RICHMOND, Va. -- Tony Stewart believes he's about to get in a groove. He's in the perfect place to do it.

The defending champion of the Pontiac Excitement 400 is approaching the event Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway with a new beginning in mind.

	Stewart has had plenty of prior success at Richmond International Raceway.

"Our season tends to get off to a slow start through the first eight or nine races," he said. "But we really start to come into our own right when we get to Richmond."

Last year, Stewart arrived in Richmond ninth in the point standings. This season, he's 10th and coming off consecutive 29th-place finishes, but says it's still too early to erase him from the championship picture.

"We're 301 points out, but there's been times already this year where we've been 250 points back and we've come back to within 140," said Stewart, a winner two months ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "There's still a lot of racing left. Now, we definitely need to make the most of what's left, but by no means do I think we're out of it."

And Richmond is a likely place for him to get it in gear. He got the first of his 13 career victories here in 1999, then won again last spring.

Hoping to keep whatever edge he has here, Stewart, and teammate Bobby Labonte, tested for two days last month at Richmond. The test was a success, Stewart said, and reinforced the requirements for NASCAR's only three-quarter-mile oval, where track conditions change with the temperature for night races.

"You want to make sure that your car is adjustable," he said. "You know for a fact that the track isn't going to stay the same all night long."

Like Stewart, Rusty Wallace has had success at Richmond, winning six times to lead all active drivers. But Wallace hasn't won here since 1997, so he also tested.

"The fact that we were so dominant there in both races last year and walked away empty-handed really hurt a lot," Wallace said.

He has led 867 of the last 1,200 laps run on the track, and finished third and fifth a year ago.

"Had a great car," he recalled of his third-place finish last spring. "Just one small little adjustment would have made it perfect at the end. It was so close."

Jimmy Spencer, who will try to join Harry Gant as the winner of three consecutive Busch series races here in the Hardee's 250 on Friday night, also was among of 15 drivers who tested April 16-17.

"We brought the old car that won those races, and we brought a new car also," he said. "I think the new car is actually faster."