Tony Stewarts’ fall from grace continues at Michigan

August 21, 2012 Greg Engle Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

Tony Stewart sits in the #14 Mobile 1/Office Depot Chevrolet before the start of practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 18, 2012 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
Tony Stewart suffered an engine problem Sunday at Michigan. (Getty Images)

He may be the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup point’s leader, but after Sunday’s disaster at Michigan Tony Stewart may find it hard to repeat as champion this season.

Stewart started the day 14th and it didn’t take long for problems to arise. On lap 52 Stewart radioed in that his engine felt like it was souring. With no indication on the gauges, Stewart reported that he felt the engine losing power. Not long after Stewart headed to the garage suffering from the same engine woes that befell other Hendrick Motorsports entries including Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon later in the race.

“I appreciate everybody at the Hendrick engine department,” Stewart was quick to say as his crew worked to get his Chevy back on track.  “We had three different engine tuners down there trying to get it fixed for us.  It wasn’t for a lack of effort.  It’s uncommon to have a problem like this there. It’s not something I’m concerned about and having problems in the future with it’s just a bad day and like I said we have the best engine department in the world in my opinion.  Definitely in this series they did everything they could do.” MORE>>>

Greg Engle
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About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.