Tony Stewart: We ran 'good as we had'

DOVER, Del. – Tony Stewart walked away from the Chase for the Sprint Cup at a determined and steady pace Sunday, out of his race car quickly at Dover International Speedway, down pit road, up some stairs and gone.

And so ended the three-time Sprint Cup’s champion’s bid to add one more title in his 18th and final season. It ended much the same way he entered into it – unexpectedly – as he encouraged his race team following a 13th-place finish that left him among the four drivers eliminated in the first round.

Stewart didn’t seem angry. He was just moving on to the next thing, which he will do in a larger sense in seven races including the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I’m pretty excited about our day,” Stewart said. “We were much better than we were yesterday.  Really proud of our team.  We kept making it better all day. That is (as) good as we had.”

The 45-year-old, who qualified for the 10-race playoffs by winning at Sonoma Raceway in June – his first victory since 2013 – began the race 15th in points, 11 behind the 12th and final transfer spot.

Stewart missed the first eight races of the season after suffering a broken back in an off-season off-roading accident. While Stewart showed glimmers this summer before and after his win, the performance of his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was lackluster in the Chase, as he finished 16th in the opener at Chicagoland Speedway and 23rd last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Troubles for 12th-place driver Kyle Larson essentially pitted Stewart against Austin Dillon for the final transfer spot, but the veteran was never able to make progress. Dillon saw to that, running inside the top 10 much of the race despite a modest resume at Dover. Stewart was never far behind, but negotiating as much as an 11-point deficit – each point equating to a position on the track – was ultimately insurmountable.

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