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By JOANNE KORTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2001
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway is near and dear to Tony Stewart's heart, but the fabled 2.5-mile track doesn't seem to care much for him.
Stewart, who grew up about 45 minutes from Indianapolis, saw a likely top-five finish disappear when he smacked the wall in Turn 2 with 23 laps to go Sunday in the Brickyard 400. Stewart finished 17th. "Just had a bad day," he said.
Crew chief Greg Zipadelli elaborated on the finish and his driver's mood.
"He is just like me and the rest of our 22 guys here, disgusted and frustrated," Zipadelli said. "We had a top-five car all day. We should have been there. We got a top-20 finish -- that's not acceptable this late in the season. It wasn't our day."
Stewart has failed to win in five Indianapolis 500 starts, three Brickyard 400s and two International Race of Champions events. On Saturday, he was driven into the wall in the closing laps of the IROC series finale by Bobby Labonte, who won the race and claimed the title by 10 points -- over Stewart.
MYSTERIOUS AILMENT: Ricky Rudd's championship hopes took a hit when he was forced to the garage on Lap 28 with mechanical problems. He returned to the track, but finished 39th.
"It threw a fan belt off for some reason," Rudd said. "It's kind of a crazy thing to have happen. The first thing I knew was that I lost my power steering. Then I happened to look down at the water-temperature gauge and it was off the scale."
HARD CHARGER: Rusty Wallace came within a piece of debris of possibly winning from the 37th starting position. Wallace, who made up track position with an early two-tire pit stop, was among five cars that could have avoided a pit stop in the final 10 laps had the race stayed green.
A caution for debris on Lap 131 altered that plan, but Wallace finished fourth for his 10th top 10 of 2001 and seventh in eight races at Indy.
"We had it in the gas tank," Wallace said. "It looked like we were going to win the thing on fuel mileage. But going from 37th to fourth, that's a good run for us."
DODGE UPDATE: Everyone was eager to see whether 2 extra inches on the front air dam would be enough to put Dodge in victory lane for the first time this season.
Well, almost.
Runner-up Sterling Marlin was the first of three Dodge's in the top 10, with Ward Burton sixth and Bill Elliott eighth. Evernham Motorsports teammates Elliott and Casey Atwood ran 1-2 early in the race, but Atwood finished 41st after overheating.
"I think we were just as good at Pocono last week," Ray Evernham said. "I don't think we're really had a chance to work on (the rule change) yet."
FINISHED TOO SOON: Rookie Andy Houston has finished last in his past three races. Houston lost control and backed into the wall in Turn 2, with Mark Martin, Robert Pressley and Matt Kenseth.
PIT STOPS: The win was the 56th of Jeff Gordon's career, fourth this season. Dale Jarrett is the other four-time winner. ... Gordon's 27th starting spot was the highest for a Brickyard winner.
1. (27) Jeff Gordon, Chevy, 160, $428,452, 130.790 mph.
2. (8) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 160, $297,985.
3. (26) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 160, $233,300.
4. (37) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 160, $235,140.
5. (34) Kurt Busch, Ford, 160, $190,300.
6. (19) Ward Burton, Dodge, 160, $176,720.
7. (13) Steve Park, Chevy, 160, $183,078.
8. (2) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 160, $161,738.
9. (7) Ricky Craven, Ford, 160, $126,610.
10. (36) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevy, 160, $161,833.
11. (11) Kevin Harvick, Chevy, 160, $165,112.
12. (6) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 160, $153,587.
13. (1) Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 160, $134,130.
14. (30) John Andretti, Dodge, 160, $140,087.
15. (15) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 160, $162,187.
16. (22) Jeff Burton, Ford, 160, $146,006.
17. (9) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 160, $119,060.
18. (16) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 160, $139,644.
19. (35) Terry Labonte, Chevy, 160, $131,990.
20. (20) Joe Nemechek, Chevy, 160, $130,330.
21. (31) Jeff Green, Chevy, 160, $94,160.
22. (25) Mark Martin, Ford, 160, $137,011.
23. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 160, $119,146.
24. (10) Todd Bodine, Ford, 159, $93,935.
25. (14) Michael Waltrip, Chevy, 159, $100,535.
26. (29) Jason Leffler, Dodge, 159, $104,400.
27. (39) Bobby Hamilton, Chevy, 159, $98,710.
28. (40) Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 159, $100,685.
29. (32) Hut Stricklin, Ford, 159, $86,110.
30. (42) Robby Gordon, Chevy, 159, $121,434.
31. (5) Ryan Newman, Ford, 159, $87,460.
32. (17) Rich Bickle, Chevy, 159, $84,610.
33. (33) Stacy Compton, Dodge, 159, $86,860.
34. (28) Ron Hornaday Jr., Pontiac, 158, $84,110.
35. (21) Robert Pressley, Ford, 158, $91,835.
36. (43) Buckshot Jones, Dodge, 158, $91,735.
37. (18) Brett Bodine, Ford, 158, $83,635.
38. (41) Jerry Nadeau, Chevy, 135, crash, $91,535.
39. (4) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 107, $114,982.
40. (24) Dave Blaney, Dodge, 100, crash, $83,335.
41. (3) Casey Atwood, Dodge, 38, overheating, $100,735.
42. (23) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 2, crash, $91,135.
43. (12) Andy Houston, Ford, 1, crash, $83,281.