BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Tony Stewart raved about NASCAR’s aerodynamic package and ranted about its restarts after one of his best performances of his farewell season.
Downforce was reduced to 1,500 pounds and spoilers were shortened to 2.5 inches for the first time in more than a decade. Those were part of changes that were implemented for the first time Sunday at the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, where Joey Logano won his first race of the year.
“I absolutely love it,” Stewart said. “The package is good.”
The restarts? Not so much.
“The restarts are stupid,” Stewart said. “I’ve got only six months more of these stupid restarts.”
The three-time champion plans to retire at the end of the season. He missed the first eight races this year with a back injury.
Stewart finished seventh — one shy of his season-best sixth at Talladega — in a 40-car race that was stunted by nine caution flags.
“You can’t blame anybody,” he said. “Everybody’s got to go because as soon as you go through the first lap, you’re kind of stuck where you’re at. When they get this back to where it needs to be and you’ve got to start worrying about saving your tires and everything, then those guys who are trying to run Mach 3 for the first five laps are going to pay a price later. It’ll come around.”
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