LOUDON, N.H. -- Maybe a change of scenery is exactly what Tony Stewart needs.

Tony Stewart speaks with Chip Ganassi of Chip Ganassi Racing before the start of the Loudon race. (Getty Images)

Stewart led 132 of what turned out to be 284 laps in the rain-shortened Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

But in the end he was stuck with a 13th-place finish when eventual winner Kurt Busch rolled the dice and didn't pit on the day's final round of stops and was in front when Mother Nature ended things prematurely.

The frustrating ending was just the latest chapter in a reoccurring story for the two-time series champion in a season full of disappointments.

Stewart had the car to beat in the season-opening Daytona 500 but when he and teammate Kyle Busch couldn't hook-up to draft in the final lap of the race, Stewart was forced to watch Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch roll by to a 1-2 finish.

Stewart was running second in the closing laps at Bristol until he was bumped out of the way by Kevin Harvick and limped home 14th.

Stewart was on his way to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway until a cut tire four laps from the finish ended his night and handed a win to Kasey Kahne.

Last week at Infineon Raceway, Stewart was once again knocked out by Harvick in the closing stages of the race while running second.

Now, New Hampshire can be added to the hit list.

"It had been just the oddest year I have ever seen for this race team," said Stewart as he sat dejected in his car while rain poured down on New Hampshire Motor Speedway. "It's just frustrating. If there was something we could do about it, we'd change it.

"None of the results this year is due to lack of effort. There's a percentage in this industry that's called luck and there's nothing we can do to change it. ... You have to have some of it on your side and we just haven't had it this year."

While Stewart has been successful in the Nationwide Series, winning for the fifth time in only seven starts this season Saturday at New Hampshire, he has endured a painful first half of the Sprint Cup season.

The trying times have many believing Stewart will indeed leave the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 ride for either another team or to start his own operation with the Haas-CNC Racing Team.

While reports surfaced last week that Stewart's partial ownership deal with the Haas-CNC team was set, going as far to name Newman as a potential teammate and various sponsors already in place. Stewart denied anything was set.

"I don't even know who I'm driving for yet," Stewart said over the weekend in Loudon. "It's kind of hard to pick a sponsor when you don't know who you're driving for yet, don't you think? It's kind of like, which comes first, the chicken or the egg?"

The news of Casey Mears' dismissal from Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the year opened another opportunity for Stewart if he indeed is looking to move from JGR. Already boasting an all-star cast of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the addition of Stewart to drive the team's No. 5 entry would give car owner Rick Hendrick a lineup unrivaled in NASCAR history.

"Absolutely, absolutely," Stewart said when asked if the open Hendrick seat has his interest. "You've got to. There's nobody in this garage area that's not going to look in that direction. You've got to look at that. "There's a lot of variables to look at still. We've got all the information, except for what's happening today. The good news is we've got time to look. We're going to have to make a decision at some point."

As teammate Kyle Busch continues to lead the points and is winning races on a regular basis, Stewart's struggles have him sitting ninth in the standings.

The series is in a stretch of races where in the past Stewart has excelled, but unless he can shake the wrath of Lady Luck for the rest of the summer he is in danger of possibly missing the Chase for the second time in three years.

Worrying about where he'll drive in 2009 most likely isn't helping lower the stress level either.

But after the view he's had from the No. 20 car he's driven his entire Sprint Cup career this season, you wouldn't blame Stewart for thinking a change of address might not be a bad thing.