Celebration now, uncertainty in future for Stewart's team
Autoracing Betting Lines
11/21/2011 -
Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Stewart has won a lot of championships
during his illustrious racing career, but winning his third Sprint Cup Series
title in 2011 was unlike any other one that he has experienced.
It's celebration time for Stewart and his No.14 team...and a well deserved one
for them after battling back from adversity earlier in the season. But what's
forthcoming for the team is ambiguous, particularly with crew chief Darian
Grubb.
What a race for Stewart on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and what a way
to conclude his championship season.
Starting 15th and trailing leader Carl Edwards by just three points when the
green flag waved for the 400-mile season-finale at Homestead, Stewart overcame
numerous obstacles, especially in the early going when he ran over debris that
damaged his front grille. He had to make two lengthy pit stops under caution
for repairs and fell back to 40th.
But Stewart made an amazing comeback, passing a total of 118 cars throughout
the race. He did a lot of his passing by going three and sometimes four wide
after many restarts. Stewart last pitted with 56 laps remaining in a fuel and
tire strategy. He held the third position during the eighth and final caution,
but after the last restart with 37 laps to go, he quickly moved around Brad
Keselowski and Kyle Busch to take the lead for good.
"Man, I feel like I passed half the State of Florida; 118 cars is a lot of
cars to pass in one race," Stewart said. "I don't care what series you're in
or where you're at. To do it under the circumstances and the pressure that we
had [Sunday], I'm very proud of that. I've been racing 31 years, and I can't
even remember some of the races I've won. But I would have to say that under
the circumstances, I've got to believe that this is definitely one of the
greatest races of my life."
Stewart's win coupled with a second-place finish for Edwards at Homestead gave
each driver a season-ending 2,403 points. In a tiebreaker, Stewart captured
the title by virtue of his five wins this season -- all of them coming in the
10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup -- compared to only one victory for Edwards,
which came in March at Las Vegas.
When the Chase began on September 18 at Chicagoland Speedway, Stewart doubted
whether or not he should have been in the playoffs after his team struggled
during the summer months. Thanks to a third-place finish at Atlanta and then a
seventh-place run in the season-ending race at Richmond, Stewart squeaked his
way into the Chase, earning the tenth seed.
Stewart set a season-record of five Chase wins. His other victories came at
Chicago, New Hampshire, Martinsville and Texas. Stewart had lost momentum in
the Chase by finishing 25th at Dover and then 15th at Kansas, but he recovered
nicely from there.
"When I said at Chicago that we didn't belong in this Chase and taking a space
that somebody else that was doing a better job could have done, there were two
things that could have happened with our group of guys," Stewart said. "They
could have hung their heads and said that our guy doesn't believe in us, or
they could do it, which is exactly what they did, and that's never give up,
and they dug their heels in. They fought like the Bad News Bears.
"We were the team that nobody really thought had a shot at the beginning, and
the longer this went, we battled adversity at Dover and Texas. and we just
kept fighting."
Stewart's two other Sprint Cup championships came in 2002 and '05. He became
the ninth different driver in 63-year history of NASCAR's premier series to
win three or more titles. Stewart also became the first driver and owner to
win the series championship since Alan Kulwicki did it in 1992.
Before he competed in NASCAR full-time, Stewart won the 1997 IndyCar
championship. He also has several USAC titles to his credit.
When rain fell on the 1.5-mile South Florida track during his post-race
championship celebration, Stewart received a surprise phone call from racing
legend A.J. Foyt. Stewart's Chevrolet has the number 14 in honor of his
childhood hero Foyt.
"To hear him say that was the best race he's ever seen me run, brings a tear
to your eye," Stewart said. "Not many people can have their lifelong hero say
that and hear you say that."
While Stewart will be honored as the Sprint Cup champion on December 2 in Las
Vegas, Grubb's future with Stewart-Haas Racing is in doubt. Grubb was informed
midway through the Chase that he would not be back with the team next season.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen," said Grubb, who became a first-time
championship-winning crew chief in the series. "But I was told early in the
Chase before Charlotte that next year I was not going to be here. We just kept
fighting and doing everything we had to do every week. It did not change
anything, what the outcome was going to be. We fought as if we were going to
fight to win this championship and we did it, and now we'll just see in this
coming week how things change."
Grubb worked for Hendrick Motorsports from 2001-08 prior to his arrival at
Stewart's team. He has guided Stewart to 11 wins in the first three years of
SHR's existence. Grubb is now exploring his options.
"I had a lot of conversations with a lot of people, telling them please give
me the courtesy of waiting until [Sunday night] to see what we could
accomplish," he said. "Now that we have done that, I guess we'll start
talking, but we'll do a little celebrating first."
In June, Stewart made a key personnel change in his racing organization with
competition director Bobby Hutchens being released from the team. Matt Borland
took over the role in the interim.
So what's in store for the team in the near future?
"There's a lot of things in the off-season and decisions that have to be
made," Stewart said. "Obviously, we wanted to get through this championship
battle first, and we'll sit down as a group this week and figure out the
direction of our program."
What ends up happening at Stewart's team will be interesting to follow during
the off-season.
For the meantime, they're just enjoying the party.
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BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
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PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
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JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
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SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
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Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.
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Bonds nearly hits HR 751, SF wins
4 and drove in
a pair of runs, and Barry Bonds nearly hit homer No. 751 as San Francisco beat
1, in the middle contest of three at AT&T Park.
6) allowed five hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings, fanning
eight and walking three.
game slide.
Bonds, who came within five homers of Hank Aaron's record on Friday, went
1 with three walks, an RBI double and scored twice. The double ...
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