Stewart plans return as owner

Tony Stewart stirred the crowd last month during Indianapolis 500 Bump Day when he nearly got in a car, determined to race.

Stewart’s stock-car contract negated his last-minute decision to try and join A.J. Foyt’s team, but the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup champion still has plans to return to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway – this time as an owner.

“I’ve had some discussions in the last 30 days about starting an IRL team,” Stewart said Saturday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. “The discussion didn’t start with me. It started with other groups of people that approached me about the possibility of starting a team.”

Stewart, a native of Columbus, Ind., already owns teams in USAC and World of Outlaws. Tony Stewart Motorsports and driver Danny Lasoski won the 2001 championship and were runner-ups the past two years.

Still, there would be a big difference in the responsibility and the financial commitment needed to field a successful Indy Racing League team.

“With our schedule in the Cup series, all my teams are self-sufficient. They don’t rely on me to operate each day,” he said. “If I were to do an IRL team like that, it would take a lot of planning and assembling the right people. . . . If we could do that, I would definitely entertain it.”

Kahne in top form

A day after winning his fourth pole of the year, Kasey Kahne was first again at Pocono Raceway. He turned the fastest practice lap Saturday at 167.657 mph.

“We were really loose, so we’ve got to work on that,” Kahne said. “If we’re in the top-10 all day long, we’ll be good to go for the last two laps.”

It’s been a year of mixed results for Kahne. The rookie has a NASCAR-best four poles, but has yet to win. He finished second three times, but hasn’t finished any better than 12th in his last six races.

Kahne’s getting antsy for a trip to the winner’s circle.

“We have a good race car and a lot of good things going on, so hopefully we get it soon,” he said.

Jeremy Mayfield had the second-best time during the third practice session at 167.274 and Elliott Sadler was third at 167.159.

How about the Pocono 400?

Some drivers have complained that the 500-mile race at Pocono Speedway is too long, and would be more exciting at 400 miles. Also, drivers said, fans wouldn’t lose interest during the middle of the race when little is happening on the 2 1/2 -mile triangular track.

“Cut it back,” Jeff Gordon said. “I think 500 in this place is way too long. I think it would be more entertaining for the fans and easier for the equipment. Five hundred miles here is like 600 in Charlotte.”

The average Pocono 400 lasts about 3 hours, 45 minutes. Dover International Speedway reduced its race from 500 miles to 400 in 1997 – a move that paid off after last week’s caution-plagued race lasted almost 5 hours.

Shortening the race would save wear and tear of the cars.

“Everybody’s on the 400 side,” Rusty Wallace said. “This is one of the most demanding on engines. I really don’t think it makes a better show the longer we go. I think a 400-miler would be a great race here.”

Wallace cranks it up

Rusty Wallace turned some heads this week when he hit 228 mph at the end of the straightaway during a test run without a restrictor plate at Talladega Superspeedway.

Driving without the plates, though, doesn’t seem to be in NASCAR’s future. Nor should it.

“We should never race it. You could never race a car that fast,” Wallace said. “That’s going too fast.”

Points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he wouldn’t want to go that fast during a race, but wanted to try it on an empty track like Wallace did.

“I’m sure we could make it work,” Earnhardt said, smiling. “It would probably be a blast.”