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Wednesday, January 21, 2015

2015 Driver Spotlight Preview: Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart 2015 Preview


By Richard Tix


Was 2014 just a bad year, an anomaly? Or is 2014 going to be a continuing trend? It's hard to imagine Tony Stewart not being in the hunt every season for a title, but good things come to an end at some point.

That being said, I have to think 2015 is a bounce back year for Smoke. He doesn't seem like he is ready to just roll over (unless its for some soda cookies) yet and has a lot of racing left in him. The real question will be how fast he jumps back and will it be back up to his old expectations?

In 2014 SHR in general had a down year. Yes, they won a Championship (Kevin Harvick), but other than Harvick the rest of SHR was a disappointment. Maybe some of the adjustments had to do with SHR going with a four car team and learning to adapt to that? All season it just seemed strange to me that Harvick was so much faster then guys like Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart.

Kurt just came off an impressive 2013 season where he took a little team and made them relevant for a season. In 2014 we saw Martin Truex Jr, who is a competent driver, come no where near Outlaw's 2013 success. Yet, Kurt struggled all season with SHR. 

Same thing you can say for Tony. Sure, many expected a slow start since he wasn't 100% healed, but a whole season of being almost left out of peoples mind on Sunday? Also, some expected a bit more of a jump in year two from Danica. 

My theory, which is probably wrong, was that Kurt and Smoke just had slow starts to 2014. By the time they started digging it seemed to late, so the team really focused on Harvick and his success. I know that this is the case when the Chase started because Tony gave up his pit crew for Harvicks (who were struggling all season). Between figuring out where the resources go on a four car team and the fact that drivers had a slow start, maybe it caused a snow ball effect that left Stewart waiting for 2015 to bounce back?


Bold Predictions/2015 Season Expectations
  • Even after a down year in 2014, I don't think expectations have faltered much for Tony Stewart. In 2015 I think we all still believe he should be a title contender. He is 43 years old, but we have seen many drivers his age and older compete at a high level, so if they can do it why can't Smoke? I expect him to bounce back in 2015 and win 3-4 races while making a strong run to the Chase. Once in the Chase it will be interesting because he wasn't part of it last year, but I am sure Tony took some notes.


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