NASCAR Cup Series

Exclusive: Stewart not ready to say No. 14 team has turned a corner

Published Apr. 24, 2015 9:36 a.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Tony Stewart has arrived at Richmond International Raceway after finishing a season's-best sixth at Bristol Motor Speedway last Sunday. But in an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion said he's not ready to declare himself back — yet.

Stewart has struggled this year, but his strong run at Bristol gave him some optimism that things might be headed in the right direction for him as a driver.

Asked by FOXSports.com whether Bristol was a turnaround point, Stewart said, "I hope so. It's hard to say with one finish, but if you can put together two or three weeks in a row where you're running good in the top 10 like that, then you can definitely say you're moving the needle."

The Bristol run was especially encouraging because it came in a race that featured long rain delays and changing track conditions.

"Bristol's always a tough place, especially as hard as it was last week to do anything other than just stay in line with guys," said Stewart, who was at RIR on Thursday filming a video for sponsor Mobil 1. "To end up with a sixth-place finish, that was a great weekend for us."

Driving the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet is only one of many hats Stewart wears. SHR, which he co-owns, has been rock-solid so far this season, with defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick posting two victories in the first eight races and comfortably leading in points. Danica Patrick is 13th in points, and Kurt Busch has two top fives and two poles in only five starts.

Prior to the 2014 season, SHR expanded to four cars, but this offseason the team didn't have to deal with ramping up or making major changes, which Stewart said was a positive.

"Having Greg Zipadelli (SHR competition director) there has been a huge asset for me personally," Stewart said. "I think having him there kind of takes a lot of that worrying away, from my aspect of it. It's nice because the shop's established. We had two years of growth there in a row and to get through that now — the change in the offseason this winter really wasn't as dramatic as it's been the last two years."

The success of SHR gives Stewart confidence about the future of the company.

"I know when I walk in there, we have the caliber of people it takes to win a championship," Stewart said. "You don't sit there and walk through there and go, 'What are we going to have to do to do this?' We've done it twice now. It's just a matter of staying the course and being able to repeat that performance."