Last July Tony Stewart held a press conference to announce that he would leave the only organization he had ever raced for Joe Gibbs Racing and take 50% ownership in the struggling HAAS Automation.

They would be renamed Stewart Haas Racing and soon after Ryan Newman was announced as his teammate.

Many didn't expect this team to come out of the box on fire, let alone be contenders but SHR has surprised many, just not themselves.

Tony Stewart

We all know Tony  Stewart has talent, two time Sprint Cup champion but his decision to leave JGR  left many wondering if even he could take an organization that had yet to see a victory and struggle every week at the track to compete.

Could he really turn this organization around in eight months?

The resounding answer: Yes.

Stewart came out of the box on fire.  Stewart historically has run well at restrictor plate tracks and that was no different at Daytona where he finished eighth, he also finished eighth at California. The team struggled at Las Vegas but got right back on track at Atlanta and Bristol.

Stewart then went on a stretch of three consecutive top five finishes culminating with a second at Phoenix.

Stewart has been the model of consistency so far in 2009; he leads the series with nine top 10's.

Coming into Pocono this weekend Stewart carries the most momentum with an All-Star race victory and a second place finish in Dover last week that pushed him to the points standing lead.

Speaking of points; Stewart is the second driver/owner to lead the points since Alan Kulwicki. This is also the earliest Stewart has led the points in his career.

Stewart credits most of his success to bringing in the right people for support.

For the first trimester of the season I am giving Stewart an B+. I know he hasn't won a race yet, but Stewart has been the best car out there every week.

 They still have minor issues to work out on pit road that have cost them not only time on pit road but the chance to collect some wins.

Overall sitting in the points lead and will win any week now, they have been just that good.

Ryan Newman

For Ryan Newman his leaving Penske Racing was not a surprise, leaving Penske to join SHR was a bigger surprise. Stewart and Newman have a lot in common away from the track, but nobody knew that these two as teammates would be successful.

For Newman 2009 didn't start off as easy as it did for Stewart, a poor qualifying started him 36th and that's where he finished. Another poor run at California and this team was in danger of falling below the top 35 in points.

Newman season didn't start to turn around until Bristol where he finished seventh.  Slowly he began to rise in the standings, a fourth place finish at Darlington, Newman was moving forward on the track and in the standings.

Newman's best finish was second in the Coca-Cola 600 although it was a rain shortened event.  After Dover, Newman has worked his way up to fifth in the standings and a weekly contender.

A major turnaround for a team that just five races in was struggling with bad luck, poor pit stops and ill handling race cars.

 So far with four top five's  and seven top 10's and an average finish of 13.5. Newman and team are quickly moving forward.

Like Stewart they too are really close to winning but need to eliminate the mistakes they are making. For the first trimester I am giving Newman a B.

Early on in the season he wasn't very good, but since Bristol he has come on in a big way. Newman looks the best he has looked since his huge breakout year in 2003.

Overall for SHR it has been a good first trimester. They have good people and strong program behind them. There engines and chassis are supplied by Hendrick Motorsports so they have plenty of power behind them.

 Stewart has hired Hendrick support both on top of the box and in the garage. But the sheer talent between the two is what has caused the turnaround.

I give them overall a B+. They will collect multiple wins and both should make the chase this season.

Notes: The opinions expressed here are of the writer only

Stats: nascar.com

As the offseason wore on and the economy and sponsors were the talk of bloggers, writers, drivers, and NASCAR top officials, many organizations were scrambling to secure sponsorship for 2009 and for some that meant mergers.

For Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, this was exactly what occurred.The late Dale Earnhardt founded this company and left it to his wife, Teresa Earnhardt.

After a much publicized split from then DEI, Dale Earnhardt Jr. left in 2008 for Hendrick Motorsports.

DEI was left scrambling to fill the huge financial void Earnhardt left.

Let's fast forward to the offseason where Chip Ganassi and Teresa Earndhardt merged to save the two struggling organizations. The two became Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and ran three cars to start the season.

Soon after the season started, Aric Almirola's car was parked due to lack of sponsorship for the season. Since then, there have been reports that the famed eight car could be back on track before the year ends.

The two drivers that make EGR is Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya. Let's take a look at where they are through the first trimester of the season.

Martin Truex Jr.

For Martin Truex Jr., the expectations to make the chase were sky high in 2008. He struggled to be competitive and failed to make the chase.

Coming into 2009, not only are the expectations high but this is a key year in Truex's career as he is in a contract year at EGR.

He started the year very strong with an 11thplace finish in the rain-shortened Daytona 500. But two consecutive finishes outside the top 20 saw him sitting 26th in points and searching for speed and consistency.

By the time they hit, Texas Truex was sitting in 28th place as a visibly frustrated team trying to find the missing piece, for the face of the organization.

Since Texas, he has had only two finishes in the top 10.That statistic alone gives you an idea of how the year has gone so far. He has had nine finishes outside the top 20.

The year started promising with the pole for the Daytona 500, but inconsistency has marred the season so far and with 13 races to go before the chase, they are sitting a disappointing 19th in the standings.

With the chase all but out of the picture for them once again, this team should be focusing on getting better for the remainder of this year.

Truex could be in another organization next year and if the rumors are true,  that place could be a familiar face to the EGR organization: Michael Waltrip and his organization Michael Waltrip Racing.

With talk of Waltrip retiring at the end of 2009, Truex name has come in numerous reports of replacing the driver owner in No. 55.

The move would be a boost to a career that has stalled out at EGR.

Truex, an avid outdoors man, could persuade his sponsor Bass Pro Shops to leave EGR, which would be a major blow to that organization already struggling to secure sponsorship.

Truex would be the future of the organization who has found success in 2009 so far with David Reutimann.

For the first trimester, I give Truex a C+.

With two top 10 finishes and nine of the 13 races so far spent hovering in the mid  20's in points, he is going to have to get hot and quick if he wants any shot of  making the chase.

It can be done but it's a matter of if EGR has the equipment to do that, and that could be what decides his future.

Juan Pablo Montoya

For Juan Pablo Montoya, this is also a crucial year in NASCAR. No, it's not a contract year for him but he has been driving in NASCAR top series for three years and has accumulated just one win, and five top five finishes. He also has 13 top 10 finishes.

His switch from Ganassi Chassis and Dodges to Chevy's has been very seamless.  

2009 started very well with two top 15 finishes, but like his teammate, saw consecutive finishes outside the top 20 that put him 21st in the standings at one point.

The team struggled with handling issues and bad luck. Now, the poor finishes have accumulated with a disappointing 30th place finish at Dover after he started in the top three.

Lack of consistency has hurt this team in the standings yet they stand as EGR's only chance to make the chase.

However, they too will need a lot of help and can only afford top 15 finishes if they want to be in the chase.

For Montoya, he has found recent success at the oval tracks this year and he is finding some speed and success with the new car every week.

Pit road mistakes and a team unable to adjust the car throughout the race has hurt them in quality finishes.

Montoya has shown that he will be a contender each week at the track but they need to learn to close the deal. Montoya's average finish is 17.2 in 2009 and has completed in 99.6 percent of the laps this season. However, he still sits 15th in the standings.

My first trimester grade for Montoya is a B-.

No, he hasn't won a race so far in 2009, but I think with recent strong runs (not including Dover), Montoya has shown he is a threat.

EGR needs Montoya, with Truex in his contract year; the loss of Truex would be devastating for the organization struggling to find sponsorship.

Montoya appeal is large but sponsors are hesitant to put out money for single car organization, particularly those that aren't running up front each week.

My overall grade for EGR so far is a C+.  They have had strong runs where both these cars were strong throughout but watched a shot at victory all but end with pit road problems and late race accidents.

Source: nascar.com

Note: Opinions expressed here of the writer only.

Miles the monster all weekend long ate up cars and spit them out. When rain washed off what rubber had been laid down on Saturday Miles the monster was a whole lot scarier. Check out which drivers made the winners list and which drivers were the losers.

Winners

Jimmie Johnson

After a disappointing run at His house last week at Lowe's Motorspeedway, Dover couldn't have come soon enough. Johnson qualified in the top 10 and ran there all day long in fact he dominated the race, at one point is lead was well over four seconds.

A late caution scrambled the top 10 and force Johnson to battle all the way back up to the front and a late race pass gave Johnson the victory.

This was also team owner Rick Hendrick 11th win at the one mile track.

Johnson once again looked like championship form pulling away from the field. The team once again stayed on top of the track and the changing conditions,that's exactly what a championship crew and driver are supposed to do.

Johnson said he had to suck it up and charge to the front after the late caution.

Points: Third

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart was just two laps away from winning his first points paying race taking two tires on a late caution only secured them a top five finish in second. He was strong throughout the day, steadily working on the car and putting himself in position to win today.

Stewart could not hold off a hard charging Johnson and will have to wait till next we to try and win. They are so close as an organization and that is a bad sign for the competition.

Stewart is the first owner/driver to lead the points since the late champion Alan Kulwicki and this is the highest Stewart has been in the points in his career.

Points: First

Ryan Newman

At this point there is no surprise with his finish in the last month. Newman wasn't the best car all day but they stayed on the lead lap and worked on the car. They gambled on a late caution took two tires and finished eighth.

This was another good run for Newman who continues to back up his move from Penske Racing South to Stewart Haas Racing.

He is settling into the top 12 in points and steadily moving forward.

Points: Fifth

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

With all the talk of Dale Earnhardt Jr. switching crew chiefs, now his fans are wondering what now?

Well Earnhardt came out and quickly moved forward after a poor qualifying.

Unlike the last three weeks Earnhardt and new crew chief Lance McGrew made all the right adjustments and had him all the way up to third just over halfway.

Earnhardt looked the best he has looked all year. They did pit off sequence and struggled with the handling in the final 100 laps. He went on to finish 12th, a well needed finish and good sign for whats to come.

Let's not engrave the championship cup just yet the results have to be consistent before we can call this a comeback.

Points: 18th

Losers

Juan Pablo Montoya

With such a strong run last week at Charlotte they came to Dover with high hopes. With a strong qualifying run of third, Sunday they started the race with a lot of confidence.

That quickly changed when after an early run the car started to go backwards, they pitted made an adjustment the car continued to slide backwards. The day all but came to end when they blew a tire was forced to pit.

They struggled all day long finished 30th.

If they need top 15 finishes to make the Chase then today was there final mulligan.

Points: 15th

Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon had a strong car in the first practice but a crash in qualifying forced him to use a backup car and to the back.

They gained 10 positions early and were moving forward. They stayed out during a caution while some of the leaders pitted. They fell behind on adjustments and struggled to recover. They finished 26th.

In recent weeks this team is in somewhat of a slump, they are securely in the top 12 but they need to stay on defense.

When Gordon found out who he was racing on pit road during a caution stop it was Robby Gordon; Gordon replied "Well that makes my day". Yep, it was that kind of day.

Points: Second

Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick is probably glad that May is over. He has struggled so hard this last month that this team is watching its chase chances slip away.

They were never good in practice on Friday and didn't have a great qualifying lap. They struggled the whole race and once again were never a factor. They were lapped early and wasn't until the very end when they were able to get their lap back.

They finished 17th but they are still a ways off compared to the competition and need to get better quick.

Harvick should be glad he is not Earnhardt, because going two plus years without a victory and then to be barely a factor each week, why aren't the 29 fans screaming for another crew chief change?

Points: 24th

Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin was running well within the top ten for most of the day. He was running in second when a tire blew sending him hard into the wall, causing significant damage to the right side of that car. They went straight to the garage.

Hamlin seems to never find the success that his teammate Kyle Busch has, and has openly admitted his disappointment in not winning often and not having the consistency of Busch. Hamlin has the talent and would have been a factor today instead he finished 36th.

Hamlin is just looking to get a win, and see momentum sway his way for once.

Points: Seventh

Lucky Dog...

Clint Bowyer needed a strong run today. He had been sliding backwards in the last month both on the track and in the standings a strong 11th place finish is just what they needed. Points: 16th

Carl Edwards hasn't been as dominating as he was last year in 2009. Dover was a true test for this team. They were never a true contender once again but they got a strong run and a good finish in seventh. Points: 11th

Casey Mears it was only a few weeks ago that I called Mears dead in the water. This weekend this team had a strong run and stayed on the lead lap. They were never able to make it up front but this was a good momentum builder heading into next week. A great finish of ninth. Points: 21st

Final Lap...

NASCAR was in the news a lot this week with a meeting with a mandatory meeting with all drivers and owners on Tuesday that many said was very productive and we might see some changes with restarts and even the car in the future.

Come Friday morning this weekend's race was became the focus and so many drivers were talking about tire wear for today's race but to be honest it wasn't tires that were the biggest problem on Sunday.

The final 10 laps was some of the best racing we have seen all year long.

You know Fox takes a lot of slack for "Digger" and for their affection for Kyle Busch and even sometimes the lack of coverage of racing in the back of pack. But in recent weeks we have seen some great racing throughout the field and Fox has covered it all well.

As fans we all complain about the coverage but the Fox team does a great job in explaining the car and the pit stops. It's tough for them because they have no control in how competitive the car is.

They try to bring us the best coverage. I enjoyed watching racing on Fox for the last nine years and I can't wait till Daytona when the team is back together.

Race Grade: A