Grubb makes all the right calls

Associated Press

LOUDON, N.H.

There has to be a simple solution for all the drivers who can’t stretch their fuel to finish line. Follow the No. 14’s lead.

Pit when Tony Stewart pits.

Take the same number of tires and make the adjustments his team makes.

It has to be that easy, right?

While Chase drivers like Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin have felt pain at the pump, Stewart has perfected the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship’s recipe for success, taking the checkered flag the first two playoff races at Chicagoland Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He’s positioned in first and with a third championship in sight because crew chief Darian Grubb has called all the right moves.

While drivers and fans have criticized races decided on fuel mileage rather than horsepower, Grubb said Stewart’s fast start has been about more than stretching his tank.

“A lot of other people made the exact same call and finished the races as well, they just didn’t have the track position when the time counted,” Grubb said. “I don’t feel like we’re that far and above better than everybody else, it’s just worked out in our favor at the right time.”

Grubb and Stewart have teamed to turn a so-so regular season into a sensational start to the Chase.

At New Hampshire, Grubb made the decision late in the race to pit laps after Clint Bowyer made his last stop. Grubb knew that Bowyer couldn’t make it to the end and ordered Stewart to push Bowyer for the lead, but not race any harder than he had to. Their patience paid off when Bowyer ran out of gas and Stewart zipped to the lead with two laps left to win his second straight race. Few drivers can conserve fuel like Stewart, a two-time Cup champion.

There’s been little time to celebrate.

For Stewart-Haas Racing, it’s been business as usual at the shop as they get ready for this week’s race at Dover International Speedway.

After a winless season and a 28th-place finish at Bristol only five races ago, Grubb and Stewart finally found their groove. They ended the regular season in third at Atlanta and seventh at Richmond. Still, Stewart had openly discounted his chances at winning a championship.

Not anymore.

“We were getting better, but we weren’t expecting to break through and win two in a row,” Grubb said.