Filed under: Tony Stewart, Chase for the Sprint Cup, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR
Editor's Note: FanHouse is teaming up with two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart for weekly, in-depth spotlight stories as he competes in the 10-week Chase for the Sprint Cup. Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, is contending to become the first owner-driver to win NASCAR's most coveted title since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992. As the sympathetic text messages, emails and cell phone calls rolled in Sunday evening, Tony Stewart showered, grabbed a Coca-Cola and the TV remote and simply lay on the bed in his motor coach inside New Hampshire International Raceway, flipping through the channels and contemplating one of the most heartbreaking days of his racing career.
As his mind raced, the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champ kept going back to one image -- and it wasn't the moment he realized his race-leading No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet was out of gas with a little more than a lap to go in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff opener earlier that afternoon.
Instead, Stewart's thoughts kept returning to the pleasantly surprising reception he received from the fans that day as his car silently and solemnly coasted around the track before getting a push into the garage.
"Maybe I was reading it wrong, but I felt like the crowd was applauding that we ran good and were appreciative of what we had done that day,'' said Stewart, who led three times for 100 laps and had a 1.3-second lead on the field when his car ran out of gas just before taking the white flag.
"There are times when you're the unpopular guy and they're cheering because you had bad luck. But I honestly didn't feel like that was the case Sunday and it was the one good feeling I had coming home this week. ''
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