"Post #300--Smoke's First Win as Owner/Driver"

The winning crewchief, Darian Grubb, and owner/driver Tony Stewart of Stewart Haas Racing after Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway. You will remember that "Smoke" had a problem at during Saturday practice and that caused Grubb and his team to roll out a backup Chevy Impala that had to start today's race from the back, per NASCAR rules. All Stewart did was slice his way through traffic, run in the top three in speeds...and when it counted--got the lead for good when his pit crew put him out ahead of Carl Edwards's Ford Fusion. All the front runners had to save gas...but Stweart saved enough fuel so he could run quickly enough to finish 2 seconds ahead of Edwards, and notch his first win of 2009, and first as the Stewart in Stewart Haas Racing. This helps him with making the Chase, since he extends his Sprint Cup Series point lead to 71 over Jeff Gordon.

SO how will "Smoke" mark the win? He'll celebrate a little tonight...but tomorrow 6/8, will be at Virginia International Raceway tweaking on his road course setup for Infineon Raceway in two weeks.

Here's the top 12 Chase Contenders (official NASCAR stuff comes out Monday):

Stewart--2043

Jeff Gordon--1972 (-71)

Jimmie Johnson--1940 (-103)

Ryan Newman (teammate)--1840 (-203)

Kurt Busch--1819 (-224)

Carl Edwards--1762 (-281)

Greg Biffle--1753 (-290)

Matt Kenseth--1745 (-298)

Kyle Busch--1731 (-312)

Jeff Burton--1725 (-318)

David Reutimann--1701 (-342)

Denny Hamlin--1679 (-364)

It is amazing how accountability helps maturity. It is also refreshing to see and deal with. Stewart may well be one of a few owner drivers in the history of the sport who could pull off a championship contention year--or better. Ryan Newman may be the next member of the team to make the desired left turn into Victory Lane--perhaps next week at Michigan.

We'll be blogging straight-line action from NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ next weekend. Or if events break loose.

For our updates, check our Twitter page: twitter.com/MSRnet.

"Bad Boy" Busch, Cuppers testing the "Tricky Tri-Oval" at Pocono

While the Monster Mile, a/k/a Dover International Speedway, awaits this weekend, a scheduled NASCAR open test is going on at Pocono Raceway. Cars (like this rig of series point leader Kyle Busch) got four hours of testing before the skies opened with a classic "frog-strangler" shower. Dario Franchitti is back behind the wheel for testing. He's unsure about running in the Sprint Cup race at Dover; it's more likely he'll get back into action with a Nationwide tuneup this Saturday. Franchitti told me he was following Dr. Terry Trammel's (noted racing orthopedist) protocol very closely--he said in the past he was not as diligent in his following of doctor's orders. He described Pocono as having the scale of a Daytona or Indianapolis (both tracks where he won races), and because of the lack of buildings around the track, the resemblance to an airport. Cleveland's Indy style layout has a hairy first corner on the Burke Lakefront Airport tarmac. So, too Pocono.

Another day of testing awaits before the Monster beckons.