NASCAR on NBC podcast, Episode 35: Tony Stewart

The deep thinking happens on heavy equipment these days for Tony Stewart.

Though in his final NASCAR season, the three-time Sprint Cup champion’s pace hardly has slowed between racing a stock car, co-owning Stewart-Haas Racing and managing a myriad business portfolio that also includes dirt tracks, a racing series and a PR firm.

On a 400-acre spread near his Columbus, Indiana, hometown, Stewart’s best moments of reflection come aboard an excavator while clearing land.

“I get a lot of thinking done when I’m out working,” Stewart said on the latest episode of the NASCAR on NBC podcast. “Having a project to work on gives you the outlet to get away from things, but at the same time, when you’re in a piece of equipment by yourself,  you can think of other things that are on your mind, and it gives you time to sort it out and think of solutions to problems that you have.”

During a wide-ranging discussion taped Aug. 3 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame after the unveiling of his Coke-sponsored Southern 500 car that honors Bobby Allison, Stewart explained what life is like on a sprawling homestead that also features an 8.5-acre pond, a 1,500-gallon trout stream and a 5,600-gallon freshwater aquarium.

It’s become an occasional home to two bald eagles, and Stewart plans to begin breeding deer this fall. He has used Periscope to document the other part-time residents of his property – Camping World Truck Series driver Rico Abreu and his open-wheel team. Abreu discussed living in Stewart’s house on a previous edition of the NASCAR on NBC podcast.

“There’s no shortage of fun with us,” Stewart said, describing some epic fireworks battles with the group. “I thought Rico was going to blow up my Lamborghini and possibly burn my house down in the process. But we definitely race hard, we play hard and care a lot about each other.”

During the podcast, Stewart also discussed his decision to retire after the 2016 season from NASCAR’s premier series, which he describes as a lot of work, stress and pressure because of the demands from a 36-race slate that runs February through November.

“For the last 20 years, I’ve been on a NASCAR schedule,” he said. “Everything you do revolves around NASCAR’s schedule. I’ve loved it. If I had to go back and start over, I’d do the same thing over again. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

“But I’m at a point in my life that I’m ready to do something different. There’s unfinished business that I have with a lot of other categories in my life that I want to go back and finish things. To do that, I’ve got to step aside from the NASCAR side.”

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Here are time cues for easy referencing while listening to the episode:

Wednesday schedule for Camping World Truck Series at Bristol

It’s a one-and-done show for the Camping World Truck Series this week at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Truck series will need only today to get its job done for the UNOH 200.

Here’s the full Wednesday schedule for the series, including TV and information.

All times are Eastern.

8 a.m. – Garage opens

9:30 – 10:25 a.m. – Truck practice (Fox Sports 1)

11:30 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. – Final Truck practice (FS1)

4:45 p.m. – Qualifying; multi-round/three rounds (Fox Sports 2)

8 p.m. – Driver introductions

8:30 p.m. – UNOH 200; 200 laps, 106.6 miles (FS1, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Results and stats for the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio

The NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course saw the second first-time winner of the season in Just Marks, who led 43 laps on the rain soaked road course.

After eight cautions, the race finished with a top five of Marks, Sam Hornish Jr., Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon and Justin Allgaier.

Here are the results and stats for the race.

Elliott Sadler retains Xfinity point lead after rain-filled race at Mid-Ohio

Elliott Sadler is still the leader in the Xfinity Series point standings following his ninth-place finish at Mid-Ohio.

Sadler has a 25-point lead over Daniel Suarez, who finished 23rd.

The top 19 positions in the standings remained unchanged from last week.

Here are the point standings following the 21st race of the year.

Israel native Alon Day impresses in NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Mid-Ohio

Even thought he was half a world away from his native Israel, Alon Day felt right at home in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

In making his Xfinity debut, Day became the first Israeli-born driver to compete in a NASCAR race in the United States, finishing a respectable 13th, including challenging for the lead at one point.

Part of the reason Day seemed so comfortable behind the wheel of the No. 40 Dodge is his past experience in road course racing as well as racing in the rain overseas. When the rains came early in Saturday’s race and again heavier late in the event, it actually played to Day’s experience and skill set.

“I knew the rain would come and I could get some spots (to challenge),” Day said. “The moment the rain hits and I realized we would change to rain tires, I knew I had the speed and would attack as soon as possible.

“On the first restart and attacking immediately, I knew some guys would be slow in the rain. I have experience on the rain in Europe, I used to drive in the rain all the time, so I’m really happy. I can’t imagine how excited I am.”

Alon Day finished an impressive 13th during the 4th annual NASCAR XFINITY Series Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday.
Day, who is part of the NASCAR Next program, potentially could have finished with a top 5, maybe top 10.

“It was fun until the second rain,” he said. “When the second rain came, someone spun and hit my front suspension and damaged the car and, unfortunately, it was almost impossible to drive the car.

“I knew I had a shot for top-five, but it was impossible to drive from that moment. I just tried to survive and unfortunately it wasn’t the same.”

Day, who previously dabbled briefly (six races in 2012) in the Indy Lights Series, plans to drive in several more Xfinity races between now and the end of the season. His next race is in two weeks at Road America.

He’s also still in a heated championship battle in the NASCAR Euro Series.

“I’m hoping that at Road America, I can do the same – maybe even better,” Day said. “We expect to do five more races, but it all depends on sponsorship and finding the budget.

“My expectation wasn’t that high, to be honest. If I finished 25th, I’d be super high for that. Suddenly, I find myself fighting for the lead, and that’s not bad, you know?”

SAM HORNISH JR. SETS TRACK RECORD, EARNS COORS LIGHT POLE AT MID-OHIO

Sam Hornish Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, setting a track speed record as well.

Hornish Jr. wheeled his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in Lexington, Ohio, at a track record-setting 96.755 mph in the opening session of qualifying. In the second and final session, with a fast lap of 96.374 mph, he sealed the first starting spot in the Mid-Ohio Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

"The fact that we're here. We're as good as we have been really is hats off to RCR and all the people that work on the Rheem No. 2 car," the polesitter said post-qualifying. "Right off the bat, this morning I was kind of worried about it being a little bit rusty. It's been a little while since I've been on a road course."

This marks Hornish's eighth career pole and first of 2016.

Sharing the front row will be Owen Kelly, a road specialist who reached 95.877 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Ryan Blaney, (95.739 mph in No. 22 Team Penske Ford), Elliott Sadler (95.675 mph, No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) and Daniel Suarez (95.613 mph, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet) completed the top five, respectively.

Will past success at next four tracks help still-winless drivers make Chase?

While the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enjoys its final in-season off-weekend, it seems everyone from drivers to crew chiefs to team owners and fans are breaking out their calculators.

They’re all trying to figure out who has the best chance of still making the upcoming 10 race Chase for the Sprint Cup – particularly those drivers who have yet to win a race thus far in 2016.

A total of 16 drivers will qualify for the Chase. As it stands now, 11 drivers are already qualified by virtue of winning at least one race already this season, plus they’re above 30th place, which is the cutoff for Chase eligibility.

A 12th winning driver, Chris Buescher, is not yet qualified for the Chase because he remains three points shy of the 30th place cutoff. If Buescher can leave Richmond in the top-30, he will make the Chase.

One of the most interesting stats is that of the four races remaining before the Chase, several drivers that remain winless this season have enjoyed past victories at those same tracks, particularly Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who both have won in the past at three of the next four tracks.

Can lightning strike again for them?

Here’s how it breaks down:

Bristol: Earnhardt, Kahne

Michigan: Greg Biffle,  Earnhardt, Ryan Newman, Kahne

Darlington: Biffle, Regan Smith

Richmond: Earnhardt, Clint Bowyer, Kahne, Newman

For each of those past winners that might triumph again at those tracks, or for other first-time winners in 2016, it would further reduce the number of drivers who make the Chase solely on points.

It remains uncertain whether Earnhardt will be able to make the Chase after having missed the last several races due to a concussion – and remains sidelined.

Given that Earnhardt is ranked 21st in the standings, 51 points behind 16th ranked Trevor Bayne, it would appear the only way he would make the Chase is to win one of the last four – provided he’s cleared to even race at some point during that period.

Right now, drivers who have yet to win a race this year that appear the safest to make the Chase are Newman (50 points ahead of Bayne on the cutoff line), Chase Elliott (+49), Austin Dillon (+47) and Jamie McMurray (+38).

Kyle Larson is also above the cutoff line, but with only an eight-point edge over Bayne, is the driver in the riskiest position.

Larson is still simmering at how AJ Allmendinger wrecked him on the final lap of Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen. It cost Larson what appeared to be a likely top-five finish and left him with a disappointing 29th-place result – which greatly impacted his Chase chances and ranking.

“Pretty dumb move right there,” Larson said of Allmendinger. “I was the smarter one racing for points, lifted, could have wrecked him, but didn’t.”

Instead, it was Larson who was wrecked by Allmendinger.

“He has run me hard, but we always race pretty well, but today was flat out stupid,” Larson said.

The drivers outside the top 16 with the best chance of still sneaking into the Chase on points are Kahne (three points behind Bayne), Ryan Blaney (-8), Allmendinger (-26), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-37) and Earnhardt (-51).