Motorsports

Stewart wrestles victory from Rudd

Though gearbox problems forced him to drive one-handed late, Tony Stewart takes the Dodge/Save Mart 350.

SONOMA, Calif. - Tony Stewart found his way back to Victory Lane - and he did it with one hand.

With fourth gear gone and third gear going in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet late in Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Dodge/Save Mart 350, Stewart held his car in gear with one hand and steered with the other as he caught and passed Ricky Rudd for the lead and the win.

The 2002 series champion took the lead at Infineon Raceway when pole-sitter Jeff Gordon faltered with transmission trouble. It was Stewart's first victory since August at Watkins Glen, the only other road circuit on the Cup schedule.

This one was in doubt nearly to the end, though.

"I was just holding (the gearshift) with one hand in the end stages," Stewart said with a grin. "That was getting tough, especially when you're trying to pass Ricky Rudd."

Several cars, including those driven by veterans Rusty Wallace and Rudd, had pitted only a handful of laps before and stayed on the track when Stewart made his final stop under the seventh of eight cautions. Stewart restarted 14th on Lap 73 of the 110-lap event.

Rudd's most recent Cup win came here in June 2002 when he beat Stewart. This time, as Rudd passed Wallace for the lead on Lap 83, Stewart steadily closed in. He took second on Lap 85 and trailed Rudd by 2.7 seconds - about half the main straightaway.

But it was only a matter of time for Stewart, who has three second-place finishes this season. His No.20 Chevy passed Rudd's No.21 Ford with an inside move on the final turn - a slow, hairpin right-hander - on Lap 100.

Rudd got one more shot at the leader when the caution flag waved on Lap 103 for debris. But Stewart shot away on the restart on Lap 106 and went on to win by 2.266 seconds, about 20 car lengths.

Rudd barely held off reigning Cup series champion Kurt Busch for second before running out of gas just past the finish line. Wallace finished fourth, followed by Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler.

The victory was Stewart's 20th, his fourth in 13 starts on road courses and his second on Infineon's picturesque 1.99-mile, 11-turn circuit.

Rudd, whose best previous finish this season was seventh at Martinsville, said the strategy call by crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain, made the difference.

"Fatback had some really smart strategy and that got us track position," Rudd said. "But we expected more cautions. You could see the intensity level picking up and guys not being as kind to each other as they had been earlier.

"I didn't know if we'd have enough fuel or not. We ran out going up the hill after the checkered flag. You couldn't have planned it any more perfect."

As for trying to hold off Stewart, Rudd shrugged.

"I knew Tony was fast," he said. "I was just trying to hold him off the best I could and, obviously, we weren't able to do it. He kept coming and coming, inching up and inching up. It was just a matter of time. Then I started to make mistakes. We had nothing for Tony there at the end."

Stewart, who started seventh, had worked his way up to second and was pushing Gordon hard when the leader slowed after leading the first 32 laps. From that point on, Stewart was easily the fastest car on the track, leading three times for 39 laps.

"That was really too bad for Jeff and his guys," Stewart said. "We both had real good cars and it would have been fun to race him for the win."

[Last modified June 27, 2005, 01:06:04]