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MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Tony Stewart's final appearance in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup ended with a Round of 16 exit, but the three-time series champion hasn't hung up his helmet just yet.
On Friday at Martinsville Speedway, the co-owner/driver advanced all the way to the third and final round of qualifying before eventually landing in the sixth spot in the 40-car field for Sunday's Goody’s Fast Relief 500 (1 p.m., NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
It was just the second time since this year's Chase began last month that the No. 14 Chevrolet will line up inside the top 10.
"I would have liked to have been up there closer to where I was the first two rounds, but to just get in the final round and get in the top six here, we are pretty happy with that," Stewart said.
"If that thing will run as good Sunday as it did (Friday) we've got a shot at this."
Although he was only 21st fastest overall in the lone practice Friday, Stewart threw up a lap that left him second on the board in the opening round of qualifying when the field was trimmed to 24. In the second round, he was fourth to make the 12-driver cut.
Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota) won the pole, his fifth of the season, with Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford) second fastest. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet), AJ Allmendinger (No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet) and Chase Elliott (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) were third through fifth respectively.
Stewart, 45, missed the season's first stop at Martinsville due to an off-season back injury. Three of his 49 career victories have come at the .526-mile track, the shortest on NASCAR's premier series schedule.
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He will retire from Sprint Cup competition at the end of the '16 season, but remain involved as co-owner of the four-team Stewart-Haas Racing organization.
In spite of his lackluster Chase showing, Stewart shouldn't be counted out, said four-time series champion Jeff Gordon.
"When I think of Tony, I just think of one of the fiercest, toughest competitors," Gordon said, comparing Stewart to the late Dale Earnhardt. "You just never count him out."
"I think he has had a lot of distractions over the years. But when he has been able to be focused, he just zeroes in on something and just takes ahold of it."