Team orders in play for Chase cut-off race at Talladega

Tony Stewart has signed up to assist his teammate in whatever capacity it takes for Busch to transfer the second Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy into the Round of 8 of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. 

“All I care about is Kurt,” Stewart said. “That’s the only one I care about this weekend.”

Stewart, who is retiring from full-time NASCAR racing at the end of this year, qualified for the 2016 Chase to the Sprint Cup, only to be eliminated after the first round. Although the three-time champion is still hoping to lock down his 50th career win before he retires, his first priority as a team owner is advancing Busch on Sunday.

Historically, it’s hard to win there. You have to be at the right spot at the right time and you’ve got to get that push at the right time.

Tony Stewart on racing at Talladega

Busch is currently fifth in the Chase standings, 20 points behind Jimmie Johnson. Only Johnson and Busch’s SHR teammate Kevin Harvick have locked into the next round with wins the last two races.

Teammates first

Busch is surrounded by a sea of Toyotas -- which have combined to win 15 of 31 races this season including the Daytona 500 when the five Camrys ganged up against the field. Martin Truex Jr., trails Kurt Busch by four points. While any of the Toyotas could prove beneficial to Stewart in the closing stages at Talladega, he’s putting the company’s needs ahead of his own.

“They won’t help us,” Stewart said of the Toyota teams. “So why would we help them? That’s kind of the scenario that it’s been put into. I’m only worried about him. Kurt’s the only one I’m worried about right now.

“I’ll sit in the back and I’ll cruise. That way, if they have a bad pit stop or something and they get disconnected from the pack, I’ll be back there to pick him and make sure we get him where he needs to be.”

Survival strategy 

Stewart’s restrictor-plate strategy hasn't changed over the years. First, he tries to surround himself with drivers he feels comfortable with. Then Stewart patiently rides in the rear of the field until it's time to race. While, it’s not in a driver’s DNA to play defense, Stewart's approach has paid off with a 97.2-percent completion rate of all laps raced.

“It’s hard to get yourself to do that because when you get in that race car, you want to lead laps, you want to win the race,” Stewart said. “But when it’s 188 laps like that, it’s a three-hour race, or a three-and-a-half hour race. So what happens in the first two hours doesn’t mean anything. It’s hard to convince these guys to get themselves out of a position that could cause some damage.

“You can make it 180 laps, race your guts out all day but if you get caught in the big one with eight to go, you don’t have anything to race with at the end of the day. It’s just trying to look at the big picture and what it takes. You’ve got guys from the green flag who will absolutely beat their brains out trying to get up front and stay up front all day. It’s just different approaches. But I like my record there. My strategy worked for me.”

Winning at Talladega

Stewart has just one win in 34 starts on the 2.66-mile track. He’s tied with Buddy Baker for the most (six) second-place finishes. Overall, Stewart has scored nine top fives, 14 top 10s, lead 328 laps. On Sunday, Stewart will make his 70th Cup career restrictor plate start. His last victory at Talladega came in 2008.

“That’s what makes the gratification of winning there so great,” Stewart said. “It’s hard to win there. There’s a handful of guys that have really figured it out and know what to do when they get up to the front, know how to stay up there all day. Historically, it’s hard to win there. You have to be at the right spot at the right time and you’ve got to get that push at the right time.

“I’ve been upside down for probably a quarter of the race track between the Xfinity race down there and the Cup race that I was staring straight down at Paul Menard from window to window. It’s pretty intense racing.”

As high as the stakes are for the remaining 12 Chasers this weekend, Stewart isn’t certain what to expect on Sunday. But he'll prepare the best he can.

“This has potential to be really chaotic this weekend of the cutoff this week,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of guys that had a bad week that are having to make up for it. I don’t think this is going to be a very calm, peaceful race this weekend. I think there’s going to be a lot happening.”