Stewart-Haas Racing Enters Second Year

Charlotte Motor Speedway – The first function of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway was a luncheon hosted by Stewart-Haas Racing, one the surprise teams of the 2009 season.

Stewart-Haas put both its cars in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup in its first season with Tony Stewart as co-owner. Stewart won four races and finished sixth in the standings, while teammate Ryan Newman finished ninth.

“I can promise you one thing, it was a year ago this time none of us knew what to expect, and it was a big question mark as to what was going to happen,” said Stewart.

This year, Stewart said, was a lot more relaxing. At the same time, much more is expected of the team – and Stewart knows it. “I’m expecting a great year,” said Stewart. “I feel like both of us being able to get in the Chase last year was something I expect both teams to do. I feel like the changes that we went through and the work we’ve done over the winter has prepared both of these teams to have a shot at running for a championship.”

Newman, an engineering graduate from Purdue University, used a mathematical formula to talk about the 2010 season vs. 2009.

“Two points define a slope,” said Newman.” We have our point from 2009. Our point from 2010 will determine our success for Stewart-Haas racing in years to go.Just going out there and having a lot better start to the season in Daytona is extremely important – and getting that definition and that second point so we can define our future at Stewart-Haas Racing is also important for us this year.”

Newman’s crew chief, Tony Gibson, said his main goal for 2010 is to get Newman and the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet to Victory Lane. “For us, we want to come out and win races,” said Gibson. “We let a few get away last year. We want to win races and be a threat to win a championship. Making the Chase was awesome, but that’s not good enough. We’ve got to step up our game.”

The entire team has done that, especially when compared to this time last year. Then, the team was frantically working on cars to get ready for the season. And there weren’t that many finished cars around. “The main thing for me is now I can look out of my office and see cars actually sitting out on the floor,” said Bobby Hutchens, Stewart-Haas Racing director of competition said. “This time last year, it was a pretty empty shop. I kind of feel like we’re two months ahead of last year’s schedule, if you could call it that.”

Darian Grubb, crew chief of Stewart’s No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet team, agreed. “Last year we were building,” Grubb said. “But now, it’s actually good to be able to say we’re strengthening. The areas we felt like we had some weaknesses, we know where those are and we were able to make a few changes here and there.”

Stewart-Haas Racing currently fields two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but could expand in the future, Hutchens said. “We’ve talked about that in our shop over the last couple months or weeks,” said Hutchens. “That may something that’s in our future if it fits our group up here. We’re not going to do anything that’s going to pull our two cars down from a performance standpoint. Also, we want to bring something in that’s going to add to our program.
“We’ll use our best practice approach that we’ve done in about everything we’ve done as far as choosing different paths to take. When the time comes to see if we expand from 2011, whether it’s then or later, we’ll do it.”

Ryan Newman won the 2008 Daytona 500, getting a push by then Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch in the closing laps. The two passed Newman’s current teammate, Tony Stewart, en route to Newman’s win.
The two joked about it Monday, with Stewart casting faux angry glances at Newman.
“Just like when I won the Daytona 500, it took a teammate to push me. To make sure that our two cars work together, you have to put yourself in a position,” Newman said.
Stewart: “Thanks for reminding me.”
Newman: “I still thank you for pulling over. I mean, it was the right thing to do.”
Stewart: “So it would appear.”