Column: Win at Sonoma is good news for Tony Stewart and for NASCAR

Tony Stewart begins his NASCAR farewell tour in Daytona Beach, Fla., this weekend.

Forget whatever has happened between February and now.

Stewart, like everybody else, is trying to move on from the circumstances — aka #Stinkeroocity — that preceded his game-changing victory at California’s Sonoma Raceway on Sunday.

Stewart, a three-time Cup season champion, had been in a tailspin, recovering from a back injury and as stuck in traffic as a backpacker until busting out dramatically on the quirky road course. He lost the lead to Denny Hamlin on the last lap at Sonoma, only to scoot past Hamlin on a last-turn pass.

Welcome back, Mr. Stewart.

The victory broke an 84-race winless streak and, more important, vaults him into the mix of 16 Chase championship contenders. Stewart comes to Daytona just nine points behind in the standings to be eligible for the postseason. It should be easy for him to work his way into a mandatory top-30 spot before the field is set after Richmond, Va., in September.

To put Stewart’s struggles in perspective, he is in 32nd place in the standings after moving up three spots with the victory. He has three top 10 finishes in eight starts after missing eight races because of his back rehabilitation following a dune-buggy accident.

Many folks assumed that the road course would bring a wild-card winner into the mix because of the right-hand turn variables.

I trust nobody had “Smoke” in mind.

“I guess the one thing that I did think about is in this day of social media where everybody is a cricket, a lot of people are crickets,” Stewart said after the race. “On social media, they sit there and chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp until they’ve got to be in front of you and then they don’t say a damned word. And listening to people say I’m old and washed up? I know how old I am. I know I haven’t ran good for the last three years, but I’ve felt like if we got things right that it was still there.”

He’s there all right, and that’s a good thing for NASCAR. In a sport that seems to be getting more homogenized — lots of good guys but not enough drivers with an edgy disposition — Stewart brings a wonderful mix of competitive cockiness and cantankerous personality.

And now, in his final Cup season, he gets a likely shot at a championship.

A very good thing for NASCAR.

“I don’t feel like I have to prove anything to myself,” he said. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing. I’m still happy about my decision to make the change I’m making next year. But after Jeff [Gordon] set the bar pretty high last year winning a race in the clutch to get to the last race at Homestead, just to be able to be in the Chase, if we can make it, [would be good].”

Let’s be clear: Stewart isn’t big on any sentimental story lines. He just wants to race, without the pomp and circumstance. If someone tried to give him a pony, like the pair Gordon received unexpectedly in Texas last year, Stewart would probably leave them in the garage area.

He has a singular focus: Racing a stock car. But the noise about Tony Stewart on social media is now a good thing.

Chirp, chirp. Tony Stewart is back.

NBC takes flag

Fox Sports will pass the baton to NBC this weekend for the second half of the NASCAR broadcast season at Daytona, and NBC wants to kick things off with a pre-race bash.

NBCSN presents #NASCARThowback, the ultimate NASCAR viewing party, June 29 at 5 p.m. PDT. Using on-air social integrations, fans can relive the 2001 July Daytona race with their favorite past and present NASCAR drivers, on-air personalities and race teams.

The interactive twist includes NBCSN live tweeting and encouraging fans to host their own at-home watch parties. The tweets will be pulled into NBCSN’s live broadcast.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 2001 summer race at Daytona in one of the most emotional outcomes in NASCAR history. It marked Junior’s first victory since the death of his father on the last lap of the Daytona 500 that year.

“He was with me tonight,” Dale Jr. said after the race. “I don’t know how I did it. He was there and Michael [Waltrip] helped me. I guess we’re even now. ... I dedicate this win to him. There ain’t nobody else I could dedicate this win to that would mean more to me.”

NBC will air the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night, kicking off its race-night coverage with Blake Shelton performing “Bringing Back the Sunshine.” The song will serve as the introduction ahead of each race. The spot was filmed during the spring race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in April.