The 1998 Daytona 500 marked the end of one of NASCAR's most ignoble streaks, that of Dale Earnhardt's winless run at the Great American Race. The very next year kicked off another such streak for another championship driver, one that runs right to, and through, today.
Tony Stewart has won three Sprint Cup championships. His 18 wins all-time at Daytona International Speedway rank second only to Earnhardt's 34. But in all those years, Stewart has never won the big one, never won the Daytona 500, and after an early-race incident on Sunday, he wouldn't win this year.
On Lap 43, Stewart's car got loose and he clipped the wall, then the cars of Ryan Blaney and Matt Kenseth. Stewart's car took the worst of it, hitting the wall hard enough to necessitate a new front hood. When Stewart finally returned to the track, he was 64 laps down.
Stewart, of course, has suffered through two brutal seasons. In 2013, he broke his leg during a sprint car race, and one year later, he was involved in a sprint car accident in which driver Kevin Ward Jr. died after being run over by Stewart's car. While the memory of Ward's death will remain with Stewart for the rest of his life, Stewart the driver had appeared to be regaining some of the old swagger that had helped him win 48 races.
Still, Stewart hasn't won a race since June 2013. And now, the one he wants most of all will have to wait until at least 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment