Tony Stewart now has posted 15 top-10 finishes in the past 16 races. Credit: Autostock

Stewart pads advantage with fourth-place finish

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Neither electrical gremlins nor a stomach bug could keep championship leader Tony Stewart from expanding his advantage over Ryan Newman to 75 points with six races remaining in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet was the only non-Roush Racing car in the top five in Sunday's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway, which was won by Mark Martin.

Inside the Chase Point standings after Kansas Pos. Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 5,684 -- 2. R. Newman 5,609 -75 3. G. Biffle 5,596 -88 4. R. Wallace 5,594 -90 5. J. Johnson 5,592 -92 6. C. Edwards 5,589 -95 7. M. Martin 5,571 -113 8. M. Kenseth 5,568 -116 9. J. Mayfield 5,527 -157 10. Ku. Busch 5,460 -224 • Race results, click here • Cup standings, click here Victory LaneMark Martin celebrates his 35th career win at Kansas Holding onStewart on his Kansas finish and Cup standings lead Banquet 400Catch all the highlights of the Chase in Kansas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Stewart, the 2002 series champion survived more than two-thirds of the race without an alternator, which forced him to switch off all his electrical accessories -- including cooling fans to the brakes, tires, the rear end and the driver -- to finish fourth.

Despite his 15th top-10 finish in his past 16 races, Stewart refused to be goaded into talking much about his championship chances.

"I have six races to go -- that's the main thing -- we've got a long way to go," Stewart said. "If we can keep running in the top five like this, that's what we need to do.

"But, like I've always told people: There's no guarantees. Everybody wants to talk points every week, but let me put it in perspective for you: We're not even halfway through the schedule these last 10 weeks, so it would be like talking about points after race 16 of a 36-race season.

"There's a long way to go yet. As much as we want to talk about it right now, the big thing is to make sure we keep focusing on the things we need to do to keep us in the top five every week. With a week or two to go, we'll talk about the points."

Newman was involved in an accident less than 20 laps into the race and, after dropping back to nearly 40th, rebounded to finish 23rd. Stewart led a single lap in a green flag pit sequence and now unofficially leads Newman, 5,684-5,609.

There is only a 20-point margin between Newman and sixth-place Carl Edwards, who is 95 points behind Stewart.

Stewart, Joe Gibbs Racing's lead driver, came into the event with a four-point lead on Newman, started ninth and never was scored out of the top 10.

Stewart had rolled into the top five by Lap 60, but after a restart at Lap 99, he noticed the reading on his battery voltage meter dropping. When it fell from 14 to eight, he switched batteries.

After the team deduced the battery wasn't charging, Stewart shut off his accessories.

"That meant we had to switch off all the brake fans, the ones that blow cool air on the bead of the tire to keep the tires cool," Stewart said. "That made us build more front air pressure a little quicker than we wanted.

"Late in the run, when everybody was getting their cars better, it was hard for us to keep up with them.

"But you know, to have a bad day like that and then end up in the top four, I'm really excited and proud of this Home Depot team. We're happy to salvage a top-four out of this."

Stewart previously won this season at Watkins Glen when an internal alternator failure created similar symptoms.

A championship team has resources at its disposal, and Gibbs Racing proved it Sunday when Stewart experienced his trouble. Stewart simply read his gauges and flicked switches on cue, while crew chief Greg Zipadelli searched for a solution.

"We were talking about [pitting] at 100 laps, to come in as early as we could and take our lumps," Zipadelli said. "We were making phone calls back to an engineer at the shop who has been doing some battery stuff for us.

"He said he felt comfortable that the second battery would run for more than two hours with just the ignition on, so that's what we did.

"He was right. It was good to the end. It was starting to come down, and that was probably a few horsepower, but it was still strong. If this had been the Coca-Cola 600, we wouldn't have made it."

Sunday, Bobby Labonte's Gibbs Racing team car also threw an alternator belt, though Stewart said he was only vaguely aware of that.

"I'm sure they were in communication with Greg," Stewart said. "What happens with one team car doesn't always happen to the other, but [Sunday] it was the same thing for both cars.

"We have had some alternator trouble this year, and I thought we were back to having a problem, but it was kind of comforting knowing that we just threw a belt today. If that's the worst thing [that happens], we've got it made."

Despite experiencing some "flu-like" symptoms in the morning before the race, the lack of cooling fans affected neither Stewart nor his car that badly.

"We really weren't that good all day," Stewart said. "We just got up front there and got good track position and had a good enough car to be in the top five all day, we just couldn't do anything with Mark [Martin] and the No. 16 [second place Greg Biffle] there."