Points battle still not solid after The Rock

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Just when it looked like Tony Stewart could have steadily marched to the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship, he lost a little pep in his step.

	Tony Stewart's No. 20 Pontiac, finished 14th on Sunday. It was Stewart's worst finish in two months. Credit: Autostock

But, not too much.

Stewart rallied back from two laps down with an ill-handling No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac to finish 14th, a commendable run that allows him to head to the last two races of the year with an 112-point lead over Mark Martin.

Stewart went down a lap to Martin while he was leading on the 92nd circuit of the 393-lap race. While communicating with his crew, Stewart was heard to say over the radio that the car was, "the worst it's ever been," and then said a little later that the it was getting worse.

Once the team made changes, the hurdle to overcome was getting some forward bite off the corners.

"I'm just proud of the team and I'm proud of Tony," said Greg Zipadelli, crew chief. "Most of the day, he kept his head and did a great job. He did what he had to do.

"We didn't do as good of a job as we probably needed to adjusting early. We tried, but everything we did was wrong. From where we were at one time to where we ended up was a great opportunity."

Martin picked up some crucial points by leading the most laps (144) and finishing second behind winner Johnny Benson. When Martin was informed of the closing of the points deficit, he was asked if this boosted his confidence.

"No, not at all," Martin said. "Let me tell you something, man. I've had a great career. If I could have won them, I would have won them all.

"We're still working on earning one (championship). We haven't done it yet.

Jimmie Johnson remains third in points, despite a bad vibration in the right-rear tire of the No. 48 Chevrolet that relegated him to a 37th-place finish. This wasn't the first time the problem has plagued the team.

Pop Secret 400 Johnny Benson passes Mark Martin and holds on for his first WC win. Play video Tony Stewart has some choice words for his car at The Rock. Play video  •  More Video  •  Benson gets first win  •  More bad news for Johnson  •  Stewart struggles  •  Official Standings  •  Official Results

"We had a wheel come loose, again," said Chad Knaus, crew chief for Johnson. "These guys are under a lot of pressure to do some fast pit stops. That stuff happens. There's not a lot we can do about it.

"It's just like anything else. If you have mechanical failure, more than likely it wasn't bad luck. It was lack of preparation or something else that was done."

With 219 points separating Johnson from Stewart, any chance of a championship run looks bleak.

"I'm disappointed in it, but here's the deal," Knaus said. "We're a rookie team and we make mistakes. And, if we weren't in the top five in points, you guys (media) wouldn't even really care. You wouldn't even be here talking to us. It's all part of it."

Ryan Newman started on the pole in the No. 12 Ford and ended up 23rd. He did lead twice for 41 laps to earn some valuable bonus points. He remains fourth and trails fellow rookie Johnson by six points.

Kurt Busch moved from sixth to fifth after a third-place finish. He trails Newman by 23 points heading to next weekend's race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Rusty Wallace who finished 27th, dropped to sixth, 18 points behind Busch. Jeff Gordon finished fifth and remained seventh in the standings, trailing Wallace by one point.

"I'll take it," Gordon said. "It was a good top-five for us. We came charging up through there and it was pretty good. We were making adjustments while the track was changing and we kind of went backwards there for a little bit when we got up front there."

The remaining top-10 spots remained the same with Matt Kenseth in eight and Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd behind him.