Tony Stewart 2011 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
2010 Stats: Points Finish 7th, 2 Wins, 9 Top Fives, 17 Top Tens, Average Running Position 13.0, Average Finish 13.9, Laps Led 537, Driver Rating 91.2
2010 was not a good season for Tony Stewart. The level of competitiveness for the 14 car was down last year. If it wasn’t for a strong push in the summer I don’t think he would’ve made the Chase. Between the Daytona 500 and the Bristol night race Stewart only led 15 or more laps in a single race three times.
Almost all of Stewart’s success was in the summer months. From Dover to Atlanta Stewart only finished outside the top 15 twice and those races were Daytona and Bristol. His average finish over these sixteen races was 8.1.
Strengths – Stewart is at his best on road courses, intermediate tracks and flat tracks.
Weaknesses – Plate tracks have been a weakness of Tony Stewart’s recently. He wasn’t that good on short tracks either last season.
Intermediate Track Grade– A, Both of Tony Stewart’s 2010 wins came on this track type in the final third of the season. Nearly 75% of the laps he led last season were on intermediate tracks (396 intermediate laps led). His wins came at Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway.
Flat Track Grade- A-, Tony Stewart was flawless on the big flats last season. He finished no worse than fifth between Indy and Pocono.
On the small flat tracks he had some hiccups along the way. At Phoenix he finished 23rd and 17th. He was much better at New Hampshire and finished 2nd and 24th. Stewart’s 24th place finish was in the first race of the Chase when he ran out of gas at the end.
Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B+, Last season Tony Stewart didn’t finish inside the top fifteen once. He also wasn’t out front pacing the pack around NASCAR’s wild card races either. Last season he only led 8 laps. If you’re looking to use Stewart at a plate race use him at Daytona in the summer.
One thing that sours me a little bit about Tony Stewart this upcoming season is the repaving at Daytona. What made Stewart so good there was that he’s the best at handling a slick track. I believe his advantage will be greatly reduced this season.
At Talladega Tony Stewart has 1 win but he’s never crossed the finish line first (video).
Short Track Grade- B+, Stewart simply wasn’t that good last season on short tracks. He only finished in the top fifteen once (Bristol 2nd) and his average finish in his other races was 23.2. His non-top fifteen average finish is not skewed by DNF’s because all of his other finishes were between 16th and 27th. Stewart wasn’t pacing the field around these tracks either last season (led 5 laps).
Road Course Track Grade- A, You can’t go wrong picking Tony Stewart at a road course. He has seven career victories at the serpentine tracks and will likely add another this season. At Infineon he has two wins and at Watkins Glen he has five. Last season he finished 9th (Infineon) and 7th (Watkins Glen).
How to use Tony Stewart from a Fantasy NASCAR Perspective in 2011? The conventional fantasy NASCAR wisdom of Tony Stewart for the last decade was that he performs the best under the heat of the summer sun. His 8.1 average finish from Dover to Atlanta confirms this longstanding theory.
