Stewart takes the checkers in Camping World 300

Tony Stewart celebrates winning the season-opener Camping World 300 in the Nationwide Series event at Daytona International Speedway. Photo by Jerry Jordan

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. — Tony Stewart’s day has been full of ups and downs — this morning the team lost two cars when he and Ryan Newman collided after a blown tire in Sprint Cup practice — and now, he finds himself in Gatorade Victory Lane as the winner of the Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway.

“Yeah, I was ecstatic about it,” Stewart said. “The first time I've got to drive for Mr. Hendrick, Lance (McGrew, crew chief), all the guys at Hendrickcars.com. Just an unbelievable run today. We never really got to run with a huge pack yesterday, or the last two days in practice. I wasn't quite sure exactly what we were going to have today. We had a great start to the race, got ourselves in the top pack there, were able to stay in the lead draft. We were a little bit free, but we were really good about third back. We got up and led some laps before that first caution, and came out and Lance did a great job all day of making changes to the car to where toward the end we finally got it snugged up enough to where I could do what I needed to do.”

Stewart was running well early in the race, proving that his No. 80 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet was strong but then he found himself on pit road taking tires after caution on Lap 91. The move put him well back in the pack but nine laps later, he had already moved up to 9th position on the track. With 10 laps to go, Stewart was in 3rd and by Lap 114 he had taken over the lead from Carl Edwards, who ended up in second place.

“I thought I made the worst call/move of the year, and was going to get that award for coming into the pits with 28 to go,” Stewart said. “It actually ended up saving us at the end. We got good track position, got ourselves back up to third, got track position, and restarted second.

“Fortunately, we were able to get through the pack like that because we had a good car, we could run through the middle in times that guys couldn't go through the middle three-wide. (The car) just drove good and I could roll through there by myself and not have to have the push when we were three-wide and make ground. Thanks to those guys (in the engine department) for giving us a great engine package to let us run up there like that.”

Edwards said after the race that he was happy with his finish and it gives him a leg up on his run for a second Nationwide Series Championship. “This is a good start for us. I think he's going to be really tough. I think that's all there is to it. I think those guys are extremely good. I think the owner's championship can be any of the teams running for it. We've seen how tough that can be, too. We just have to do what we did today over and over and gain as many points as we can.”

Following Edwards across the start/finish line was Clint Bowyer, the defending champion in the Nationwide Series. Bowyer said he had a fast racecar and was frustrated that he didn’t win.

“That's the frustration,” Bowyer said. “I mean, it was surprisingly fast. We were really, really loose. You drive the hell out of 'em. You really have to.  Got to get up on the wheel, keep it underneath of you. When you don't win, you're bummed.”

But neither Edwards nor Bowyer were in the catbird’s seat going into the final lap of the race. That spot belonged to Kyle Busch.

For the second day in a row, Busch was in second place for half of the final lap of the race. Last night Busch took a shot at Todd Bodine heading into Turn 3 of the final lap of the Camping World Truck Series race and ended up in second place after almost spinning. Today, he took a shot at Stewart and ended up finishing the race in 4th place.

Bowyer said he saw the battle shaping up but thought that Busch would have done something different than the move he tried on Friday night. But then again, it is Daytona.

“Yeah, I mean, I knew Kyle was going to try to do something. I really thought he'd try to change it up from what he did last night that didn't work,” Bowyer said inside the Daytona Media Center. “But he did the same thing. Didn't work again (laughter from the media). But, you know, that's the thing.  I don't know that I agree with just going in there and making the decision to try to hit 'em hard enough that, you know, it knocks them up the racetrack. I think even if you did make it, you know, spun him out or whatever, it would be a pretty bad pass.

“You know, I was anticipating something. I mean, we were fourth in line there. I needed him to break loose and try to get doubled up somehow so I could try to make a move, but it is what it is.”

Busch was unavailable for comment after the race. After taking the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota to the garage, he jumped out of the car and sprinted to his hauler.

A short time later, his crew chief, Joel Weidman, gave a statement to the Toyota Motorsports PR team.

“It was just typical Daytona,” Weidman said. “We had a good car all day, we just didn’t get the breaks at the end. Kyle (Busch) did an awesome job to put the car in position to win. It just didn’t shake out the way we wanted it to. He did everything he could but wreck Tony (Stewart) in the final corner and it just didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to. A good effort by all of the boys and Interstate Batteries. It’s an honor to have them down here in Daytona, just wish we could’ve been a couple of spots better.”

Starting at 5th place and filling out the rest of the Top 10 were: Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Jason Keller and Matt Kenseth.

11th Kevin Harvick

12th David Reutimann

13th Joe Nemechek

14th Michael McDowell

15th Brendan Gaughan

16th Kenny Wallace

17th D.J. Kennington

18th Mark Green

19th Mike Wallace

20th Joey Logano

21st John Wes Townsley

22nd Brad Keselowski

23rd Danny O’Quinn Jr.

24th Michael Waltrip

25th Brian Keselowski

26th Eric McClure

27th Jeff green

28th Mike Bliss

29th Mike Harmon

30th David Green

31st Tony Raines

32nd Scott Wimmer

33rd Jason Lefler

34th Robert Richardson Jr.

35th Michael Annett

36th Donnie Neuenberger

37th Brandon Witt

38th Kertus Davis

39th Mogran Shepherd

40th Justin Allgaier

41st Kenny Hendrick

42nd Steve Wallace

43rd Scott Lagasse Jr.

PHOTO: Tony Stewart wins the Camping World 300 at Daytona

PHOTOS: Camping World 300 pretty clean, so far

Just stopping back by the media center to upload a few pics. Only one crash and one spin to this point has kept caution flags down. With 78 laps in the books, Jason Keller is leading in the No. 27 car but that won't last long as Kyle Busch is challenging for the lead.

Weather looking ominous for 51st Daytona 500

I stole this from Accuweather. I just hope they are wrong.

Goodyear defends itself after Stewart tongue-lashing

Less than an hour after Tony Stewart ripped Goodyear for poor tire performance, a representative from Goodyear came into the Daytona Media Center to defend the company’s honor and shoot down speculation that this year’s Daytona 500 will be fraught with tire failures.

It’s no secret that Tony Stewart has a ‘love/hate” relationship with Goodyear. That’s right, he loves to hate them. And that hate intensified after Ryan Newman blew a tire in final practice for the Daytona 500 and collected Stewart on the ensuing slide up into the outside wall. Stewart said the issue was with Goodyear’s tires and then gave the company a wicked tongue-lashing.

Not having any of it, Goodyear’s Stu Grant, General Manager of Worldwide Racing, told the media that Newman’s blown tire was not related to substandard construction.

“We know that the tires had 12 laps on it. We know that it show no evidence of any type of wear, it shows no evidence of any type of blistering. And it showed no evidence of any type of abuse,” Grant said. “What we did see is a clear hole through the tread and both belts in the pieces that we took off the car. So, at this time the evidence makes us think that this would be a classic case of a clearly punctured right rear.”

Neither Stewart nor his representatives were immediately available to respond to Goodyear’s assertions because Stewart was preparing for the Nationwide Series Camping World 300.

UPDATE: Stewart going to backup car, Newman to his second

This was the car Tony Stewart had hoped to use in the 51st Daytona 500 — that changed on Saturday after crash in final practice. Photo by Jerry Jordan.

It is said that history is destined to repeat itself and it looks as if that was the case Saturday morning during the final practice for the Sprint Cup Series as a blown tire on Ryan Newman's No. 39 Army Chevrolet blew out causing him to spin and collect teammate and team owner Tony Stewart.

Stewart made the mandatory trip to the infield care center and then headed back to the garage to see just how bad the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet was torn up.

"It was a Goodyear right rear tire failure," Stewart said after the crash. "The same thing everybody has been talking about all week — failures of Goodyear. I guess it part of their marketing technique. The more we talk about them the more press they get but I guess they forgot it's supposed to be in a positive way."

According to a representative from Stewart's PR machine, he will be forced to use the car used in last week's Budweiser Shootout event.

"The 14 is using its Bud Shootout car that finished third," said Mike Arning, Stewart-Haas Racing's Director Public Relations. "It ran in Daytona 2008 with Scott Riggs and in the Fall 2007 race at Talladega. The 39 car is a dedicated superspeedway car that had three test in 2007 and made one Daytona attempt. That was designated as the 14 cars backup in case the 14 wrecked but when the primary car came out of the Shootout unscathed and finishing third we went to it. So, that car will be wrapped and used as the U.S. Army car for the 500 and the 14 will be wrapped in the Office Depot colors."

Arning said the car Newman is now using was originally slated as the "communal backup" for SHR.

As for Stewart's teammate, it will be his second backup car of Daytona Speedweeks after he wrecked in qualifying and then suffered the fate of a blown tire that sent him into the wall and collected Stewart in the process. Newman also blew an engine earlier in the week.

PHOTOS: NextEra Energy at Daytona International Speedway

The Onion takes the checkers at Daytona

Todd Bodine won the NextEra Energy 250 season opener in the Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, holding off a hard-charging Kyle Busch on the final lap.

"Man, I don't know what to think. It's just incredible. Terry (Cook) hit it right. It's the truck," Bodine said in reference to a comment that Cook made about this being the truck Bodine has driven to four-straight superspeedway wins. "That thing, it drives so good. Especially here at Daytona, it's all about getting your truck to drive good, not bounce through the bumps, not be loose, not be tight. That truck just does whatever we ask it to do."

Going down the backstretch Busch gave Bodine a shot to the bumper but it ended up getting Busch's No. 51 Miccosukee Toyota Tundra loose in the process. That allowed Bodine to coast the rest of the way to the finish line.

TMS's Eddie Gossage share his views on health of sport

By Jerry Jordan

Motorsports Editor

One might think seeing Speedway Motorsports Inc.’s Eddie Gossage cruising through the Daytona media center could only occur in some sort of alternate reality, video-game world — especially since he works for the biggest rival of track owner International Speedway Corp.

But guess what? Gossage did stop by the media center for a few minutes on Thursday and he was on-tilt. Gossage said he was gunning for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“It’s a throw-down. But I think I can take him,” Gossage said. “He’s younger than me but I am bigger than him. He’s wiry.”

“When it was pointed out that Junior had a posse, Gossage shot back with a laugh, “He’s does but I’ve got a .38 in my pocket.”

Not to worry NASCAR fans, Gossage isn’t out to hurt the sport’s fare-haired boy — actually the two are good friends and if I had to bet the latest round of verbal sparring between the two is just a way for Gossage to sell tickets to the Samsung 500 in April.

For those that missed the verbal banter that has been going on behind the scenes over the past week, Gossage said that drivers could help fans face tough economic times by reducing the prices of their souvenirs and other swag.

Dale Jr. fired back that Gossage must have forgotten that Bruton Smith, Gossage’s boss, owned half of the company selling those souvenirs. And so began the most recent banter between the two.

It’s all in good fun,” Gossage confirmed. “I think we are a lot alike. He likes to poke at me and I poke back at him. There’s not a lot of people that will poke back at him and I think he likes that. We have a good relationship. I have known him since he was 12, so we go back a long ways.

“I expect Junior to say things and that is kind of what makes it fun, as long as, nobody’s feelings get truly hurt. But I agree with Bruton, we all need to do more. Promoters, drivers, the sanctioning body, sponsors. We all have to do more because we are all in this together.

“Seriously, he is the best thing we’ve got going. And he is the quickest fix for what ails our sports if he wins Sunday and runs well and is in contention for the championship.”

Gossage said no one can deny that NASCAR is feeling the affects of the nation’s economic downturn but he believes things will get better — and he said some of it has to do with how Earnhardt Jr. performs.

“Junior said something very interesting,” Gossage said. “The truth is, that the best thing that could happen in this sport to help in these tough times, right now, is for Junior to have a great year. I would love to see him win Sunday. He is the best thing that we have going.”

Just what is it that makes Junior so important to NASCAR? Well, a lot of things, according to Gossage.

“He’s got the magical last name and two he keeps it real. He’s still the same old Dale Jr. he always was,” he said. “He likes hanging out with his buddies and drinking beer and carrying on and they all identify with that. You know, I just think they see themselves in him and they saw themselves in his dad.”

And what about the other drivers in the sport? Aren’t they important? Don’t they make a difference? What can they do to bring NASCAR out of its slump?

“They need to beat him,” Gossage said. “And they have been for the past few years.”

Gossage also repeated something Dale Jr. said last year in the media center at Texas Motor Speedway — that NASCAR has been living in excess and now you see things in the garage like drivers working on their own racecars.

“It is probably a good thing and here is where I quote this noted economist Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said, ‘we have been living in a time of excess,’” Gossage replied. “And this particular market correction is probably a good thing. If fans see their favorite driver sitting by the motel pool or run into them at a truck stop on the way back home from a race, that is probably a good thing. I don’t believe we need 20 guys with graduate engineering degrees working on a racecar. We need mechanics working on the racecars. We need racecar drivers trying to figure out how to make them go faster.”

Is there hope? Can a sport that likely consumes more fossil fuel in a single weekend than any other sport does in its entire season survive? Can the track operators expect fans to fork out the cash to buy tickets when many are having trouble paying their mortgage? What about other sports? Aren’t they hurting? Since many NASCAR fans buy their tickets a year in advance, aren’t poor tickets sales in other sports an ominous sign that the worst is yet to come?

“It’s going to be tough,” Gossage said. “But I don’t think we are any more affected than any other sport. I was talking to the ticket manager for an NFL team on Wednesday and he just got back from a ticketing conference that had people there from the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, motorsports and the circus — you know the circus is a real good barometer. Everybody is feeling this and the general rule of thumb is that it can be, as much as, a 25 percent impact on most of these leagues and whatnot. I think we are a little more fortunate in that we don’t play 40 or 80 home games a year like some of the other professional sports do. But I also think that because our venues are so big that if you are down 10 percent, you are really going to see it and there is going to be a big hole in the stands. Whereas, if you are down 10 percent in a 20,000-seat arena, it is easy for 2,000 sets to be lost and you won’t see it as much. It’s a two edged sword and it’s going to be a tough year so we have to work hard.”

Gossage said that his track is doing alright, considering the circumstances. Ticket sales are down but TMS is offering specials at both ends of the price-point spectrum. For the well-heeled NASCAR fan, the new Burnout Alley overlooking the track along the TMS backstretch offers luxury motor coach accommodations at just $15,000 a year. They come with all the hook-ups for the motor coach, plus a host of other amenities.

Gossage said there were 47 spots available for the 2009 season and already 25 have been sold.

For the rest of the world, there is a $20 ticket available for the Sprint Cup Series race on April 5.

“We are offering a $20 reserved-seat,” he said. “My God, you can bring in your own cooler and you can park for free. So, for 20-bucks you can truly go to the race, have a reserved seat and see Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and all of the rest. You can bring a cooler in so you can drink all day long and when you go home you have only spent 20-bucks. That’s a steal and nobody else in pro sports is doing that. And that is where our sport deserves credit because we are not the only one doing that — a lot of race. These are backstretch seats and we are better than 60-percent sold out since we announced that so that tells us there is a price-point issue out there with the public and it’s working.

“We are down like everybody else but we will still have one of the bigger crowds of the year, probably a Top 5 crowd and I am proud of that. But it is one of those things — it’s a fact — everybody is down. I don’t know a business that is not affected right now.”

So, is there something that NASCAR and the sport’s upper echelon can do to help? Is there something else that needs to be addressed?

“I think we have become too corporatized,” Gossage said.  “It’s no slam on anybody but I think the drivers are trying too hard to please their sponsors. And from working on the sponsorship side, we never told our drivers you can’t say this and you can’t say that. But I think they put limits on themselves and constrain themselves because they think that is the right thing to do. I will use Jimmie Johnson as an example. A guy that I like a lot and a guy that I personally know is a blast to be around — great personality, lots of fun — but you are never going to see that publicly. And that’s a governor that he kind of places on himself and I would encourage him not to do that. In fact, Bruton and I both said that he could help things really quickly if he would just get out of the racecar and slap somebody. And Bruton said he could slap him and then he said, he could slap Eddie. Then someone asked Jimmie about it and he said, “My dad taught me that we don’t throw the first punch we throw the last punch, so I guess Eddie needs to throw the first punch.” Then he said, “oh my God, he’s gonna hit.” So, I am looking of for him.

“I expect Jimmie Johnson has a great shot of being the first to win four championships in a row and that would be an amazing fete. I don’t think he gets near the credit for winning three-straight.”

Asked what the craziest thing that Gossage has ever seen Johnson do, he was mum.

“I am not going to tell you,” he said. “I am going to respect his privacy.”

As you might expect the following question was directed at Gossage’s craziest stunt ever, to which he fired back, “I am not going to tell you that either …”

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Gatorade Duels set field for 51st Daytona 500

By Jerry Jordan

Motorsports Editor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fl. — Jeff Gordon won the first Gatorade Duel 150, on Thursday, possibly sending a message that he is on the comeback trail after not winning a single event in 2008 — not even a Duel race. That’s big considering he has won a Duel race three out of the last four years. This was his fifth win in a Duel event — his first came during his rookie-season in 1993.

“It feels fantastic,” a very excited Jeff Gordon told the media after the race. “We talked before the race. Doesn't matter if it's a qualifying race, the Daytona 500, you know, any confidence builder and momentum that we can get is a positive. You know, I'm just really excited about this race team this year.  Not only do we have a new paint scheme, I think Steve Letarte here did a fantastic job over the off-season just fine-tuning the cars, the team, personnel, engineering.

“I think we got some neat things in store for ourselves, not just here at Daytona, but moving forward, as well. It was a great race out there today. The car was driving well. It was a lot of fun dicing it up with Martin at the beginning, and then with Tony and Jimmie, McMurray, a bunch of them. I can't even remember all the things that went on there. It was a great race. I hope the fans enjoyed it, because it was fun from where I was sitting, not just because I went to Victory Lane.”

The second race looked like it was going to be won by Gordon’s newest Teammate Mark Martin but Kyle Busch saw differently. Busch pulled away on the last lap after taking the lead just three laps before relegating Martin to second place.

For Busch, the win could put some momentum back into a team that dominated in the early part of 2008 but threw out the parachute in the final 10 races of the season last year.

“It felt really good,” Busch said. “This whole team has really worked hard.  This whole off-season everybody has. From where we ended last year, it felt like it was pretty cool to start off the season this way.

“We ran good at Daytona here last year. Same thing in the Duel race, as well as in the 500. We gave one away in the Duel.  Gave one away in the 500. Maybe we can steal them back this year. We won in the July race. I felt like today the car was driving pretty decent. We've been working on trying to get the thing a little better over the bumps. I've been telling Steve and the guys it looks terrible on TV. It bounces all over the place.  But it's fast that way. For some reason it just likes to have that feel. Whatever it is we got, it's pretty special. You know, car's fast. So, whatever's fast works.”

That begs the questions, is Busch sending a message to the other 43 drivers in the garage that he back to true form? Maybe.

“Not here in Daytona,” Busch said. “You know, the statement's more so when we get to California, Vegas, Atlanta, that we'll be a force to be reckoned with. Daytona we knew we'd run strong. We felt confident about that. Our restrictor plate package is good. Toyota has done a wonderful job for us.”

With the Gatorade Duels out of the way the field is finally set in the wacky qualifying style of the Daytona 500. And for the most part, one could conclude that Hendrick Motor Sports will be the real force to be reckoned with. That’s because four of the Top 10 starters for the Daytona 500 are using Hendrick engines — three are Hendrick cars. And that number could have been higher had Dale Earnhardt Jr. not blown a tire on the backstretch and overshot his pit stall during the second Gatorade Duel 150. Junior still fought back to finish seventh — he starts the Daytona 500 in 14^th position.

Here’s the starting line-up for the 51^st Daytona 500:

Row 1

Martin Truex Jr.

Mark Martin

Row 2

Jeff Gordon

Kyle Busch

Row 3

Tony Stewart

Brian Vickers

Row 4

Jimmie Johnson

Juan Pablo Montoya

Row 5

Joey Logano

Denny Hamlin

Row 6

Aric Almirola

Bobby Labonte

Row 7

Kurt Busch

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Row 8

Kasey Kahne

Carl Edwards

Row 9

Scott Riggs

Jeremy Mayfield

Row 10

Paul Menard

AJ Allmendinger

Row 11

Jamie McMurray

Clint Bowyer

Row 12

Marcos Ambrose

David Stremme

Row 13

Casey Mears

Jeff Burton

Row 14

Michael Waltrip

David Reutimann

Row 15

Sam Hornish Jr.

Elliott Sadler

Row 16

Robby Gordon

Kevin Harvick

Row 17

David Ragan

Reed Sorenson

Row 18

Greg Biffle

Ryan Newman

Row 19

John Andretti

Scott Speed

Row 20

Matt Kenseth

Bill Elliott

Row 21

Travis Kvapil

Regan Smith

Row 22

Terry Labonte