Emptying out the notebook after an exciting weekend (cont'd)

Stewart and Burton's exquisite ballet around the wickedly-fast short track was something to behold and Stewart, more than anyone, certainly appreciated it. In fact, he didn't name names but by comparison, Burton seemed a candidate for sainthood in the owner/driver eyes.

"That's the great thing about a guy like Jeff Burton -- you trust him," Stewart said. "There are a lot of guys out there I don't trust anymore after [Saturday] and watching their antics out there on the race track. Jeff, Mark Martin, those are the guys you are used to running with. Trust me, [Burton] didn't let me have it [Saturday], he made me earn every bit of it. We ran with each other the majority of the night [and I'm] just glad that we both had the opportunity to come in there and get tires and race.

"There were some guys that were less than impressive to be around [Saturday night] but I guess that seems like as time goes on there is less etiquette and less give and take and more idiots out there than we have ever had before. We survived it, got through it and had two cars in the top-four.

"Guys that you normally see give and take a lot, there's less and less guys doing that every week. It makes it harder and harder to have good, clean racing like that when you have guys that are two, three laps down that are racing their guts out. They're trying to get their laps back. At the same time it makes it hard when you're at a short track to do much more than that."

Wait a minute -- didn't Tony just say the fans saw a great show? They did, and dealing with the lappers, who had every right to race their guts out to get those laps back, was certainly part of it.

Mutual respect

Stewart continues to rate races for how his Stewart-Haas Racing team has continued to excel, with the owner garnering his fourth top-five finish in his last five races and teammate Ryan Newman getting his sixth consecutive top-15 and fourth top-10 in those six races. It put both SHR guys in the top 10 in the standings.

It's got a lot of people's attention, but in response to a question directed at Stewart, Burton felt compelled to throw in his two cents, and as it usually is, it was eloquently and accurately delivered -- and reflected the hugely positive change thousands of people have seen in Stewart.

"It's been impressive to watch the change, the mentality that Tony has brought in there about not being there just to be there, but to be there to win," Burton said. "I'm not sure I remember a team changing possession -- you know what I mean, a new owner stepping in and the turnaround being what it's been.

"He's making other people want to go and own their own cars. That's probably not a good thing, but it's been real impressive to watch."

It has been impressive, but to think anyone could do what Stewart and the former Haas CNC organization have done is ludicrous. It ain't gonna happen, any time soon. (Continued)