Fire still burning, Smoke riding high to Chicagoland

JOLIET, Ill. -- Now that the mantle of series bad boy has been passed on to Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart can concentrate on simply running his race team -– and winning races.

We're seeing by his own admission a "kinder, gentler" Stewart these days, someone who has matured a great deal from his earlier persona as one of the sport's most famous hotheads.

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Make no mistake, there is still desire and passion burning deep inside Stewart these days, it has just been pointed in a little different direction.

It was one year ago this weekend that Stewart announced he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing to join established Sprint Cup Series owner Gene Haas in the creation of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Many believed it was a possibly career-ending decision, given the failed track record of others who tried the owner-driver route in NASCAR's top division over the years.

However, Stewart is the one laughing now with two victories in the first half of the season as he sits on top of the series point standings.

"The success we've had up to this point of the season has come much quicker than any of us would have dreamed," Stewart said. "But we're very pleased, very excited."

"I just wanted us to go to the racetrack each week and give 100 percent, then talk on Monday about the things we did right and the things we did wrong. My goal was just to make progress every week."

Stewart credits much of his business success, which also includes the ownership of sprint car teams and several short tracks around the country, to the lessons learned at JGR under Joe Gibbs.

"Being with somebody like Joe Gibbs for the last 12 years, you learn a lot about how to organize people," Stewart said. "And I can promise you, Joe doesn't know anything about those race cars. He doesn't know how they work, but he knows how to hire the right people to do the right jobs in the organization. That's what has made him successful in the NFL, and it's what's made him successful in NHRA and NASCAR. He's extremely successful at hiring the right people to do the right jobs."

Points leader Tony Stewart was victorious at Chicago in 2004 and '07. (Getty Images)

Stewart is the one doing the job right now behind the wheel of the team's No. 14 Chevy. After last week's dramatic finish at Daytona, which resulted in his second win of the year, it looks like he has started one of his patented summer runs.

He believes that can continue in Saturday night's Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, a race he has won twice before, but that past success at a track doesn't guarantee anything.

"I think every time we come here, we only come to this race track once a year so there's so much in the technology and aerodynamics that change from year to year that it's hard to get a comfort level," Stewart said. "You know that you've been fast in the past and that's the only comfort you have is that what you did in the past was good."

Chicagoland was good to Kyle Busch last season, when he went to Victory Lane in the first race held under the track's new lighting system.

Things haven't been terrible for Busch this season, but certainly not anywhere near the standard he set in 2008.

"I think team performance this year has been great," Busch said. "The guys have been working hard. I've been doing the best I can behind the wheel, [crew chief Steve] Addington and all the guys who make our cars winning cars. Results side of it, I think we've been a big failure."

Last year's trip to the Windy City was anything but a failure when Busch swept the Nationwide and Cup Series events, a scenario he would love to repeat this weekend as a jump-start to September's playoff run.

"We're struggling here to make ourselves comfortable for the Chase," he said. "Here at Chicago [in 2008] was a good weekend for us, we won both the Nationwide and the Cup event so hopefully this year we have a good enough car to do the same. If not, a top-five finish or something like that where we can keep gaining on some points here."

Who's not

Tony Stewart: Won the Chicago race in 2004 and 2007; only finished outside the top five twice in eight starts; Chicago lap leader with 395; has a 14.3 average finish on 1.5-mile tracks this season.

Kyle Busch: Led 165 laps en route to the win in this event last year; swept Chicago weekend in 2008 in his track debut with Joe Gibbs Racing; scored one top five in previous three Chicago starts with Hendrick Motorsports.

Kevin Harvick: Winner of the first two Chicago races, Harvick is coming off three consecutive top fives.

Who's not

Carl Edwards: Chicago is his worst non-restrictor plate track based on his average finish of 23.5. His only top 10, a third-place finish, came in 2007.

Denny Hamlin: Has a 23.7 average finish in three Chicago starts. His best finish -- 14th -- came in his first track start in 2006.

Kasey Kahne: Has posted an average finish of 29.4 in five starts; best finish of 15th came in 2008.

Make a note

• Harvick and Stewart top the Chicagoland wins list with two Cup victories each.

• Chevy has won six of the eight Chicago races on NASCAR's top circuit.

• Matt Kenseth has led the most laps (300) among drivers without a Chicago win.

• Sam Hornish Jr., in his sophomore NASCAR season, has won twice at Joliet in the IndyCar Series.

• 2005 Chicago winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was one of the four drivers that participated in the Goodyear tire test in May.

• Greg Biffle scored his first top five at Chicagoland last year.