All week, we're looking at NASCAR's top teams, judging their victories and their failures. Next up: the scrappy little do-gooders from Stewart-Haas.
Drivers (rank): Tony Stewart (1), Ryan Newman (7)
Wins out of 19 races: 2 (Stewart: Pocono, Daytona II)
The story: Well, here he is, Tony Stewart, going and overreaching by becoming a driver-owner and finding himself over his head and walloped by the pressures of -- what? He's in first? And his other driver, Ryan Newman, is in seventh? What the heck is going on here? What's going on, of course, is the unqualified success story of the 2009 season. Stewart has toned down his famous temper and cranked up his more-famous skill to put himself right at the top of the standings, and Ryan Newman, happier than he's been in years, is running right in the heart of the Chase. Unbelievable.
Verdict: Why so blue, fellas? You're the best team in the sport, top to bottom. And you're the team everybody from Kevin Harvick to Brad Keselowski to Danica Patrick her own bad self has been mentioned as possibly joining -- that kind of thing doesn't happen with a middling driver-owner. If Smoke wins the championship -- a not-unlikely possibility -- you're looking at NASCAR's finest story of the year, perhaps the decade.
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