Richmond a leap forward for Stewart-Haas, again (cont'd)

The alliance with Hendrick, which supplies Stewart-Haas with chassis and engines, has certainly helped. But the team also received help from Hendrick last year, when the operation known as Haas-CNC Racing tried seven different drivers and didn't climb higher in points than 31st. In a bold bid to raise its competitive profile, the team handed half ownership in the organization to Stewart, who hired an array of top-notch employees and brought aboard major sponsors the team never would have attracted in its previous incarnation. The results are on display on the race track.

Race Video

• Press Pass: Tony Stewart
• Post-Race: Stewart, Newman

"For us as an organization, that momentum, I can't wait to get to the shop Monday and see the smiles on the guys' faces. That's the payoff for me. That's the stuff that will carry us into Darlington next week and carry us into the All Star Race the week after that. It means a lot," said Stewart, who has now finished fourth or better in four of his last five starts.

"I told somebody, I would rather have five second-place finishes in a row than I would have a win, a 32nd, an 18th, a 43rd and a seventh. You know, that consistency and that momentum of being up front every week and knowing that you have an opportunity to run for the win each night, that momentum carries you into that week-after-week stretch. That's what you need going into the Chase. You need to have that momentum. You need to have that confidence that goes with the momentum to feel like every day when you go out there, you've got a shot to win the race."

They certainly did Saturday, although Stewart's charge came too late to challenge winner Kyle Busch. Newman, who suffered a setback when he turned Martin on a jumbled restart, led 45 laps and vaulted from 13th to fourth over the final 80 circuits. Newman finished third a week earlier at Talladega, and now heads to Darlington Raceway with consecutive top-fives for the first time since November of 2007.

"I told the guys if we keep doing this, we'll get what we want, and obviously we want to be in Victory Lane," said Newman, who hasn't won since last year's Daytona 500. "We showed that we could lead, and we had a car that could race with Kyle, no doubt. We persevered and made it home with a strong finish. A great effort for Tony Stewart and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. We got two cars in the top five which was a first for us, and hopefully it's a first of many. It's been a long time for me with two straight top-fives."

Leaving Richmond, it seemed a long time since Newman was foundering near the back of the field. And it seemed a long time since the organization with the Haas name in it was working just to make races rather than win them.

"It is just coming together," Stewart said, "one piece at a time."