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Sprint Cup
CUP: Stewart Batting .500 In Chase
Chevy driver trails point leader Carl Edwards by three with two races remaining...
Tony Stewart took the lead with five laps to go and won Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, keeping the pressure on point leader Carl Edwards in the closing weeks of the Chase.
Stewart, who led the most laps Sunday, claimed the lead for the final time when Jeff Burton, who was trying to stretch a fuel load to the end of the race, ran out of gas and limped to the pits.
Edwards finished second after chasing Stewart over much of the final portion of the race. Also in the top five were Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.
The victory was Stewart’s fourth in the first eight races of the Chase. He was easily Sunday’s dominant driver, leading 173 of the 334 laps. Edwards led 14.
“We’re set on it,” Stewart said. “This is just the way it’s going to be. … You can’t count us out of this thing. We did everything we could do today.
“The guys had an awesome pit stop at the end. If we hadn’t had that pit stop, we wouldn’t be here.
“I don’t think we have to say anything. Our performance speaks for itself.”
Edwards said he was proud of his team “for hanging on and still having the point lead. It looks like it’s going to come down to Tony and I. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Although the top nine drivers technically remain in the running for the championship, Edwards and Stewart are now the prime combatants. Kevin Harvick is third, 33 points back, and Matt Kenseth is fourth, 38 behind.
Edwards congratulated Stewart on pit road as he was on the way to victory lane.
On one of the tour’s fastest tracks, the field ran 111 laps from the start of the race before the first caution flag appeared. Then there were 90 more green-flag laps before the second yellow. The relative lack of cautions put drivers in the pits during green-flag racing more often than they might have anticipated.
The second caution appeared when Brian Vickers, Geoffrey Bodine and Juan Pablo Montoya were involved in a crash.
A few laps later, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson slid out of turn four and onto the adjacent grassy apron, prompting caution three.
The cars of championship challenger Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin were slightly damaged during the fifth caution as Keselowski, who was blocked in his pit by Ryan Newman, backed out and hit Hamlin. Keselowski later apologized to Hamlin’s team but was critical of Newman for a blocking move that could have benefited Stewart, his teammate.
Although much of the race was a snoozer, tension heightened over the final 50 laps as Stewart and Edwards ran one-two.
Stewart gave up the lead to head to the pits with 34 laps remaining, and Edwards, in second, followed him down pit road. Each took four tires, and Stewart won the race off pit road to begin the closing portion of the race.
Burton did not pit with the rest of the field during the final green-flag pit round as his team decided to try to run the rest of the way. That strategy ended with five to go when Burton ran out of fuel, leaving first to Stewart.
Edwards didn’t have a shot at catching Stewart over the closing miles.
Sunday’s results officially eliminated Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Newman from contention for the championship. Busch, parked by NASCAR, did not participate in Sunday’s race and fell from seventh in points to 11th, one point out of 10th. The series’ top-10 drivers are honored during the season-ending awards banquet in Las Vegas, Busch’s hometown.
Michael McDowell, who substituted for Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota, finished 33rd. He said his car was loose all day and that the lack of cautions early in the race didn’t give the team opportunities for corrections. He started the race from the back of the field because of the driver change.
Busch watched the race from the top of the No. 18 pit box.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Stewart, who led the most laps Sunday, claimed the lead for the final time when Jeff Burton, who was trying to stretch a fuel load to the end of the race, ran out of gas and limped to the pits.
Edwards finished second after chasing Stewart over much of the final portion of the race. Also in the top five were Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.
The victory was Stewart’s fourth in the first eight races of the Chase. He was easily Sunday’s dominant driver, leading 173 of the 334 laps. Edwards led 14.
“We’re set on it,” Stewart said. “This is just the way it’s going to be. … You can’t count us out of this thing. We did everything we could do today.
“The guys had an awesome pit stop at the end. If we hadn’t had that pit stop, we wouldn’t be here.
“I don’t think we have to say anything. Our performance speaks for itself.”
Edwards said he was proud of his team “for hanging on and still having the point lead. It looks like it’s going to come down to Tony and I. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Although the top nine drivers technically remain in the running for the championship, Edwards and Stewart are now the prime combatants. Kevin Harvick is third, 33 points back, and Matt Kenseth is fourth, 38 behind.
Edwards congratulated Stewart on pit road as he was on the way to victory lane.
On one of the tour’s fastest tracks, the field ran 111 laps from the start of the race before the first caution flag appeared. Then there were 90 more green-flag laps before the second yellow. The relative lack of cautions put drivers in the pits during green-flag racing more often than they might have anticipated.
The second caution appeared when Brian Vickers, Geoffrey Bodine and Juan Pablo Montoya were involved in a crash.
A few laps later, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson slid out of turn four and onto the adjacent grassy apron, prompting caution three.
The cars of championship challenger Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin were slightly damaged during the fifth caution as Keselowski, who was blocked in his pit by Ryan Newman, backed out and hit Hamlin. Keselowski later apologized to Hamlin’s team but was critical of Newman for a blocking move that could have benefited Stewart, his teammate.
Although much of the race was a snoozer, tension heightened over the final 50 laps as Stewart and Edwards ran one-two.
Stewart gave up the lead to head to the pits with 34 laps remaining, and Edwards, in second, followed him down pit road. Each took four tires, and Stewart won the race off pit road to begin the closing portion of the race.
Burton did not pit with the rest of the field during the final green-flag pit round as his team decided to try to run the rest of the way. That strategy ended with five to go when Burton ran out of fuel, leaving first to Stewart.
Edwards didn’t have a shot at catching Stewart over the closing miles.
Sunday’s results officially eliminated Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Newman from contention for the championship. Busch, parked by NASCAR, did not participate in Sunday’s race and fell from seventh in points to 11th, one point out of 10th. The series’ top-10 drivers are honored during the season-ending awards banquet in Las Vegas, Busch’s hometown.
Michael McDowell, who substituted for Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota, finished 33rd. He said his car was loose all day and that the lack of cautions early in the race didn’t give the team opportunities for corrections. He started the race from the back of the field because of the driver change.
Busch watched the race from the top of the No. 18 pit box.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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