Stewart's fast start unusual

The defending Nextel Cup champion is off to his best start ever.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Here's the good news for the 42 drivers trying to dethrone Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart: He finally had a bad race, failing to lead a single lap in Richmond and never showing enough muscle to challenge for the victory.
Now the bad news: He still finished sixth.
Stewart's off to an uncharacteristically strong start this season, one that his rivals can't help but notice.
If they aren't yet worried about it, they should be.
"He's a big concern because that team typically doesn't hit its stride until midsummer," four-time series champion Jeff Gordon recently admitted. "But this year, he seems to be overachieving right now. That's really scary because if Tony still has a hot streak in him, he's going to be very, very tough to beat."
Before Saturday night's race in Richmond, Stewart was the only driver to lead at least one lap in every race this season. He was on a streak of four consecutive finishes of third or better, and had flirted with victory in all nine races.
Only one disappointment
The only disappointment of the season had been an engine failure in California, and it came late when the race was his to lose.
The strong start has moved Stewart to second in the standings, just 55 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and way ahead of the pace he set in his previous two championship seasons.
Through 10 races last season, Stewart was seventh in the standings and 297 points out. And he was 10th at this point of his 2002 title run.
So what's with the early surge? Not even Stewart knows the answer.
"I wish we knew and I wish we could turn back the clock eight years and start every year this way," he said.
If he could, there's no telling how many championships Stewart might have won by now. But if he can keep up this current pace, he'll be very hard to beat when the Chase for the championship begins in September.
Remains a realist
Stewart remains a realist, knowing that he's far from a lock to become the first driver since Gordon in 1997-98 to win consecutive titles. His fortunes could change with the slightest wobble of the steering wheel, a bad batch of tires or one misplaced part in one of his motors.
"Anything can change week to week, and there's no guarantee that I am going to be good for the next two months," he said.
But he can't overlook his body of work in his first seven Nextel Cup seasons.
When the weather turns warm, Stewart has traditionally heated up as well.
Past history
"Looking at history, we've always been consistent the middle part of the year and the last part of the year is our strongest," he acknowledged.
"That's happened seven straight years, so there's no reason to think we won't do it again this year."
Should he pull it off, Stewart will have to be recognized as one of NASCAR's all-time best drivers.
He's on the long list already, earning his position with 25 victories and two championships in seven seasons.
But Stewart's slowly pulling away from the competition and establishing himself as the best in his class right now.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.