Clan-Members » .Rust is one of the Penguins young gu

Tony Stewart vowed to enjoy his final Sprint Cup season, and running well over the last eight races has helped.But Stewart also found, and not to his surprise, what Jeff Gordon realized during his final full season a year ago: NASCAR Sprint Cup racing is just too intense and too demanding to have fun throughout the experience.Its work now and retirement when its over. Stewart will have to thrive and revel in the pressure of Sprint Cup racing for 14 more weeks before he hangs up his Sprint Cup driver suit.It is a tradeoff, says the three-time Sprint Cup champion. Its one of the most competitive forms of motorsports in the world right now, and because it is, is why its not necessarily fun all the time.Its work and its a lot of stress and its a lot of hours. I spend more time looking at data than I ever have.At least the work appears be paying off. Stewart has four top-5 finishes in his last five races and six top-10 finishes in his last eight. His last two events, fifth-place runs at Pocono and Watkins Glen, were races where it could easily be argued he had more of a 10th-place car than a fifth-place car, but worked strategically to get the higher finish.It also has some looking at Stewart as the guy who won the 2011 Sprint Cup title with an incredible Chase, where he won five of the final 10 races.Im not sure were ready to rip off five wins in 10 races, but the confidence that we have and the demeanor of everybody on the team is definitely the same right now [as in 2011], Stewart said.Stewart hasnt led enough laps yet to be considered a full-bore championship contender. He led 22 laps at Sonoma, but those laps and one lap at Daytona are all he has led in the last 11 races. Thats not necessarily championship-caliber performance, but it is a performance that would keep a driver in the championship hunt likely until at least the third round.I still think were a little bit short of where we need to be, Stewart said prior to the race at Watkins Glen last week. Were gaining on it. We have got to get to where [teammate] Kevin [Harvick] is to have a shot at it. ... Whether we are going to be a championship contender or not, I want to be running good each week.Weve got that on our side. Everybody is relaxed and everybody is having fun. Thats what I want this last year.Stewart hasnt really thought about the Chase yet for two reasons -- four races still remain (starting with the Aug. 20 race at Bristol), and he doesnt see the use of filling his mind with strategy for his first appearance in an elimination Chase.[The format] doesnt matter - if you go out there and win races, the rest of it takes care of itself -- the same as it did 18 years ago when I came into this series, Stewart said.In other words, Stewart will gear up toward his last Chase the same way he has in the past -- he will focus on getting the best finish possible and continue to do things his way. That will include going off to races at dirt tracks and other facilities holding events where his sprint-car teams or the sprint-car series he owns are competing.Stewart points to finishing second at New Hampshire last month after returning from Eldora Speedway in the wee hours of the morning as a sign he can continue the schedule that leaves crew chief Mike Bugarewicz to handle figuring out the setup and Stewart available by text while having fun somewhere else.Being able to do go do those things, if we were having a bad weekend, it got my mind off it, it helped keep me level, Stewart said. Instead of sitting in the motorhome, and sitting there trying to get a Ouija board out and trying to figure out the magic setup was for the next day, I would go somewhere else and get the mind off of it.The best thing I can do is go keep myself busy. When I can do that, it seems to work better for me. ... Its not the sleep I need. Its the clear mind I need. I can stay up like a rockstar still and Im not sure the rest of these kids can.Keeping that clear mind also requires Stewart to not focus on his last race at the tracks the remainder of the season. He knows he will return at least as an owner, so its not like he wont drive through the tunnel in the future.I try to downplay it in my mind, Stewart said. I want to focus on what Im doing for the weekend. The nostalgia stuff, you think about it after the event is over.After Indy [last month], I thought about what Indy meant. I didnt think about it all weekend. I thought about what I could do to win the race. You stick to your guns with what you do. You stay in race mode. When the weekend is over and the race mode is over, then you think about all the other things.Like what he needs to do to prepare for the Chase...[Were] still just trying to find a little more speed, and we just keep building on what weve been building on up until this point -- I dont think were looking for big magic right now, Stewart said. Its just to keep the same progress going and keep going down that path and making it better and better.I sleep a lot better during the weekends. Theres been nights before the race that I felt like we were a 15th-place car and that we were going to struggle, and then we found a way to pull something out of it at the end. And thats what it takes. Cheap Jordan From China . It might not have mattered. While the Dodgers are preparing for the playoffs, the Padres showed their future has promise behind two rookies. Wholesale Air Jordan . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. http://www.wholesaleairjordanfromchina.com/ . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Wholesale Air Jordan From China . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display.The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched their place in the Stanley Cup final with a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the deciding seventh game of their Eastern Conference play-off series. The Penguins begin the best-of-seven championship on Monday when they host the San Jose Sharks, who beat the St Louis Blues in six games in the other NHL semi-final.The third period was electric. It was the loudest Ive heard a building in all my years in this league, said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan of the crowd of 18,600 at the Penguins Consol Energy Center. Pittsburgh is back in the Stanley Cup final for the fifth time overall, and the Sharks are in it for the first time in franchise history.It is going to be fast hockey, said Penguins forward Sidney Crosby of the next round.American right winger Bryan Rust scored both goals for the Penguins, who will be playing in their first final in seven years, having won three of the first four they appeared in.We are having a lot of fun. One more to go, Rust said. Bryan Rust (c) of Pittsburgh caused Tampa Bay problems all night Rookie goalie Matt Murray stopped 16 or 17 shots as the Penguins finished off a comeback from a 3-2 series deficit to deny the Lightning a return trip to the finals.Murray is now 11-4 in the playoffs after heading into the postseason as the teams backup netmindder.ddddddddddddTampa Bay got an emotional lift from the surprise return of captain Steven Stamkos, who played for the first time since March 31 after developing a blood clot near his neck. But his impact Thursday was minimal.Rust is one of the Penguins young guns who are battling for ice time behind superstars Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- the lone holdovers from Pittsburghs 2009 Stanley Cup winning team. The Pittsburgh Penguins with the Prince of Wales Trophy after the 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning After a scoreless first period in which shots and scoring opportunities were scarce, everything changed in the second period. Rust beat Tampas Russian netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy after being left by himself in the lightning zone at 1:55.Canadian forward Jonathan Drouin managed to tie it midway through the period with his fifth of the playoffs.Rust answered just 30 seconds later with his fifth of the playoffs.Besides missing Stamkos for most of the series, Tampa Bay also had to play without Vezina Trophy finalist goaltender Ben Bishop, who has been out with an undisclosed injury since the first period of game one. Also See: Transfer Centre Latest transfer news Transfer betting Paper Talk ' ' '