A third of the way through the season, Tony Stewart has found his groove, and once again he used the bright lights of Richmond to declare the race on for the 2001 driver's championship. Jr. But he still used the race as a springboard, scoring three victories and six top-10 finishes in the next seven races to join the title chase. It always seems like it takes us a long time to get that first one, but once we get the first one, they seem to come a little more frequently.
History suggests the best is yet to come.
The Winston Cup series takes the next weekend off for its traditional Mother's Day break, then heads for Charlotte, N.C., for The Winston. Jarrett was running eighth at the time, but had to be pushed all the way around the track for a splash of gas and wound up in 15th place. Jarrett called it a miscalculation, and it helped narrow his lead over second-place finisher Jeff Gordon from 66 to 14. Stewart got a good jump on the restart to maintain his lead, and Wallace used a better run to catch Gordon heading into the first turn. When Wallace pulled inside Gordon, both cars drifted high in the second turn because they were on old, cold tires, and Stewart was all alone.