Tony Stewart deserves credit for looking in the mirror to find blame for his porous 2015 season. But his struggles to adapt to the new NASCAR rules indicate his own stubbornness could be the biggest thing in his way.
Fox Sports reported that the 44-year-old driver who has not won a NASCAR race since June, 2013, says he still has not figure out how to compete in a car with reduced horsepower, as the cars of 2015 are set up.
Fellow NASCAR drivers' unwillingness to help Tony Stewart part of his struggles?
"There's something about the way this package is that just doesn't suit my driving style," Stewart said, according to Fox Sports. "So, you know, I'm holding him (crew chief Chad Johnston) and the team back versus vice versa. So it's just a matter of me trying to figure it out, figure out how to go forward and get our cars better."
Stewart has maintained he excels at driving Sprint Cup Series cars with high horsepower, having come from a background in midget and sprint-car racing, Fox Sports reports. But while Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have adjusted, 'Smoke' has not.
NASCAR changes leave Tony Stewart "confused," "timid" in race car
"It's a scenario that when you drive for so long, you're used to one thing, I mean, coming into this year and taking the amount of horsepower they took out was a pretty radical change for the Cup Series," he said. "I think it was more the horsepower reduction than it was anything that I feel like has hurt me this year. I've grown up driving high-horsepower cars, high power-to-weight ratio cars. This hasn't been what I'm used to feeling."
Stewart finished 33rd after crashing into the wall at the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway last weekend. He's 28th in the Chase for the Cup standings.
Fox Sports added that Stewart still believes a turnaround this season is possible, although the driver refuses to consider using pit strategy or fuel mileage as part of his strategy to earn a win.
Why not? Wouldn't that be one way for Stewart to learn how to adapt? He clearly isn't heeding the advice of teammates Busch and Harvick - if he has asked for any - on how to adapt.
Acting like an old dog not learning new tricks, Stewart is demonstrating that he is ill-prepared to make radical changes.
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