In an era when the competition in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is at its closest, peaking late in the season is the way to turn a mediocre start into a year where a driver can contend for the championship. Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin are doing just that at Joe Gibbs Racing.
• Stewart is coming off two impressive victories at Chicago and Indianapolis that moved him up into fifth in the standings. Last season Stewart fell short of making the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup by 45 points, but this year Stewart is on a mission not to be the odd man out. In the 2006 Race to the Chase, he posted only six top-10 finishes, including a win at Daytona, but it didn’t help. He finished 18th or worse in the other four races, negating the momentum he had built.
Stewart then won three of the last ten races more than any driver ranked in the top 10 and in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Now, Stewart has a lot of momentum in his corner and looks to capitalize on it at Pocono, where he placed seventh last August. Stewart has a win at Pocono in 2003, and could make it three in a row. Stewart has led most miles (1054.42) and the most laps (831) in the series this season.
• Hamlin, last year’s Raybestos Rookie of the Year, has been hot all season, racking up one win, seven top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, which has landed him second in the series standings. This week he returns to Pocono, where he posted his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup win last season, and ended up sweeping both races. Hamlin finished 22nd last week at Indianapolis. He also finished sixth earlier this season at Pocono. Hamlin currently would start sixth in seeding for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, dropping him four possible spots. Winning at Pocono would put him in front of his teammate Stewart in the seeding putting him in third behind Johnson.
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