Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), finished 15th in the Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway for his 11th top-20 result in 2015. It was a vintage performance for Stewart, who led laps and raced in the top-10 for much of the 500-mile race before trouble on pit road proved to be too much to overcome.
“The Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy was solid for us tonight,” Stewart said. “I cost us some spots there with the speeding penalty, and then we were having problems on pit road . We just couldn’t put it all together to be able to stay up front.”
Driving a special throwback paint scheme commemorating the original Tracker Boat from Bass Pro Shops (the Bass Tracker), Stewart started 17th and flexed some muscle early, cracking the top-15 within the first few laps despite trying to negotiate a car that was handling on the tight side. Crew chief Chad Johnston took advantage of the first caution to make an air pressure adjustment aimed toward freeing the car’s handling. The change improved the No. 14 Chevy’s handling, and the three-time Sprint Cup Series champ at its wheel responded by patiently working his way through the field, breaking into the top-10 on lap 105 and the top-five on lap 133.
Stewart’s progress was impeded just past the halfway point, when on lap 189 he was caught speeding while entering pit road during the caution. The ensuing penalty forced Stewart to restart from the tail end of the field – a setback that would be negated mere laps later through a combination of savvy driving and a gutsy pit call.
During the 11th caution on lap 208, as Stewart was running in the 22nd position, Johnston made the call to leave the No. 14 on the track while the race leaders came to pit road for fresh tires – a crucial component for successfully negotiating the temperamental Darlington track. When green-flag racing resumed, Stewart dug deep and shot to the lead on lap 212. He maintained the top spot during the next 10 circuits around the egg-shaped track before surrendering the lead to driver Denny Hamlin on lap 222.
Stewart was still in the top-five on lap 229 when caution waved for the 12th time, allowing him to get back on the same pit sequence as the leaders.
As the race continued the strategies exercised by competitors up and down pit road started to vary as teams tried to find their way to the front of the field. While Stewart and company attempted to leverage the fortitude offered by fresh tires, trouble on pit road hampered those efforts. Stewart regularly found himself restarting on the outside of the top-10 and having to race his way back through the field. It was an issue that persisted through to the end of the race, and Stewart wound up with a 15th-place finish.
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