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Sprint Cup
CUP: Stewart Revives Chase Hopes With Victory
Tony Stewart won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi MAX 400 at Auto Club Speedway...
Tony Stewart is showered in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi MAX 400 at Auto Club Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Tony Stewart held off Clint Bowyer in a two-lap shootout and won Sunday's Pepsi MAX 400 at Auto Club Speedway, returning his name to the Chase conversation.
Stewart’s win, coupled with numerous problems experienced by other Chasers, boosted him five positions in the standings to fifth.
Standings leader Jimmie Johnson stayed in front with a third-place run, boosting his point lead over second-place Denny Hamlin to 36 with six races remaining. Kevin Harvick stayed in third place with a seventh-place finish.
Jeff Gordon rallied from a late-race pit-road speeding penalty to finish ninth and jumped a position in points to fourth, 85 points behind Johnson.
Stewart trails Johnson by 107 entering next weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Johnson will be favored. The victory was Stewart’s first in 19 tries at ACS.
“We’re doing everything we can do,” Stewart said. “We’re going to need some help, though. But I’m proud of these guys. They refuse to give up or back down.”
The finish of the race was set up by a debris caution with 18 laps to go. A final round of pit stops put Paul Menard and Regan Smith out front when their teams changed only two tires, but the race’s main contenders – Bowyer, Stewart, Mark Martin, Johnson and Hamlin were immediately behind when the green flag flew with 13 to go.
Stewart charged to the front and passed Smith quickly, but the finish was impacted by another caution when David Ragan drove up the track into Kurt Busch, sparking the day’s biggest wreck with seven laps remaining.
The green flew with two laps to go and Stewart, Johnson, Kahne, Bowyer and Martin in the top five. Stewart charged into a comfortable lead on the first of the two laps, and Bowyer outdueled Johnson for second.
It was not a fun day for several Chase contenders.
In addition to Kurt Busch's late-race problems, Greg Biffle fell out of the race early with a blown engine, and his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, retreated to the garage a few laps later with ignition problems. He returned to the track and finished the race in 34th. Biffle was 41st.
Kyle Busch made a pair of stops at mid-race to replace a ventilation hose and later fell out of the race with a sour engine. He finished 35th.
With 44 laps to go, Gordon’s day was tainted when he was penalized for speeding on pit road, a malady that also nailed Harvick, although Harvick rebounded well. Gordon sliced through a logjam of traffic to return to ninth at the finish.
Hamlin finished eighth despite starting the race at the rear of the field because of a transmission problem.
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.
Stewart’s win, coupled with numerous problems experienced by other Chasers, boosted him five positions in the standings to fifth.
Standings leader Jimmie Johnson stayed in front with a third-place run, boosting his point lead over second-place Denny Hamlin to 36 with six races remaining. Kevin Harvick stayed in third place with a seventh-place finish.
Jeff Gordon rallied from a late-race pit-road speeding penalty to finish ninth and jumped a position in points to fourth, 85 points behind Johnson.
Stewart trails Johnson by 107 entering next weekend’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Johnson will be favored. The victory was Stewart’s first in 19 tries at ACS.
“We’re doing everything we can do,” Stewart said. “We’re going to need some help, though. But I’m proud of these guys. They refuse to give up or back down.”
The finish of the race was set up by a debris caution with 18 laps to go. A final round of pit stops put Paul Menard and Regan Smith out front when their teams changed only two tires, but the race’s main contenders – Bowyer, Stewart, Mark Martin, Johnson and Hamlin were immediately behind when the green flag flew with 13 to go.
Stewart charged to the front and passed Smith quickly, but the finish was impacted by another caution when David Ragan drove up the track into Kurt Busch, sparking the day’s biggest wreck with seven laps remaining.
The green flew with two laps to go and Stewart, Johnson, Kahne, Bowyer and Martin in the top five. Stewart charged into a comfortable lead on the first of the two laps, and Bowyer outdueled Johnson for second.
It was not a fun day for several Chase contenders.
In addition to Kurt Busch's late-race problems, Greg Biffle fell out of the race early with a blown engine, and his Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, retreated to the garage a few laps later with ignition problems. He returned to the track and finished the race in 34th. Biffle was 41st.
Kyle Busch made a pair of stops at mid-race to replace a ventilation hose and later fell out of the race with a sour engine. He finished 35th.
With 44 laps to go, Gordon’s day was tainted when he was penalized for speeding on pit road, a malady that also nailed Harvick, although Harvick rebounded well. Gordon sliced through a logjam of traffic to return to ninth at the finish.
Hamlin finished eighth despite starting the race at the rear of the field because of a transmission problem.
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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