This time it counts

For all intent and purposes, last year's race at Kansas Speedway was where Tony Stewart started his 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.
Stewart was locked out of the Chase last year after winning it the year before. Instead of folding and coasting through the last 10 races of the year, Stewart went on a bit of a winning tear. He won three of the last 10 races, starting with the one at Kansas Speedway.
Another win this time and Stewart will find himself leading the Chase standings. He is second in the Chase standings, two points behind Jeff Gordon.
The car Stewart's team is bringing to Kansas has been pretty impressive in its three previous starts. It won the race at Chicagoland, won the race at Indinapolis and was 10th at Michigan.
Kansas and Chicagoland share a number of similarities.
“They’re about as close as you can get to being the same," said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing. "You aren’t going to find any two tracks that are more identical than Kansas and Chicago. The only difference between the two tracks -- the backstretch at Chicago is a little bit rounded while Kansas is straight.”
Stewart said he hopes winning at Chicagoland will give his team an edge in the Kansas race.
"The two tracks are so alike. You’d like to think that if you had success at one track that you’d have success at the other," Stewart said. "But at the same time, there are no guarantees in this sport. As fast as technology changes, what worked a month ago might not work now. We won’t know anything until we hit the track.”