For Tony Stewart, the 2006 NASCAR season was a frustrating one. Nicknamed "Smoke" due to his somewhat aggressive driving style and usually leaving his persuers in the dust, he finished a disappointing 11th in the Nextel Cup standings after winning his second NASCAR championship the season before... 2007 began similarly to how 2006 ended for Stewart as he failed to win in the first 18 races of the season including finishing dead last in the season-opening Daytona 500. Although firmly entrenched in the top 12 in the standings most of the season, it's been a year of uncharacteristic inconsistency for Stewart. Though he had finished in the top-5 five times this year prior to yesterday, he also had finished 25th or worse six times...
Yesterday, however, it appears Stewart's luck may have began to change... For most of the day he battled with Jimmie Johnson for the lead in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. Just 45 laps from the finish, one of Johnson's rear tires blew, sending him into the wall. Johnson had led 82 of the races 222 laps to that point. With his biggest competitor out, "Smoke" then left everyone else in his wake, with only eventual second-place finisher Matt Kenseth giving pressing him at all. Stewart would go on to easily claim his 30th career win. As has become his tradition in victory, Stewart climbed the fence at the start/finish line and grabbed the checkered flag, raising it proudly in victory! For the 36-year-old Stewart, it marked a triumphant return to victory circle. As for the overall standings, Jeff Gordon's ninth place finish helped him increase his points lead to 303 over Denny Hamlin. Stewart's win put him into sixth place (482 points back), just ahead of Johnson, who fell to seventh (488 points back) after his wreck and resultant 37th place finish...
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