Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
It seems as if the 2013 NASCAR season is giving Stewart-Haas Racing a bit of a headache with just a few races in.
As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season progresses, some drivers have been able to find some luck and turn things around from the previous season. Meanwhile, others haven’t been so lucky in the case of Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick.
When the year began, it meant the start of a new chapter for Stewart-Haas Racing as it would now race three full-time entries in the Cup Series, but it hasn’t worked out the way they would have liked. With seven races in, SHR is in serious need of a break and a win.
Since the first green flag at Daytona, SHR has been on a rollercoaster ride with inconsistent results. Within the team’s three drivers only one of them has achieved a top five finish. For Newman and Stewart both drivers have faced many issues while on the track, meanwhile Patrick has been having difficult on some tracks and to finish on the lead lap.
In the case of the three time Sprint Cup Series champion Stewart, the 2013 season has been a hard one as he currently sits out of the top 20 in points, currently in 22nd. In seven races, Stewart has captured only one top 10 finish back in the second race of the year at Phoenix.
Meanwhile, Patrick currently sits in 26th after starting the year off with an eighth place finish at the Daytona 500 where she began on the pole. Following Daytona Patrick went on to drop within the points after capturing finishes outside of the top 20 or 30. She did manage to turn things around at Martinsville, a track where she was giving it her first try.
On the other hand, Newman seems to have gotten himself in better position than his teammates, as he sits 16th in the points. After getting off to a slow start Newman has recovered and is the only SHR driver with a top five finish, a fifth place finish at the Daytona 500. He also currently has four top 10 finishes.
Within the three drivers, Stewart averages the better start with a 11.9 compared to Newman’s 21.4 average start and Patrick with a 33.3. Newman on the other hand has averaged the better finish with a 20.1 compared to Stewart with 21.6 and Patrick with 24.9.
Heading into Kansas Speedway, all three drivers have a chance to turn things around for the better. Stewart goes into the STP 400 with two wins and six top five and nine Top 10 finishes in 14 starts at Kansas. Newman is also a past winner with one win, three top five and four top 10s in 14 starts. After making her first start at the track in the fall of 2012, Patrick will look to improve from a 32nd place finish.
After qualifying for the race at Kansas, Newman has set himself in a good spot with a top ten starting spot in ninth. Stewart and Patrick will have some work to do to make up ground as Stewart will start 18th and Patrick in 26th.
