My Dive into Tony Stewart’s 2009 Season
Alright, let’s talk about 2009 and Tony Stewart. Man, that year felt different from the get-go. I remember hearing he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, a top team, to start his own thing, Stewart-Haas Racing. And not just own it, but drive for it too! That owner-driver stuff is seriously tough, hasn’t always worked out for folks.
So, I decided right then, I wasn’t just gonna watch the races like usual. I wanted to really track this whole experiment. See how it played out week by week. It felt like a big gamble Tony was taking, and I was curious, maybe a little skeptical, if he could actually pull it off against the big dogs.
My process wasn’t anything super fancy, just stuff I could do from home. Here’s kinda how I went about it:
- Watching Everything: I made sure to catch not just the Sunday races, but qualifying too. Even tried to find some of those online radio scanner feeds, just to hear the team communication. Wanted the full picture, you know?
- Keeping Notes: Got myself a basic spiral notebook. After each race, I’d jot down where Tony finished, how many laps he led, any big moments, stuff like that. Simple stats, just for my own tracking. Seeing the points accumulate, or sometimes drop, made it more real.
- Collecting Little Things: I started grabbing small souvenirs. Picked up a couple of his #14 diecast cars for that year. More importantly, I started clipping newspaper articles about SHR and Tony’s progress. Taped them into that same notebook. Nothing valuable, just my own little record.
- Just Paying Attention: Beyond the stats and stuff, I really focused on the team dynamics you could pick up from interviews and broadcasts. How was he handling the pressure of being the boss and the star driver? How did bringing Ryan Newman in change things?
It wasn’t always smooth sailing, trying to keep up. Sometimes life gets in the way, missed watching a race live, had to rely on recaps. Finding detailed info back then wasn’t as easy as Googling everything is now. But seeing them get that first win as SHR, with Tony driving at Pocono, that felt like a big deal. You could almost feel the relief and excitement through the TV.
And then the end of the season happened. He actually did it. Won the whole NASCAR Cup Series championship in his very first year as an owner-driver. Honestly, watching him hoist that trophy felt pretty cool, even just as a fan who’d been keeping closer tabs than usual. It made me appreciate the immense effort that goes into running a race team, especially when you’re also the one wheeling the car at 200 mph.
So yeah, that was my little personal project for 2009. Didn’t build anything, didn’t invent anything. Just followed along closely, kept my notes, grabbed a few keepsakes. Made that championship season feel a bit more personal to watch unfold. It was a fascinating ride to witness, right from my couch.
