NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Stewart Found The Winning Groove
Tony Stewart made a a big jump in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted October 10, 2010   Fontana, CA
Tony Stewart's win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi MAX 400 at Auto Club Speedway vaults him to fifth place in the NASCAR Sprint Cut Series point standings. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Tony Stewart was the hunter Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. His next target might be Jimmie Johnson.

With the field in the Pepsi MAX 400 battling a slick race track and drivers searching for the best line as the surface changed, Stewart rode to the race victory by doing the best search.

“I was all over the track today trying to find different spots,” Stewart said. “It seemed like at the beginning of a run, and the later the day got, the more we could stay down on the bottom and be decent. I know Jimmie was running about a little over halfway up in three and four. It depended on how long we ran; if we ran long enough, we were all on the top in one and two.

“It is just having the confidence to hunt around when you need it to and then get out of your comfort zone and move to a different spot.”

Stewart had the perfect line in the race’s closing laps and held off Clint Bowyer and Johnson to win the race, his first victory at the two-mile track.

There was a two-lap shootout at the end, thanks to a late-race caution. That gave Johnson and Bowyer another shot at Stewart, but he motored away rather easily as the green flag fell and won without a serious challenge. Bowyer took second.

“I wasn’t sure whether I was happy about it when I saw the caution or worried about it,” Stewart said. “I think more worried than anything because Jimmie was coming. I just knew the restart was going to be critical, and if I could get through one and two and still have the lead off of two, then I would have a shot at it.

“We got a good restart picking the top there. Good thing Clint Bowyer was there to keep Jimmie honest and keep him busy and that just let us do our own thing the last lap and run our lines.”

Stewart said team crew chief Darian Grubb burned the midnight oil Saturday night to develop changes to the car for Sunday’s race.

“He told me this morning he found something that he was confident was going to be quite a bit different and better than yesterday, and he for sure didn’t disappoint on that,” Stewart said. “It was a big key.”

More importantly in the big picture, the victory boosted Stewart from 10th (and largely forgotten) in Sprint Cup points to fifth. He trailed Johnson, the leader, by 127 entering the race but cut that gap to 107 with six races remaining.
Now, Stewart said, he is free to go racing and see what happens in the long term.

“It’s a situation where we were at and as many points as we were out and have been out since day one, we have the flexibility to just look forward and not worry about if we take a gamble and it doesn’t work,” he said. “We still have to be mindful of it, obviously. But the penalty for us isn’t that great when you’re 10th in points. You can take a chance, and if it doesn’t work out, what are you losing, two spots?
Tony Stewart (Left), driver of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi Max 400. (Photo: Getty Images)

“I don’t care between 10th and 12th in points, it doesn’t matter to me. Neither one of them are acceptable. If that’s what we get, that’s what we'll take, but it’s worth taking the gamble to make ourselves better.”

After the win, Stewart sent along best wishes to friends Irish Saunders and his son, Eric, a motocross racer who was injured recently, and to Shane Hmiel, a former NASCAR driver who was critically injured in qualifying for a USAC race last week.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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