Motorsports

NASCAR's Stewart continues his climb

After three wins in four Nextel Cup races, his new celebration is catching on.

By wire services
Published July 18, 2005

LOUDON, N.H. - Tony Stewart climbed the fence in front of the grandstand and stood atop the flagstand in what has become his new victory celebration.

And a crowd of 100,000 at New Hampshire International Speedway roared its approval Sunday as he grabbed the checkered flag and pumped his fist in the air - just as he did July 2 after a victory at Daytona.

He called himself fat then, and this time heaped on more self-deprecating humor.

"Trust me, I'll be glad to be panting like a dog when I get up there," he said. "It's something they like and I'll keep doing it for them."

Stewart said he needs a personal trainer.

"Yes, I'm still too old and too fat to be doing that stuff," the 34-year-old driver said. "I'm probably going to fall and bust my butt before it's over. I'm glad they let me go through the gate instead of climbing back down."

Stewart, who started 13th, won for the third time in four races, passing at will inside and outside in a show of dominance in the New England 300.

"It was as good as I thought," Stewart said of his car. "This thing was awesome from the start. As soon we got to the front, I knew we had a great car, but you don't know what they're showing."

The win was Stewart's second on this track and 22nd of his career. He also won in Sonoma, Calif., and Daytona, and has five consecutive top-five finishes.

"We feel like we're on top of the world," crew chief Greg Zipadelli said.

Stewart began a run of dominance after passing Ryan Newman on Lap 51 of 300. But Kurt Busch, trying to become the only driver to win three consecutive times on the track after sweeping the races last year, got by with 60 laps to go.

Stewart reclaimed the lead after he and Busch banged twice five laps later. But he said he wasn't as dominant late in the race because the other teams began adjusting and closing the gap.

The most defining moment of the race came when Stewart moved from fourth to second on Lap 68 by passing Rusty Wallace on the outside and cutting inside Kyle Busch, Kurt's brother, just a few hundred feet later.

Race leader Scott Wimmer nearly became Stewart's third conquest of the lap. Wimmer barely kept the lead at the line, then Stewart went by less than a half-lap later.

His Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet led 232 of 300 laps and beat the Ford of Kurt Busch by 0.851 seconds. It was the eighth top-10 finish in the past 11 races for Stewart, third in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings.

"Tony was just too strong today," said Kurt Busch, who overcame a spin on Lap 35. "It's good we had a car that could come back."

Points leader Jimmie Johnson, twice a winner here in 2003, finished 13th. He leads fifth-place finisher Greg Biffle by 77 points in the series standings. Stewart is 85 points back.

Third in the $5.1-million race was Stewart's teammate, Bobby Labonte. Next came the Chevy of Kyle Busch and Biffle's Ford.

Stewart, the 2002 Cup champion, got his sixth career victory here in July 2000. A year earlier - while seeking the first win of his career - rookie Stewart ran out of gas while holding a substantial lead with less than three laps remaining.

Stewart averaged 102.608 mph in a race slowed 10 times by 49 laps of caution - including once for rain, which also delayed the start by 24 minutes. There were 14 lead changes among nine drivers.

As for the fence climbing, Stewart says it's now officially his "signature" move, claiming that though Helio Castroneves climbs fences after victories, too, the IndyCar racer's "Spider-Man" routine doesn't include going all the way to the top.

"I don't care how high the fence is, I am going to do it every time I get out of the car after a win," Stewart said. "That's just the coolest thing to see."

[Last modified July 18, 2005, 01:38:10]