Secret to Stewart's success --  a hands off approach

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Tony Stewart's more than happy to be the first driver/owner to be leading the point standings this late in the season since Alan Kulwicki did it on his way to the 1992 championship. But at the same time, Stewart wants to make it clear that the driver/owners who deserve the most credit in the Cup Series garage are Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip, because they built their operations from the ground up.

'Bromance'

Raygan Swan says the relationship Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman have forged is something special.

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• Sound off: Stewart
• Sound off: Newman

"If we had to start from scratch and do our own motor program and our own chassis program, we never would have done this," Stewart said at Michigan International Speedway. "It would have been way too much of a challenge for me and I couldn't have gotten it right.

"So the guys like Robby Gordon and Michael Waltrip that are true driver/owners who have built their programs from scratch, those guys are a lot more impressive than what I am because I couldn't have done that, I don't believe. But I had the advantage of having Hendrick resources and great equipment that Gene Haas and Joe Custer have given us that was there before I got there. It was just a matter of trying to tie up the loose ends and put people in place that we thought would make a difference. And it's worked that way."

Hendrick teammates Mark Martin and defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. paced Saturday's final practice session in preparation for Sunday's LifeLock 400. Martin's best lap of 185.257 mph placed him atop the leaderboard at the end of 70 minutes. The Toyota of Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle's Ford and Clint Bowyer's Chevy rounded out the top five. Stewart was 17th-quickest. There were no incidents in final practice, although several drivers, including Kyle Busch and Junior, had nice saves.

However, Saturday's practices were run in cloudy, cool conditions, while Sunday's forecast is for abundant sunshine and temperatures in the upper 70s. (Continued)