Tony Stewart became only the second driver/owner to win the Sprint All-Star race Saturday as he came around Turns 1 and 2 to pass Matt Kenseth with just two laps to go.
Stewart battled from mid pack, starting the four-segment 100-lap event from the 15th position. He finished the first 50-lap segment in the 9th spot and moved up one position at the conclusion of the second stage, which was 20-laps. He followed that up with a 6th place finish in the second of the two 20-lap stages.
Then, with only a 10-lap shootout remaining, Stewart worked his way through the field and at one point, he was pushed teamate Ryan Newman to the front but Newman got caught up in a three-car collision with Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. The crash took Gordon out of the race and crippled the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet.
That set the stage for a battle between Stewart, Kenseth and Busch for the win. After getting a great restart following the caution, Stewart drove up like he was going to make a pass on Kenseth but dipped below the white line getting loose, just as NASCAR threw another caution, this time for debris on the track.
With just five laps to Stewart restart third and battled around Busch to take on Kenseth. After making the pass on Kenseth, Stewart drove away and took home a cool $1 million.
Going through the final laps, Stewart said he couldn't believe Kenseth gave him the bottom of the track, considering he had just almost motored by the No. 17 previously.
"He ran up high on the restart and I was like man I can't believe he is giving me the bottom again," Stewart said. "Darien made a handful of changes on the final caution and man did it wake the car up."
On his teammate's misfortune, Stewart felt it should have been someone else in Victory Lane.
"Ryan Newman was probably the guy that should have been in Victory Lane tonight but he got a tire cut and had to come in and change it," he said. "The pan was to follow Ryan. I thought we could both get by the 17 and just go on. I was thinking man Ryan in gonna win this thing and I was just going to be happy wherever I ended up."
1 comment:
It was only a matter of time before Stewart and his team won a race. It was great to see the crew climb the fence. I'm sure that made it special for Tony. Good pictures. Enjoy Charlotte and send more pictures
Post a Comment