<table> </table> At times, asking Tony Stewart a question like the one he was asked this week is asking for trouble. It was a question that could be construed by Stewart as trite or ill-figured, and sometimes the NASCAR racer does not dig those kinds of questions.</p><p>This was not one of those times, however. Stewart talked readily and long about the answer to <em>the</em> question: Where does his victory Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway rank?</p><p><em>The</em> answer: Near the top of the list, and for a variety of reasons.</p><p>How happy was he following Sunday&#8217;s race? So happy that he skipped what has become his signature postrace celebration of climbing the fence at the start/finish line to grab the checkered flag.</p><p>&#8220;I think I was so excited about it and still was in a little bit of disbelief because of the confusion initially at the end that I literally just forgot about it,&#8221; Stewart said this week.</p><p>The joy and the forgetfulness were the result of the obvious emotional reasons: It was his first victory of the Sprint Cup season, his first victory at Talladega, and it strengthened his NASCAR lore.</p><p>&#8220;When we think back at some of these (33) wins and the obstacles that we had to overcome to accomplish those numbers &#8212; and when you look in the record books and look at guys that have over 30 wins &#8212; you start getting yourself in a smaller, elite group every time you win another race,&#8221; Stewart said.</p><p>But it wasn&#8217;t just the past that had Stewart gushing this week.</p><p>He likes what the victory did for his future &#8212; immediate and long-term.</p><p>The points he collected at Talladega moved him from 11th to seventh in the Chase, from being 255 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson to being 203 back with six races remaining.</p><p>That prompted another question which Stewart, at times, may not have much cared for: Are you back in contention now?</p><p>&#8220;Until they say that you&#8217;re mathematically out of it, you always have a shot,&#8221; Stewart said.</p><p>He then got downright expansive.</p><p>&#8220;We won the USAC Silver Crown Series Championship in &#8217;95, and we were the third driver of three that had a shot, mathematically, to win it,&#8221; Stewart said. &#8220;There were two drivers, Jack Hewitt and Dave Darland, that were neck-and-neck in the point standings, and we were kind of the third wheel. We were only included in the group in the media sessions because we were mathematically in the hunt. Both of those drivers had problems in the race, and we won the points championship by two points.&#8221;</p><p>A look at the schedule gives Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing team reason for optimism. They have won races at all of the final six tracks in the Chase.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve had a lot of success at all these tracks coming up, but I think the way that we have ran the last three races at Charlotte here, we&#8217;re pretty excited about it,&#8221; Stewart said. &#8220;We felt like we had a good test there a week ago and are looking forward to it. I feel like we&#8217;ve got a shot at this weekend&#8217;s race. If we can do what we&#8217;ve been doing, we&#8217;ve got just as good a shot as anybody else.&#8221;</p><p>And from the sound of it, the fence climb may not come back if he wins on Saturday.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m getting too old and fat to do that,&#8221; Stewart said. &#8220;Just being able to turn around and get that close to the fans and drive down that whole front straightaway grandstand (at Talladega) and see all those fans was important to me, not just that one little section by the flag stand. That seemed to me to be more special than just climbing the flag stand.&#8221;