Smoke rises again, y'all. For the first time in 84 races, three-time Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart finds himself back in Victory Lane after a thrilling finish at Sonoma over the weekend. "It's been a tough three years not just for him but
everyone that's close to him," his father, Nelson Stewart, said. "I don't know what to
say. We all needed that bad. He really needed that bad." After missing the first eight races with a back issue, Stewart is hoping to channel his inner Kyle Busch and race his way into the Chase picture. Sunday's W helps that a great deal. "With about eight to go it was the first
time I thought, 'hey, we might actually have a shot to hold onto this,'
and I actually got a little bit emotional thinking about it while I was
driving," Stewart said. "You didn't have time to think about
wine and flowers and ponies and all that stuff. I had to get back to
business. But it was nice." Now his attention turns to racing his way back into the top-30 by the season's end in Richmond. Considering he's only 10 points back from Brian Scott, we think the odds are good.
Stewart's first win in three years certainly didn't come easy. Denny Hamlin, who finished second on Sunday, battled the No. 14 up to the finish. It was just the Chesterfield, VA native's third top-10 at Sonoma. "I didn’t even think I’d have an opportunity, honestly," Hamlin said. "He made one mistake in Turn 7 and allowed us to get closer to him. He
made mistakes that allowed me to get there and get position...Still a pretty good day. This is definitely a step in the right direction on the road course, but man... utterly disappointed." The finish was Hamlin's best since his victory in the season opener in Daytona.
From Hamlin's record finish in the Daytona 500, to the return of day racing at RIR, to Smoke's triumphant return to Victory Lane, the team at FOX has brought NASCAR fans a historic start to the 2016 season. Now it's NBC's turn to take the baton to the season's finish in Homestead - and they take over with things in a really good place. Through 16 races we've seen 11 different winners, and only 31 points separate 12th place Dale Earnhardt Jr from 17th place Ryan Blaney. We hope you're as excited as we are for the second half stretch, culminating at the
regular season finale at Richmond on September 10.
Ready for Daytona round two? We are, and we'll be on hand to bring you the action from our perspective. As the sport returns to the World Center of racing for the Coke Zero 400, RIR will be in the thick of it all - and you can come along for the ride.
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