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Tony Stewart returned from a back injury in April and the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion is in pursuit of one of the 16 spots in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in his final season. Here’s a look at where the driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet stands in his hunt after Sunday’s runner-up finish in the New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the season’s 19th of 26 regular-season races.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
The three-time champion followed a top-five finish at Kentucky with a runner-up in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet at New Hampshire, Stewart’s second-best showing of the season. That moved Stewart into 28th place in the drivers point standings.
With a win locked up at Sonoma, inside the top 30 is where Stewart needs to be in order to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. As it stands now, he’s in the provisional Chase Grid. He leads 29th-place Landon Cassill by three points and 31st-place driver Brian Scott by 67 points.
WHAT HE NEEDS
Stewart received a waiver from NASCAR for Chase eligibility. The surest way into the Chase is by winning before the end of regular season (at Richmond International Raceway on Sept. 10) — which Stewart did at Sonoma — and remain in the top 30 in the points standings. En route to his 2015 championship, Kyle Busch faced a similar path after missing the first 11 races with a leg injury. With the win in the bank, Stewart can focus on remaining in the top 30. He sits 28th in the standings with 287 points. He is six points beind Casey Mears , who sits at 27th place in the standings.
WHAT’S NEXT
“Smoke” heads to his hometrack of Indianapolis Motor Speedway (July 24 at 3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), where he has two victories. In his 17 starts there, Stewart has seven top fives and 11 top 10s.