Tony Stewart needs a tremendous rally at Dover to keep his perfect Chase season alive.
Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet has not performed like the car that romped to victories in the first two races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He was horrible at practice and that carried over into Saturday's qualifying, where he turned a lap of 156.760 mph and will start the third Chase race 27 spots behind pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr.
Stewart's two wins have only given him a seven-point cushion over Kevin Harvick entering Sunday's race. With four Chase drivers starting in the top six at the concrete mile, this could be the race where the standings get rattled.
Stewart had little explanation for his struggles, other than saying his car was tight.
History shows all is not lost for Smoke. He started 27th in the second Dover race in 2000 and won. In the first Dover race in 2009, he finished second after starting 31st. If any driver knows how to work his way through traffic, it's Stewart.
He could run into Truex leading the way.
Truex returned to the site of his only career Cup win and turned a lap of 159.004 mph to win the pole at Dover International Speedway. He crashed the Chase party with his first pole of the season. He won his only career Cup race in 2007 at the Monster Mile.
"I love this place," Truex said. "I feel like I understand what it takes to get around this place. I've just been fortunate enough to have good race cars here."
Truex, of nearby Mayetta, N.J., has long considered Dover his home track. Truex, 18th in the points standings, has two of his six career poles at Dover.
Chase driver Kurt Busch was second. Paul Menard was third. Chase drivers Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson took the next three spots.
Like Stewart, four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon also struggled during qualifying and starts 34th.
Denny Hamlin, all but out of contention, starts 11th. Brad Keselowski was 15th, Matt Kenseth 18th, Ryan Newman 20th, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 21st, and Harvick starts 22nd.
Round 3 of the Chase promises to create some separation among the Chase contenders and the pretenders.
Gordon is in fifth place and a manageable 23 points behind Stewart. His poor start might not help him move up the standings.
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