Conway shoe-in for rookie of the year
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano.
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That's a pretty impressive list of drivers that 31-year-old Kevin Conway is about to join as NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie of the year. And that it will come by default - he's the only first-year driver competing in all 36 races for Bob Jenkins' Front Row Motorsports team - doesn't really matter.
"You've got to give him credit," said Stewart, who won three races, led more than 1,200 laps, and finished fourth in points as a rookie in 1999. "He was able to attract a major sponsor that's been very good to him. It's been good for the sport, too. Anytime you can bring in a major company like that is good. There's pluses and negatives to him being there."
Conway's Ford, sponsored by ExtenZe, has competed in every race since skipping the season-opening Daytona 500 with a best finish of 14th at Daytona last month. Conway will start today's Cup race at Watkins Glen International on owner points in 42nd after a qualifying lap of 118.292 mph, nearly 4 seconds off the time of polesitter Carl Edwards.
"It's really tough to get your rhythm going on a road course on one lap," Conway said. "For our 31st lap at Watkins Glen, we'll take it. We picked up a lot of speed. Every time we've been on the track we've gotten better, so I guess that's the main thing."
Stewart says he wouldn't want to be a rookie today.
"The cars are more technical, the level of competition's gone up, so you have to be right when you get there (to the track)," he said. "A lot of things were different. Back in the day, it was guys that could absolutely just manhandle a car and force it to do something that it wasn't necessarily doing on the racetrack that made the difference. Nowadays, you've really got to concentrate on making sure you've got your car driving good because that's what you're going to have for the race."
Tweeter silenced
Joe Gibbs Racing's Hamlin is cutting his time on Twitter.
Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota, was fined by NASCAR for comments he made on the p
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