Stewart drafts to 1st win

By SHAWN A. AKERS
Published February 20, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH - Leave it to Tony Stewart to buck Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Busch Series dominance at Daytona International Speedway.

Stewart came from the middle of the pack in the final 10 laps, getting a push in the draft from his car owner, Kevin Harvick, to pass Earnhardt with less than two laps remaining to win his first Busch race in Saturday's Hershey's Take 5 300.

Stewart, who had 41 previous Busch starts without a victory, ended Earnhardt's win streak of three consecutive Busch openers. He is now the ninth driver to win a race in all three of NASCAR's elite divisions - Nextel Cup, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.

"Man, this thing was so good today," Stewart said of his No. 33 Chevy. "We got a run there and just went by (Earnhardt). The last guy you want to go around is your boss, but when I saw he was in second, I thought, "Man, one of us is going to win this race.' That's all I cared about. I got a push from behind on the backstretch earlier, and I'm not really sure who it was. But when that happened, it was like I got shot out of a cannon. It was just a day when everything worked out for us."

Harvick, a first-time Busch Series car owner, has Stewart in the car for five more races this season. "I had no idea where Tony came from," Harvick said. "On the last pit stop , we had another set of tires left, and Tony did, too, and apparently that made a difference. Tony's car was just incredible today."

NASCAR allows Busch Series teams only five sets of tires for practice, qualifying and the race, and it ended up costing Earnhardt, who didn't have a fresh set in the final laps of the race. He was forced to stay on the track following a caution on Lap 100 while the other leaders, including Stewart, pitted for at least two tires.

"I don't know everything about it, but in the Busch race you need a set on that last restart," Earnhardt said. "When your crew tells you that you're out of tires, that's pretty much it. I don't know if Tony's team had an extra set or what. It really wasn't that big of a deal anyway. They had a head of steam no matter what and would have passed me. I don't know where he came from, but he had an awesome car and I'm happy for him."

Stewart was cruising out in front on Lap 95 when he was bumped from behind by Carl Edwards and forced to the infield grass coming into Turn 1. Stewart recovered and stayed in the Top 10, but his crew had work to do during a pit stop to pull the right front fender away from the tire.

"It makes you feel good to know that you can save the car like that," Stewart said. "Carl didn't do anything wrong, that was just a product of restrictor-plate racing. The crew did an awesome job on the pit stop of pulling the fender out and getting it back together to where we could lead again."

Stewart was 17th following a restart with 15 laps remaining, but his Chevy quickly sped to the front.

On Lap 48, Shane Hmiel tapped Martin Truex from behind, causing him to slide up the track. Unfortunately, Earnhardt was right there and hit his Chance 2 Motorsports teammate from behind, causing slight damage to both cars.

Truex was 36th and Earnhardt 38th on a restart on Lap 52, but by Lap 67 both were in the Top 10. Earnhardt eventually took the lead on Lap 85, but Stewart regained it on Lap 86 and held on until the Lap 95 incident with Edwards.

Earnhardt finished third, followed by Truex, Kasey Kahne, Robby Gordon, Michael Waltrip, Greg Biffle, Reed Sorensen and Edwards.

[Last modified February 20, 2005, 00:54:14]