If at first you don't succeed, trade out your tire changer.
Pittalk.com reported that embattled NASCAR driver Tony Stewart is making a change in his pit crew setup as he desperately tries to find a combination that will help him return to his winning ways.
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"Just a few weeks ago we reported that the #14 crew was getting a new tire changer in the front," Pittalk.com reported. "Tire Changer Bryan Jacobson was undergoing shoulder surgery and would be out for a while. Ex-EGR changer Chris McMullen was taking over in the front. Well...that didn't last long. Last week the #14 crew sent McMullen to the back and moved Ryan Mulder to the front. Mulder was pitting on the rear of the #35 car at the beginning of the year. Last we heard, Jonathon Sherman would be changing on the rear of the #35 taking over Mulder's void."
Stewart finished 16th last week at the FedEx 300 Benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Raceway - the site of 'Smoke's' last NASCAR victory in 2013 and actually moved up two spots in the Sprint Cup Series points standings to 28th.
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He has just one top-10 finish in 13 races in 2015, a sixth-place effort at the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer in April at Bristol Motor City Speedway.
Stewart's career has been interrupted by unfortunate circumstances. He suffered a horrific accident in 2013 in which he broke his right leg and has had to have four surgeries on it, with one more expected at the end of the racing season.
Then in August of 2014, he was involved in a tragedy in which his car hit fellow dirt-track driver Kevin Ward Jr., and hurled him across the track 50 feet to his death. Stewart missed the next three NASCAR events to deal with the grief.
Beyondtheflag.com hailed Stewart for continuing to try to find ways to help him break out of his slump.
"This particular change might not be one that lights the world on fire but it's good to see that the No. 14 team is continually working on fixing what they feel are issues," the website reported. "Stewart is a three-time NASCAR champion that is running on a good team with quality equipment. It would be foolish to believe that Stewart doesn't have the talent or means to win on a weekly basis and one would have to assume that he is going to figure it out sooner rather than later."
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