Stewart looks to put end to 0-fer string at Darlington

Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart should feel no shame for being winless in Cup races at Darlington Raceway. He's not alone.

More drivers -- 689 -- have started at least one Cup race at Darlington than at any other track. And 646 have never won there, including 10 other Cup champions. Rusty Wallace, the 1989 champion, was winless in 43 starts. Stewart is "only" 0-for-16 going into Saturday night's Southern 500 (7 p.m. ET, FOX).

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"Darlington is such a tough track to get a handle on and to be good at all day," Stewart said. "You don't see a lot of guys who have a lot of success there."

Stewart got his first win at Darlington last year, in a Nationwide Series race. In the Sprint Cup race the next day, he finished 21st, the first car a lap down.

"With the rich heritage and history at Darlington -- to win there and be the first guy to win after they resurfaced it -- it's a feeling that's hard to describe," Stewart said. "It's just cool to win at Darlington. You think back to guys like David Pearson who were so good there. This series is just so deep in history, and this is one of those tracks where the history goes as deep as NASCAR does. To finally get a win at Darlington was a huge honor for me."

The first race at Darlington was in 1950. Pearson's 10 wins and 12 poles are track records. Dale Earnhardt is second with nine wins, followed by Jeff Gordon with seven. Jimmie Johnson is second among active drivers with two wins.

Stewart is not entered in Friday night's Nationwide Series race, but he does enter Saturday's Cup race riding a wave of optimism. He finished second last week for the second time in three races. It also was his fourth top-five in five races. Ryan Newman, the other half of owner/driver Stewart's fledgling Stewart-Haas Racing team, recorded his second consecutive top-five last week.

"Obviously, after my second-place run and Ryan's fourth-place run last week at Richmond, it's the most momentum this team has ever had," Stewart said. "We're going into Darlington, and both of us are excited about the track. We're on a high right now, coming off our best finishes as an organization, so we're excited about everything. Everybody in the whole organization is excited, and we're looking forward to it."

David Reutimann, No. 00: Reutimann's second consecutive finish in the 20s, 28th at Richmond last week, dropped him to 13th in the standings, outside the top 12 for the first time since Daytona. In two races at Darlington, his average finish is 26.0.

Greg Biffle, No. 16: Biffle dominated in his victories at Darlington in 2005 and '06, leading a total of 346 laps. A blown engine last year ended his bid for a third victory after he led 95 of the first 233 laps. Biffle's 7.9 average start at Darlington is his best in the Cup series.

Kyle Busch, No. 18: After Biffle left the race, Busch took over and picked up his first win at Darlington. He led 93 of the final 98 laps and 169 overall. Busch has momentum, too: he swept the Nationwide and Cup races last week at Richmond.

Kevin Harvick, No. 29: How low can Harvick go? He is 23rd in the standings, his lowest position in three years. He has finished 30th, 38th and 34th the past three races. He has four top-10s in 12 starts at Darlington, but the last one was five years ago. Since, his average finish is 27.8.

Juan Montoya, No. 42: Montoya is 14th in the standings, 35 points behind No. 12 Matt Kenseth. He finished 10th last week for his third top-10 of the season. He had three all last season. He has two Cup starts at Darlington and finished 23rd both times. Kenseth is winless at Darlington in 15 starts but has finished seventh or better the past three years.

Drew Blickensderfer, crew chief for Kenseth: "Darlington is much different than it used to be. It used to eat tires and be all about tire conservation, but with the new smooth pavement it is not as much about tires anymore. Both ends of the track are different, so the fast cars will handle well at both ends."

Donnie Wingo, crew chief for Jamie McMurray: "Darlington is just a track that when you go there to race, you know that you're going to scrape the wall at some point over the course of the weekend, but it's just all about how you end up hitting it. If you hit it good and flat, there usually isn't much damage besides just cosmetic, but there are very few cars that will leave Darlington this weekend without a stripe on the side."

Kevin Harvick: "It's really fast right now, and it's really narrow. I think you're running 200 mph down the backstretch at a track that was built for cars to run 100. The history of the track is what makes it so neat, and that's why everyone likes to go there. It's not the most recently built 'cool' race track that has lots of room. It's got character, and it's hard to pass there. When your car's right, there are still lots of places to pass."