Stewart?s strong start is a cause for concern

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ? Here?s the good news for the 42 drivers trying to dethrone Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart: He finally had a bad race, failing to lead a single lap in Richmond and never showing enough muscle to challenge for the victory.

Now the bad news: He still finished sixth.

Stewart?s off to an uncharacteristically strong start this season, one that his rivals can?t help but notice.

If they aren?t yet worried about it, they should be.

?He?s a big concern because that team typically doesn?t hit its stride until midsummer,? four-time series champion Jeff Gordon recently admitted. ?But this year, he seems to be overachieving right now. That?s really scary because if Tony still has a hot streak in him, he?s going to be very, very tough to beat.?

Before Saturday night?s race in Richmond, Stewart was the only driver to lead at least one lap in every race this season. He was on a streak of four consecutive finishes of third or better, and had flirted with victory in all nine races.

The only disappointment of the season had been an engine failure in California, and it came late when the race was his to lose.

The strong start has moved Stewart to second in the standings, just 55 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and way ahead of the pace he set in his previous two championship seasons.

Through 10 races last season, Stewart was seventh in the standings and 297 points out. And he was 10th at this point of his 2002 title run.

So what?s with the early surge? Not even Stewart knows the answer.

?I wish we knew and I wish we could turn back the clock eight years and start every year this way,? he said.

If he could, there?s no telling how many championships Stewart might have won by now. But if he can keep up this current pace, he?ll be very hard to beat when the Chase for the championship begins in September.

Stewart remains a realist, knowing that he?s far from a lock to become the first driver since Gordon in 1997 and 1998 to win consecutive titles. His fortunes could change with the slightest wobble of the steering wheel, a bad batch of tires or one misplaced part in one of his motors.

?Anything can change week to week, and there?s no guarantee that I am going to be good for the next two months,? he said.

But he can?t overlook his body of work in his first seven Nextel Cup seasons. When the weather turns warm, Stewart has traditionally heated up as well.

?Looking at history, we?ve always been consistent the middle part of the year and the last part of the year is our strongest,? he acknowledged. ?That?s happened seven straight years, so there?s no reason to think we won?t do it again this year.?

Should he pull it off, Stewart will have to be recognized as one of NASCAR?s all-time greatest drivers. He?s on the long list already, earning his position with 25 victories and two championships in seven seasons.

But Stewart?s slowly pulling away from the competition and establishing himself as the best in his class right now.

Some may argue that Gordon is still No. 1, but that theory would be based on his previous work. After all, Gordon missed the playoffs last year and was forced to watch from the sidelines as Stewart ran away with the title.

And all of Gordon?s championships were won before Stewart?s first title, with three of them coming when Gordon was clearly in a class of his own. His talent was untouchable, and his team was revolutionizing the sport with an emphasis on engineering, technology and an efficient pit crew.

Stewart, meanwhile, won both his titles in today?s ultra-competitive NASCAR, when 30 or so drivers have a decent chance of winning every week. The competition is equal, the resources the same and just the slightest edge can move a driver to the top of the leaderboard.

His skill is unquestioned, and he?s won at every type of track in NASCAR. He?s also won at every level and every form of racing.

And, less than a month away from his 35th birthday, he?s not lost a bit of his edge. He proved that two weeks ago in Talladega, when he was leading the race with nine laps to go only to be shuffled back to 12th place one lap later.

In the frantic final eight laps, Stewart worked his way back through traffic and was on winner Jimmie Johnson?s rear bumper in the final turn. Had Johnson not used a huge block to hold him off, Stewart would have won the race.

Instead, he settled for his sixth runner-up finish at Talladega in 11 races.

For Stewart, the ultimate competitor, it was just one notch in a 36-step march toward greatness.

?There?s nothing to get excited about right now,? he shrugged. ?We?re running well at a time of the year we traditionally haven?t. We?re leading laps. I?m happy about that. But we?ve still got to keep it perspective, and the fact is the championship is not won right now.?

Nextel Cup at a Glance

2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule and standings
By The Associated Press
Feb. 19 ? Daytona 500, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Jimmie Johnson)
Feb. 26 ? Auto Club 500, Fontana, Calif. (Matt Kenseth)
March 12 ? UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400, Las Vegas (Jimmie Johnson)
March 19 ? Golden Corral 500, Hampton, Ga. (Kasey Kahne)
March 26 ? Food City 500, Bristol, Tenn. (Kurt Busch)
April 2 ? DIRECTV 500, Martinsville, Va. (Tony Stewart)
April 9 ? Samsung/RadioShack 500, Fort Worth, Texas (Kasey Kahne)
April 22 ? Subway Fresh 500, Avondale, Ariz. (Kevin Harvick)
April 30 ? Aaron?s 499, Talladega, Ala. (Jimmie Johnson)
May 6 ? Crown Royal 400, Richmond, Va. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.)
May 13 ? Dodge Charger 500, Darlington, S.C.
May 28 ? Coca-Cola 600, Concord, N.C.
June 4 ? Neighborhood Excellence 400, Dover, Del.
June 11 ? Pocono 500, Long Pond, Pa.
June 18 ? 3M Performance 400, Brooklyn
June 25 ? Dodge/Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif.
July 1 ? Pepsi 400, Daytona Beach, Fla.
July 9 ? USG Sheetrock 400, Joliet, Ill.
July 16 ? New England 300, Loudon, N.H.
July 23 ? Pennsylvania 500, Long Pond, Pa.
Aug. 6 ? Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Indianapolis
Aug. 13 ? TBA, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Aug. 20 ? GFS Marketplace 400, Brooklyn, Mich.
Aug. 26 ? Sharpie 500, Bristol, Tenn.
Sept. 3 ? Sony HD 500, Fontana, Calif.
Sept. 9 ? Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Richmond, Va.
Sept. 17 ? Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H.
Sept. 24 ? Dover (Del.) 400
Oct. 1 ? Banquet 400, Kansas City, Kan.
Oct. 8 ? UAW-Ford 500, Talladega, Ala.
Oct. 14 ? Bank of America 500, Concord, N.C.
Oct. 22 ? Subway 500, Martinsville, Va.
Oct. 29 ? Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Hampton, Ga.
Nov. 5 ? Dickies 500, Fort Worth, Texas
Nov. 12 ? Checker Auto Parts 500, Avondale, Ariz.
Nov. 19 ? Ford 400, Homestead, Fla.
‘
Driver Standings
1. Jimmie Johnson, 1,521
2. Tony Stewart, 1,466
3. Matt Kenseth, 1,422
4. Mark Martin, 1,345
5. Kevin Harvick, 1,313
6. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 1,305
7. Kasey Kahne, 1,274
8. Kyle Busch, 1,237
9. Jeff Gordon, 1,216
10. Casey Mears, 1,168
11. Dale Jarrett, 1,166
12. Jeff Burton, 1,157
13. Carl Edwards, 1,115
14. Elliott Sadler, 1,105
15. Clint Bowyer, 1,087
16. Denny Hamlin, 1,085
17. Jamie McMurray, 1,062
18. Kurt Busch, 1,040
19. Brian Vickers, 1,030
20. Greg Biffle, 999