NASCAR: Who’s Hot And Who’s Not Heading Into Bristol

Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

NOT – Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart has appeared on this side of the list far to many times in 2015.

That being said, it doesn’t look like things will be getting any better for him anytime soon. Last week in Texas Stewart showed speed in practice and then in qualifying. However come race time he and the No. 14 team struggled once again. Stewart spent the majority of his afternoon trying to make up positions that he lost on pit road and battle back towards the top-15. When the checkered flag waved he came home in 24th.

The good news is that his last three finishes (24th, 20th and 14th) are a vast improvement over his first four finishes (42nd, 30th, 33rd and 39th). It sounds ridiculous to say that Stewart getting top-25 finishes is a good thing but that this point it is.

Sunday could be an uphill battle though. Stewart did not qualify all that well and he has struggled with the handling of the car all weekend. In practice on Saturday Stewart got loose and into the wall. Although he avoided going to a backup car he did miss out on a lot of practice time.