Stewart Rides Pit Savvy to Kansas Win, Rejoins Title Hunt

Tony Stewart playfully berated reporters, sarcastically explained why he liked Kansas Speedway ("it's round") and dropped hints about having to sneak away to a dirt race in Iowa.

The swagger was back Sunday for the two-time Sprint Cup champion after he won the Price Chopper 400, and so was his bid to win a championship in his first season a driver-owner.

"We've got a great shot at this still," he said.

Stewart, who sliced 39 points off Mark Martin's lead with his fourth victory of the season, isn't alone. Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin were among other NASCAR title hopefuls brimming with confidence after a series of strategy calls and setup choices tightened the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

With seven races remaining, five drivers --Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Stewart, Kurt Busch and Hamlin -- are within 100 points of Martin, and Gordon and Biffle aren't far behind. Kansas was considered critical because only once in the five previous editions of the Chase has a champion rallied from a deficit of more than 100 points after three races, and the contenders delivered by claiming nine of the top 10 spots.

"It shows how competitive this Chase is," Stewart said. "Guys that were up front (in points) had average days, and a lot of guys closed on them. If you have a bad day, there's going to be guys that are going to capitalize on it."

A "bad day" was relative in the case of Hendrick Motorsports' Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson, who had threatened to turn the Chase into a two-car runaway with victories at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway.

After being warned their Chevrolets came perilously close to failing postrace inspection following a one-two finish at Dover, Johnson and Martin struggled at Kansas (which still didn't stop NASCAR from confiscating their cars afterward for additional inspection at its R&D Center in Concord, N.C.).

"It's the first time we've missed it that much in a while," said Martin, who started from the pole and led the first 11 laps before fading to seventh.

He still managed to increase his lead from 10 to 18 points over Johnson, who settled for ninth after leading 53 laps. The three-time defending champion appeared to have the car to beat until a four-tire stop left him mired in traffic near the midpoint.

"We were so fast the run before," he said. "Then the car was really tough to drive and edgy."

A four-tire call also burned Biffle, who led entering the pits on lap 237 but overruled crew chief Greg Erwin on taking two tires. Stewart took two, catapulted into first and led the last 30 laps by staving off Gordon.

"These cars like to be up front," said Biffle, who led a race-high 113 laps to finish third, tying a season best. "The guy behind you has a big disadvantage. Whoever gets out front at the end is going to be hard to beat."

Sunday that was Stewart, who clinched Chevrolet's 33rd manufacturer championship, snapped a six-race streak without a top-five since his Aug. 10 win at Watkins Glen International and embraced the wise-cracking style he flaunts when performing well -- as a questioner discovered by asking Stewart to describe how the win happened.

"It happened," he said with a sly grin, "because we were the first guy across the finish line."