Yes, the two-time Cup champion would love a win at any track this season and finish the year with at least one victory in his final seven races for Joe Gibbs Racing. But Talladega Superspeedway is a special track for Stewart and one of only four active ones on the schedule where he has yet to win a Sprint Cup race.
Not that he hasn't come close.
Stewart has finished second at Talladega an agonizing six times -- including three straight over 2005-06 -- in 19 starts and has tried not to think about all his close calls entering Sunday's race. He's in 11th place in the Chase for the championship standings and is all but out of hope to win a third title for JGR.
Stewart said he was focused on Sunday and not looking back at his past mistakes at Talladega.
"You do at the time when it's over," Stewart said. "You go to the next day and worry about the weekend coming up and not look back."
Stewart starts his No. 20 Toyota in the 35th spot, way in the back of the field on NASCAR's biggest track. He got tangled up in a wreck in Friday's practice triggered by Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s blown tire. Stewart crashed into Kasey Kahne, slid down the track and into the grass. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli decided to repair the primary car instead of moving to a backup, like Earnhardt did.
Stewart said his team worked on the car until 8 p.m. on Friday night to get it ready for qualifying.
"They said it wasn't anything mechanical, it was all cosmetic," Stewart said. "We've got a great body shop and we've got a lot of great guys that are more than capable of getting this thing where it needs to be."
A win would allow Stewart to check off one more track where's he won a race before he leaves at the end of the year to own a race team. Stewart also hasn't won at Darlington Raceway, Fontana, Calif., and Las Vegas.
Stewart did win the Nationwide Series race here in April.
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MENARD MOVES ON: Paul Menard is ready to bolt Dale Earnhardt Inc. for a fresh start next season at Yates Racing, and he's happy to take his sponsorship with him.
DEI driver Martin Truex Jr. just wished Menard gave the team more notice so organization had more time to find a sponsor. With Menard taking his father's hardware chain sponsorship, DEI is left scrambling for a new deal right as the country spirals toward a deep recession.
"I don't think it's fair for them to wait until seven races to go in the season and say all of a sudden, 'We're not coming back,"' Truex said. "They had us hanging for a few months now waiting for an answer. I didn't think it was fair."
Menard is 29th in the points standings and has no top-10 finishes this season. He's winless in two Sprint Cup seasons driving the No. 15 for DEI. Menard said there was no one reason why he decided to drive for Yates.
"It's a number of things, but ultimately Max and Doug Yates are pretty hardcore racers," Menard said "I believe in what they're trying to accomplish."
Truex was upset with the perception that DEI had fallen on hard times. The four-car team qualified all its drivers in the top 10 on Saturday. Menard was fourth for his second straight top-10 start, but he hasn't finished any better than 11th this season.
"Paul hasn't had the results that he wanted or that we wanted out of him for a few years now," Truex said. "He hasn't had a top 10 in two years. It was time for him to make a change and it was the same for us. I think we can make our program better. We can get a driver in there and get a sponsor and I think we can make our program better."
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BABY MEARS: Before Casey Mears becomes a first-time father, he had an overdue delivery of his own: a season-high second place start at Talladega Superspeedway.
Mears' girlfriend, Trisha Grablander, could deliver any day now and contingency plans are in place to get the Hendrick Motorsports driver at the delivery room in time for the birth. Brad Keselowski finished the second practice on Friday in Mears' car to get him track time in case he's needed this weekend. Hendrick has a plane ready to fly Mears back to North Carolina at a moments notice -- even if he has to miss any or all of Sunday's race.
"The last thing I want to do is miss the birth of my child. That is definitely No. 1 on my list," Mears said. "It's exciting. I can't wait for it."
Mears turned a lap of 187.295 mph Saturday and finished second to pole sitter Travis Kvapil. Mears hadn't started better than fifth this season.
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HORNISH OUT: Sam Hornish Jr. failed to qualify the No. 77 Dodge for the 43-car field for the first time this season. He turned a lap of 185.258 to miss a race for the first time since last season. He needed to qualify on speed because the Penske Racing driver is outside the top 35 in owner points.
"We've been kind of junky on all our qualifying attempts for the 21/2-mile tracks," Hornish said. "We picked up a half a second from practice to qualifying, but it's obviously not enough. The best way to do this deal is to be in the top 35."
Hornish was 29-for-29 this season and made the last two Cup races of last season. The former IndyCar champion missed his first six attempts last year to qualify on speed.
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