Winds of change playing mind games at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- The good news for Tony Stewart was that he already had a solid qualifying run and some quality practice times in the bank before the time came to make final preparations for the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The bad news Saturday was that neither of the final two practice sessions for Sunday's race went the way Stewart would have liked in his No. 14 Chevrolet. During the first practice Saturday, Stewart was fairly fast -- turning the fifth-fastest lap of all competitors (171.860 mph, 31.421 seconds) -- but he was able to complete only eight circuits around the 1.5-mile track because he kept thinking he was hearing something miss in his engine, and spent most of the time in the garage. The only driver who turned fewer laps during that practice was Joe Nemechek.

In the final practice an hour later Saturday, Stewart logged 38 laps but wasn't able to find the kind of speed that he will need Sunday to keep up with most of the rest of the Chase for the Sprint Cup field. Stewart's top lap (170.913 mph, 31.595) was only 16th-fastest overall and ranked 10th among the 12 Chase drivers, with only Kurt Busch (23rd-fastest) and Greg Biffle (25th) languishing behind him on the speed chart.

Like many drivers, Stewart admitted that the swirling high winds whipping around Kansas Speedway all weekend have caused problems for him.

"It just changes. It depends on which direction the wind is blowing," said Stewart, who qualified fifth for Sunday's race. "That dictates how the entries and exit of the corner are, and whether you've got to run with the headwind or tailwind down the straightaway. It seems to be blowing from the frontstretch to the backstretch, so it only affects the corners right now."

Of course, Stewart and others acknowledged that the wicked winds constantly change direction, meaning what was learned Friday and Saturday during practice sessions and qualifying could mean next to nothing when the green flag drops Sunday.

"It's moving the car around some, but a lot of it is just knowing how much downforce you have if you have a headwind going in," Vickers said. "That's the biggest problem. [The wind] has no constant direction. If you know what constant direction it had, you could adjust for it. When you have a headwind, you have more downforce. When you have a tailwind, you have less downforce.

"Not knowing what that's going to be makes it difficult. Not only does [the wind] have high speed, it also keeps changing directions on us."

More ominous yet for Vickers, Stewart and the rest of the Chase field were the two cars that surged to the top of the chart during Happy Hour. Those were the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson (172.983 mph, 31.217) and the No. 5 Chevy of Mark Martin (172.855 mph, 31.240). Martin currently leads the Cup standings, with Johnson a close second only 10 points off the pace.

Other Chase participants in the top 10 in final practice were Juan Montoya (fourth), Jeff Gordon (sixth), Brian Vickers (seventh) and Carl Edwards (10th). Montoya, sitting third in the standings, said he was prepared to challenge Martin and Johnson in the final eight races of the Chase.

"If you look at their pace and ours, it's been right there," Montoya said. "I think it's going to take top-five [finishes] the rest of the year.

"I think more than the No. 48, I would be worried about the No. 5 car. You know, the 48 either really shines, really shiny, like perfect and everything. They have picture-perfect days or they have average, 10th-place days -- where the No. 5 car kind of struggles all day and he still finishes second, third or wins. Second, third or win every freakin' week, you know?"

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