU ANY MORE CONFIDENCE?
“I know we can do it. I tore up a really good race car today.”

WHAT LAP ON THE TRACK WAS THAT FOR YOU?
“Second.”

ARE YOU JUST MAD AT YOURSELF?
“Yes.”

The backup car Tony will be driving is a carryover chassis from the former Haas CNC team, with a new front clip and body installed prior to the 2009 season. It debuted at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March 2008 with Jeremy Mayfield at the wheel. He qualified 31st and finished 32nd. Chassis No. 14-487’s next start came at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway in May, where Johnny Sauter drove it to a 37th-place starting spot and a 33rd-place finish. It ran again in June at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, with Sauter qualifying 37th and finishing 37th. The car was then tested at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., in October in preparation for Martinsville later that month. There, Tony Raines started 43rd and finished 40th. Its last start of 2008 came in October at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C., where Raines finished 21st after starting 43rd. Tony Stewart tested Chassis No. 14-487 with its new clip and body on Jan. 14, 2009 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in preparation for its first start of 2009 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. There, it enjoyed a solid outing, qualifying sixth and finishing seventh. It was fitted with a new nose and tested in the wind tunnel in preparation for its seventh career start at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, where it qualified 18th and delivered a strong third-place finish – Stewart’s best result in 17 career Sprint Cup starts at Darlington.