Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, finished 13th to score his 24th top-15 finish of 2009.

Jimmie Johnson beat Matt Kenseth by 2.303 seconds to win the NASCAR Banking 500 and score his 46th career Sprint Cup victory, his series-leading sixth of the season and his sixth at Charlotte. The three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion is now tied with two-time Sprint Cup titlist Buck Baker for 13th on the all-time win list for NASCAR’s top division.

Kasey Kahne finished third, while Jeff Gordon and rookie Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Kurt Busch comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 42 laps, with four drivers failing to finish the 334-lap race.

Both SHR drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart remained fourth in the standings, but is now 155 points behind Chase leader Johnson. Newman climbed two spots to eighth and is 288 markers out of first.

With five races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (5,923 points) +/-0
2. Mark Martin (5,833 points, -90) +/-0
3. Jeff Gordon (5,788 points, -135) +2
4. Tony Stewart (5,768 points, -155) +/-0
5. Kurt Busch (5,746 points, -177) +1
6. Juan Pablo Montoya (5,728 points, -195) -3
7. Greg Biffle (5,655 points, -268) +/-0
8. Ryan Newman (5,635 points, -288) +2
9. Kasey Kahne (5,592 points, -331) +2
10. Carl Edwards (5,582 points, -341) -2
11. Denny Hamlin (5,551 points, -372) -2
12. Brian Vickers (5,438 points, -485) +/-0

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Oct. 25 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.

It was Newman’s 20th top-15 finish this season and his eighth top-15 result in 18 career Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte.

“We had a good car,” said Newman following the 334-lap race. “The Transformers Chevrolet was doing pretty well, but we really struggled in the pits tonight. It’s just disappointing. I thought we should’ve finished better than that. We had a better car than that.”

After securing the sixth-place starting spot in qualifying on Thursday night, Newman and the team felt confident they could transform their best qualifying effort in recent weeks into a solid finish in the 500-mile race.

Early in the race, Newman told his crew that his car was loose getting into the corners and tight through the center and coming off the turns. Under caution at lap 35, the Transformers pit crew opted to change just right-side tires while adding fuel and making a track bar adjustment. The team wanted to see how the car would react to two fresh tires, which could potentially come into play later in the race. Newman returned to the track in fifth-place for the restart on lap 43.

He initially slid back a few spots with just two fresh tires, but by lap 65 he had stabilized in the 10th-spot. Newman reported that he still had the same problem and that he needed help with his entry into the corners as well as the center of the turns. The team had their next opportunity to help Newman with his car’s handling condition when they pitted under the green flag at lap 91 for four fresh tires, fuel and wedge and air pressure adjustments. However, a problem with a lugnut on the left-front tire led to an extra long stop in the pits. By the time the green flag pit stops cycled around, Newman had fallen from 10th to 19th-place.

Newman tried to gain the lost spots on the track, but his tight-handling racecar impeded his progress. When the caution flag waved at lap 119, the No. 39 team opted to pit for just right-side tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment in hopes of regaining the valuable track position that they had lost earlier in the pits. The pit call worked, as Newman restarted the race in the third spot.

During the next 100 laps, Newman who was running consistently in the top-10, complained that the car was getting tight. At each opportunity, the team worked to loosen the car up with wedge, air-pressure and track-bar adjustments.

By lap 225, Newman reported his car’s tightness had subsided, but now the No. 39 Chevy was on the other end of the handling spectrum – it was now too loose off the corners. Newman couldn’t push his car the way he wanted, thus keeping him from making up ground on those in front of him. Still in the top-10, Newman pitted under green at lap 245 for a track bar adjustment, four tires and fuel.

Unfortunately, a second slow pit stop put Newman in 17th-place when the pit stops cycled through.

Again, Newman worked to regain the lost ground on the racetrack, but the car was still too loose for his liking. Although the team pitted twice more, Newman continued to hustle a loose-handling racecar until the checkered flag fell. In the end, he was to gain a few spots and finish 11th.

Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate and owner, Tony Stewart, came home 13th to score his 24th top-15 finish of 2009.

Jimmie Johnson beat Matt Kenseth by 2.303 seconds to win the NASCAR Banking 500 and score his 46th career Sprint Cup victory, his series-leading sixth of the season and his sixth at Charlotte. The three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion is now tied with two-time Sprint Cup titlist Buck Baker for 13th on the all-time win list for NASCAR’s top division.

Kasey Kahne finished third, while Jeff Gordon and rookie Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Kurt Busch comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 42 laps with four drivers failing to finish the race.

Both SHR drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart remained fourth in the standings, but is now 155 points behind Chase leader Johnson. Newman climbed two spots to eighth and is 288 markers out of first.

With five races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (5,923 points) +/-0
2. Mark Martin (5,833 points, -90) +/-0
3. Jeff Gordon (5,788 points, -135) +2
4. Tony Stewart (5,768 points, -155) +/-0
5. Kurt Busch (5,746 points, -177) +1
6. Juan Pablo Montoya (5,728 points, -195) -3
7. Greg Biffle (5,655 points, -268) +/-0
8. Ryan Newman (5,635 points, -288) +2
9. Kasey Kahne (5,592 points, -331) +2
10. Carl Edwards (5,582 points, -341) -2
11. Denny Hamlin (5,551 points, -372) -2
12. Brian Vickers (5,438 points, -485) +/-0

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Oct. 25 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.

“We were loose at the beginning of a run, then we got to where after about 20 laps, we would start getting tight,” said Stewart, who came into the series’ return trip to Charlotte with high hopes after winning the track’s non-point Sprint All-Star Race in May. “It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t really hit the balance of it. Where we got hurt the most was on starts and restarts when we were all packed up there. We couldn’t make up any ground and couldn’t get in the gas hard. We just gave up a lot of time on the front of runs.”

Stewart’s assessment was spot-on, for after starting fifth in the 43-car field, he dropped back to 14th by the time the race’s first caution flag flew at lap 36. Crew chief Darian Grubb constantly tinkered with the chassis setup of the Old Spice/Office Depot Chevy, and progress was made, but not before Stewart dropped all the way to 20th by lap 98.

A couple of savvy, two-tire pit calls by Grubb gained Stewart some valuable track position, and while the No. 14 machine was never perfect, the smart pit strategy allowed Stewart to bulldog his way back into the top-10 by lap 188. Still, the competition in the race was stout, and Stewart’s stay among the top-10 was short-lived. Nonetheless, perseverance and dedication allowed the team to salvage 13th when the checkered flag dropped.

Stewart’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 TRANSFORMERS: “Revenge of the Fallen” Chevrolet Impala SS, came home 11th to score his 20th top-15 finish of the year.

Jimmie Johnson beat Matt Kenseth by 2.303 seconds to win the NASCAR Banking 500 and score his 46th career Sprint Cup victory, his series-leading sixth of the season and his sixth at Charlotte. The three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion is now tied with two-time Sprint Cup titlist Buck Baker for 13th on the all-time win list for NASCAR’s top division.

Kasey Kahne finished third, while Jeff Gordon and rookie Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Kurt Busch comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 42 laps with four drivers failing to finish the race.

Both SHR drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart remained fourth in the standings, but is now 155 points behind Chase leader Johnson. Newman climbed two spots to eighth and is 288 markers out of first.

With five races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (5,923 points) +/-0
2. Mark Martin (5,833 points, -90) +/-0
3. Jeff Gordon (5,788 points, -135) +2
4. Tony Stewart (5,768 points, -155) +/-0
5. Kurt Busch (5,746 points, -177) +1
6. Juan Pablo Montoya (5,728 points, -195) -3
7. Greg Biffle (5,655 points, -268) +/-0
8. Ryan Newman (5,635 points, -288) +2
9. Kasey Kahne (5,592 points, -331) +2
10. Carl Edwards (5,582 points, -341) -2
11. Denny Hamlin (5,551 points, -372) -2
12. Brian Vickers (5,438 points, -485) +/-0

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Oct. 25 Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 TRANSFORMERS: “Revenge of the Fallen” Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, qualified sixth with a time of 28.359 seconds at 190.416 mph.

“I probably could’ve pushed it a little more in (turns) one and two, but I don’t think I would’ve picked up three-tenths of a second,” said Newman, who has eight pole positions in 17 career Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte. “It was a good lap for the No. 39 Transformers Chevy. We backed up our practice time and we’re going to have a good starting spot for Saturday night.”

Jimmie Johnson captured his 22nd career Sprint Cup pole, his third of the season and his third at Charlotte by posting a lap of 28.070 seconds at 192.376 mph. In doing so, the three-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion broke the record for the fastest qualifying lap in the current-generation Sprint Cup car, which was first introduced starting with a part-time schedule in 2007. The previous fastest qualifying lap in the current-generation car was 190.907 mph, set by Dale Earnhardt Jr., in April 2008 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

Mark Martin will start alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on the outside of row one, as he timed in at 28.152 seconds at 191.816 mph. Kasey Kahne was third (28.264 seconds at 191.056), while Matt Kenseth (28.339 seconds at 190.550 mph) and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Forty-seven drivers attempted to qualify for the NASCAR Banking 500. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Dave Blaney, Travis Kvapil, Sterling Marlin and Michael McDowell.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet swept the front row thanks to the Hendrick duo of Johnson and Martin. Dodge was next best at the hands of Kahne, while Ford was the third-fastest make thanks to Kenseth. Kyle Busch, who qualified 10th, was the top Toyota at 28.384 seconds at 190.248 mph.  Busch’s time and speed was identical to that of Jeff Gordon, but Gordon was awarded the ninth spot due to his higher position in the championship point standings. Gordon is fifth in points, while Busch is 13th.

Yes, he’s leading the points and yes he’s coming off a win at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., but there are still six races remaining in the 10-race Chase, and three other drivers are within 100 points of Johnson, one of whom is Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). And when a total of 161 points can be won or lost in a single race, this year’s title is far from over.

The halfway point of the Chase comes this Saturday night with the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C. And yes, Johnson has five career Sprint victories at Charlotte, but Stewart is no slouch at the 1.5-mile oval either.

Witness his win in this year’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, where he led the race’s final two laps to score the first win of any kind for SHR. Witness also his victory at Charlotte in October 2003… and his six top-fives, 11 top-10s and 598 laps led in 21 career Sprint Cup starts at Charlotte. And remember the seemingly surefire victory in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, where Stewart started 31st yet powered his way to lead four times for 23 laps and open up a five-and-a-half second advantage over second-place Kasey Kahne, only to see it vanish three laps short of the finish when he suffered a flat right-front? In an instant, victory turned into an 18th-place finish.

So, pardon the chip resting on Stewart’s broad shoulders, for the first-year driver/owner has done what no driver/owner has done since Alan Kulwicki did in 1992 – contend for a Sprint Cup championship.

Remember last year when Stewart decided to leave the comfy confines of Joe Gibbs Racing, where he won 33 Sprint Cup races and two championships, and people openly questioned whether he’d ever win again, never mind place himself in the thick of a title hunt? Stewart responded by taking the point lead after round 13 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and building that lead to as high as 260 points thanks to impressive wins at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in July and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International in August.

And remember when that massive point margin was erased following the regular season cutoff race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and Stewart actually dropped to second in the standings, 10 points behind Chase leader Mark Martin? He responded by winning the third Chase race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas Speedway and providing a reminder that Johnson’s fourth title is anything but a sure thing.

Yet here we are again, with talk that this year’s title race is already decided. That’s like saying that even with two divisional series and a World Series still to play that the Yankees are this year’s World Series champions. The Angels, Phillies and Dodgers might have something to say about that, just like Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin have their respective eyes on claiming this year’s Sprint Cup title for themselves.

The NASCAR Banking 500 provides another opportunity for Stewart and his counterparts to usurp Johnson from his perch atop the points. And you can take that to the bank.

TONY STEWART, Driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

You’re fourth in points, 84 points behind Johnson. Can you still win this championship and collect your third career Sprint Cup title?

“My standpoint has always been, until they say that you’re mathematically out of it, you always have a shot. We won the USAC Silver Crown Series championship in ’95, and we were the third driver of three that had a shot, mathematically, to win it. There were two drivers, Jack Hewitt and Dave Darland, that were neck-and-neck in the point standings, and we were kind of the third wheel. We were only included in the group media sessions because we were mathematically in the hunt. Both of those drivers ended up having problems in the race, and we won the championship by two points. You realize when you use that experience, knowing that as long as you’re mathematically in the hunt, you still have a shot. If we have a chance to win the championship at the end, trust me, we’re all for that and we would love nothing more than that. But I think right now where we’re at and how many points we need to make up, I think it lets us have a go-for-broke attitude and just go out and try to do what we did at Kansas and win races. I’ve always said, if you win races, the points will take care of itself. We could still, by theory, win the next six races in a row and still not win the point championship. For us, it’s about going out and doing what we can do, and the other 11 drivers are going to dictate their fates, too.”

Because Johnson has been so successful and because he’s back atop the point standings, is he the guy to beat for the championship?

“I don’t feel like that’s the only guy we’re worrying about. I feel like we’ve got to worry about Mark (Martin) just as much and Juan (Montoya) just as much. Right now, we’ve got a bunch of guys that are consistent every week. You can’t just narrow it down to one right now.”

After finishing 14th and ninth, respectively, in the first two Chase races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and Dover (Del.) International Speedway, you rebounded in decisive fashion with your win at Kansas. What did that performance say about your Old Spice/Office Depot team?

“I’m really proud of Darian Grubb (crew chief) and all the guys on this Old Spice/Office Depot team. There is no quit in this team at all. We just keep digging. I don’t care what it takes. I don’t care if we have to go 12 laps down and have the right side knocked off of it, if it gets us a top-five at the end of the day, that’s what we have to do the rest of the season. At the end of the day, no matter what the circumstance that got us behind, we’ve been able to rebound from it – not get all the way up to where we wanted, but we were able to make gains on it at the end and salvage a better finish than where we were. Whatever the scenarios were, we were able to overcome part of it. As long as you do that, then at the end of the day the facts just shows this team doesn’t have any quit in them, and that’s what it’s going to take to get back on top

Of the upcoming tracks in the final six races on this year’s schedule, which one are you looking forward to the most?

“I think this weekend, in all reality. This weekend and Martinsville, Talladega, Texas and Phoenix are places where we’ve had a lot of success, but I think the way that we’ve ran the last couple of races at Charlotte here, we’re pretty excited about it. I feel like we’ve got a shot at this weekend’s race. If we can do what we’ve been doing, we’ve got just as good a shot as anybody else.”

You’ve had a handful of races in your career that you feel like you should’ve won, but is the 2008 Coca-Cola 600 the one that sticks out most?

“Yeah, that’s definitely the one that sticks out the most in my mind. I mean, we had a five-second lead with three laps to go. We lost the right-front tire, but it wasn’t because of a mistake by Goodyear, it was the fact that we had run 100 laps on the right side tire, so it just physically melted the bead on the right-front. So it wasn’t any fault of Goodyear’s, it was just circumstances.”

Ryan Newman plans to be the one still standing at the end of Saturday night’s clash under the lights in the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C.

Taking the top spot this weekend at Charlotte would not only be a huge boost for Newman and his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing team after two difficult weekends left them on shaky ground in the Chase for the Championship, it would also be a triumph for the good guys.

At Charlotte, Newman’s No. 39 Chevrolet will feature a special paint scheme to celebrate the upcoming debut Oct. 20 of TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen on DVD and Blu-ray. And he won’t be the only Transformer on the racetrack. While Newman’s No. 39 will feature images of OPTIMUS PRIME, the heroic leader of the peace-loving AUTOBOTS, Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 car will sport graphics of MEGATRON, the malevolent leader of the DECEPTICONS.

For race fans and movie fans alike, the two racecars will duke it out in a classic battle of good vs. evil, as Newman and his team of amiable AUTOBOTS try to take the victory and save the world from Gordon and the wicked DECEPTICONS. But for Newman and the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing team, the battle on the racetrack will be more than just about good vs. evil. This weekend at Charlotte will be about survival and staying alive in the Chase.

With just six races remaining before the champion is crowned following the season finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Newman has slipped to 10th in the point standings, 223 markers behind leader Jimmie Johnson. To regain some of that lost ground, Newman and his No. 39 team need to be flawless over the next six races, starting with this weekend’s race at Charlotte.

And based on Newman’s run at Charlotte in the spring, there’s no other place where he and his team would rather begin reclaiming those lost points. Newman scored both his best qualifying effort (the pole position) and his best finish (a second-place finish in the rain-shortened race) of the 2009 season during the Coca-Cola 600 weekend.

In 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Charlotte, Newman has eight poles, four top-five and six top-10 finishes. Although Newman doesn’t have a win at Charlotte in point-paying races (he won the 2002 All-Star Race), he has come close. In 2007, Newman was well on his way to victory, besting the field by well over a second. However, with just a handful of laps remaining, Newman cut a tire, slammed the wall and ended his day, handing the victory to Gordon.

For Newman, it was one race that got away. Newman knows he has his work cut out for him, but he still believes his No. 39 team has a shot at securing its ultimate goal. Like his car’s persona this weekend at Charlotte – OPTIMUS PRIME – Newman believes his team is “more than meets the eye.”

RYAN NEWMAN, Driver of the No. 39 TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing

Is it a relief for the teams to go to Charlotte right in the middle of the Chase?

“Really, it’s just nice to be home for that weekend. I really enjoy it. I like Charlotte. It’s one of my favorite racetracks. So having it in the backyard is really nice. I wouldn’t say it’s a time where we regroup. I think there is more regrouping in the week between Kansas and California because the cars are already on their way out to Fontana, so there are a lot fewer things you can do on those cars and you focus on the next race. So regrouping, not necessarily; but just to be home and enjoying some more time with the family is probably a good thing for everybody.”

You have eight pole positions at Charlotte in 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at the track, including the pole that you won there in May, which was also Stewart-Haas Racing’s first pole position. What is it about Lowe’s Motor Speedway that makes qualifying so good for you?

“I really enjoy the racetrack – the speed, obviously, and the banking. I’ve always said I really enjoy banked racetracks and this is one of the best and fastest banked racetracks out there. I’ve had fast racecars with Penske Racing and now with Stewart-Haas Racing and just have been blessed with fast racecars. I couldn’t do it without fast racecars. I’ve always told my crew chief, whoever it is at the time, ‘If you give me a straight arrow, I’ll shoot it straight. But don’t expect me to shoot a crooked arrow to the pole.’ And they’ve done a very good job for me.

“Winning the first pole for Stewart-Haas at Charlotte was something that was very special for me. Tony had gotten the team’s first win the weekend before in the All-Star race, so we were looking pretty dominant at Charlotte after those two feats, I guess you could say. I think we’ve had a shot at several other poles this year and we just haven’t been able to do it, whether it be driver error or track changes or changes we made to the car. So, I’m looking forward to getting back to Charlotte and going for another pole. Tony Gibson and the guys are working hard, bringing good racecars to the racetracks. We’ve really struggled with qualifying the last couple of weeks, so I’m looking forward to getting back to Charlotte and me just being able to hit my marks and get us a good starting spot.”

You have eight poles at Charlotte, but you haven’t been able to turn those poles into wins. Back in May, you won the pole and finished second in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600. What would a win at Charlotte mean to you?

“I’ve heard that a lot from the media. In fact, I think, back in May, that was one of the questions people asked me: ‘Why do you qualify well here, but not have success in the race?’ And I don’t know that there’s an answer to that. I won the All-Star race in 2002, and I’ve been fairly close to winning at Charlotte in a points race before. I’ve had some fast racecars at Charlotte, and at the end of the race, I have just fallen short. For me, my All-Star race win at Charlotte during my rookie season in 2002 was really special because that was the race we weren’t expected to win. I was a rookie. We weren’t even in the race to begin with, but we raced our way in that night. And we beat everybody at the home field on a given night and we did it because of the pride and the money, not because of the points, and there’s a lot to be said about that. So to me, a win at Charlotte would mean the world. It’s been over a year without a win, and for me to give Tony his first win as a Sprint Cup owner would be special. It really would be cool.

“We ran really well at Charlotte in May. We were in position to win the All-Star race. We won the pole for the 600, and we led some laps in the 600. I think we have a really good car. Our program for there, I don’t think it’s any different the second race than it was the first race, so I think our Chevy will be solid there.”

You are currently 10th in points, and although you are not out of the Championship Chase, you and the No. 39 team have a hurdle to overcome being 223 points behind the leader right now. What do you need to do to get back in the hunt for the Chase for the Sprint Cup?

“We’re still six races out and, in my opinion, that’s a lot of time. You throw in the wild cards like Talladega and Martinsville, and there’s still a lot that can happen. Honestly, at these tracks and in these races, you just never know what is going to happen. We had a rough Kansas City where we finished 22nd, and I really think we were better than 15th most of the race last weekend at California, but we ended up getting shuffled back on that last restart. We just have to go back and do our things we were successful at when we were running in the top-five every week, which was back in the spring when we got our second-place finish at Charlotte.

“I feel like we haven’t capitalized on different situations when we could have, and that’s one of the biggest things for us right now. With six races to go, we have to capitalize on every opportunity we have. This is obviously a very tight Chase and every position on the track will make the difference between first and second place in the points.”

You and Jeff Gordon both have special paint schemes this weekend helping to promote the DVD release of TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen. One of the cars represents good and one of the cars represents evil. Can you talk a little bit about your special paint scheme and what it means to you?

“We’re the good guys, and to me, that’s a bonus because the good guy is always supposed to win. Actually, I’m Optimus Prime with the No. 39 Chevrolet, and he’s the leader of the peace-loving Autobots in the Transformers. We’ll have to avoid the bad guys at some point during the night and, hopefully, we can not only avoid the bad guys, but beat them and be the last one standing at the end of the day. For me, I’m glad to be a part of the promotion which Paramount is doing around the DVD release on Oct. 20. It’s cool for me, personally, because I think the drivers who are my age used to have the Transformers toys as a kid and I remember watching the cartoon, so this is part of my childhood coming to life. And I think it’s really cool to connect to kids out there who are NASCAR fans and who like the Transformers, too.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew Chief of No. 39 TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing

Charlotte was really the best overall race weekend for the No. 39 team during the spring. You won the pole and finished second there. How does knowing that you are going back with a car that ran so well there in the spring help this team?

“We were really good at Charlotte in the spring. We’re taking back the same car we ran in the All-Star Race, and that was a really good car. Had we not gotten tangled up with Kyle (Busch) and Jeff (Gordon) there at the end of the race, which led to us cutting a tire and really ended our night, I would have liked to have seen what would have happened.

“For us, we weren’t looking forward to California last weekend. We really thought that track would be our Achilles heel, and we ended up running better than expected. We didn’t finish great, but we were in a position to finish in the top-10 at the end of the race had we not gotten shuffled back on that last restart. Our setup there last weekend was better than it had been. We were more competitive, and Ryan was happy with the overall balance of the car and its drivability. The guys had a good day in the pits all day long, too. So to leave there with a top-15 was better than we had anticipated in the beginning.

“Now, to be going back to Charlotte knowing that we ran well there in the spring gives us some additional confidence heading into the weekend. Just because we ran well there in the spring doesn’t mean it’s going to be easier when we head back there this weekend, but it definitely boosts our confidence. I like the racetrack a lot, and it’s a track where we know that Ryan has had success. For us right now, the key is to go there and shine. We need to qualify well and run well this weekend, and I think that will help us build some momentum. We’re heading into a part of the schedule that I really like and Ryan really likes, and a part of the schedule where we expect to perform well, so if we can run well and get some momentum, I’m really confident in what we can accomplish.”

The No. 39 team is 223 points back with six races remaining in the Chase. A lot of people look at that point differential and say this team is out of the hunt for the Championship, but you have a different outlook on that. Can you talk about that?

“We were further back than that after the second Dover, when Alan (Kulwicki) came back and won the championship. I know the competition has changed a lot since then, and I know it is tighter, but it also taught me that you can overcome any point deficit. I’m a believer and a fighter, and I experienced it first-hand in 1992 when I was with Alan. Nobody gave us a snowball’s chance in hell that year, and we did it.

“We’re not going to give up. Is it going to be harder because of the point deficit we have? Absolutely, but that doesn’t change the fact that I believe and this team believes we are still in it. I think the other teams in the Chase are going to have to have their problems, too. We have a stretch of races where we were good earlier this year, and we’re going back there with the goal of finishing as good or better than that this time around. And that’s all we can do. We can’t fret about our past. We can just work to make our future better.

“Making this Chase was a huge accomplishment for this team and for the entire Stewart-Haas organization. We want to win the championship, and I believe we still can. Our goal is to finish as high in points as we can and continue to build on that for the years to come.”
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