Cause for concern

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Here’s the good news for the 43 drivers trying to dethrone Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart: He finally had a bad race, failing to lead a single lap in Richmond and never showing enough muscle to challenge.

Now the bad news: He still finished sixth.

Stewart’s off to an uncharacteristically strong start this season, one his rivals can’t help but notice. If they aren’t yet worried about it, they should be.

“He’s a big concern because that team typically doesn’t hit its stride until midsummer,” four-time series champion Jeff Gordon recently admitted. “But this year, he seems to be overachieving right now. That’s really scary because if Tony still has a hot streak in him, he’s going to be very, very tough to beat.”

Before Saturday night’s race in Richmond, Stewart was the only driver to lead at least one lap in every race this season. He was on a streak of four consecutive finishes of third or better, and had flirted with victory in all nine races before Saturday.

The only disappointment of the season had been an engine failure in California, and it came late when the race was his to lose.

The strong start has moved Stewart to second in the standings, 55 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and way ahead of the pace he set in his previous two title seasons.

Through 10 races last season, Stewart was seventh in the standings and 297 points out. And he was 10th at this point of his 2002 title run.

Stewart remains a realist, knowing he’s far from a lock to become the first driver since Gordon in 1997 and 1998 to win consecutive titles. His fortunes could change fast.

“Anything can change week to week, and there’s no guarantee that I am going to be good for the next two months,” he said.

But he can’t overlook his body of work in his first seven Nextel Cup seasons. When the weather turns warm, Stewart has traditionally heated up as well.

“Looking at history, we’ve always been consistent the middle part of the year and the last part of the year is our strongest,” he acknowledged. “That’s happened seven straight years, so there’s no reason to think we won’t do it again this year.”

Should he pull it off, Stewart will have to be recognized as one of NASCAR’s all-time greatest drivers. He’s on the long list already, earning his position with 25 victories and two championships in seven seasons.

But Stewart’s slowly pulling away from the competition and establishing himself as the best in his class right now.

Some may argue Gordon is still No. 1, but that theory would be based on his previous work. After all, Gordon missed the playoffs last year as Stewart ran away with the title.

And all of Gordon’s championships were won before Stewart’s first title, three coming when Gordon was clearly in a class of his own.

Stewart, meanwhile, won both his titles in today’s ultra-competitive NASCAR, when 30 or so drivers have a decent chance to win every week. “There’s nothing to get excited about right now,” he shrugged. “We’re running well at a time of the year we traditionally haven’t. We’re leading laps. I’m happy about that. But we’ve still got to keep it in perspective, and the fact is the championship is not won right now.”