Joliet, Ill. – Tony Stewart is a winner again.
And one day after a brief but intense lecture from Joe Gibbs, Stewart says his rift with teammate Denny Hamlin has been patched.
Stewart won the USG Sheetrock 400 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, breaking a 20-race winless streak that dated to last season and turning around what had otherwise been a tumultuous week for the two-time series champion.
Between the bad breaks that cost him possible victories earlier in the year and last week’s high- profile feud with Hamlin, Stewart seemed more relieved than elated by the win – though he still managed to climb the frontstretch fence in celebration.
The Nextel Cup series is off next weekend, and Stewart can’t wait.
“You have no idea how glad I am to have the week off,” Stewart said. “I’m taking this momentum on vacation. I’ve got a case of Schlitz that I fully intend on getting to the bottom of the cardboard box tonight, even if have to do it by myself.”
Hamlin and Stewart spent the week trading barbs in the media after the two teammates wrecked at Daytona International Speedway last week. The situation became ugly enough for team owner Gibbs to take a last- minute detour from a planned vacation and come to the track on Saturday to gather Stewart and Hamlin for a meeting.
“The good part is, it was fairly short, because Joe can get long- winded sometimes,” Stewart said. “But it was a great meeting.”
It didn’t hurt that Stewart’s strongest competitor, Jimmie Johnson, hit the wall with 45 laps remaining after his tire suddenly went flat.
Johnson walked away without any serious injuries beyond a sore elbow, but it left his car mangled.
The accident jumbled pit strategies for the race leaders, most of whom needed only a splash of fuel to make it to the end when they pitted with 40 laps left.
Matt Kenseth pulled side by side to challenge Stewart on the restart, but Stewart held him off until another caution flag came out for a crash by J.J. Yeley – the third Gibbs driver – 20 laps later.
Kenseth said that was his only real chance to get past Stewart – but he nearly lost control of his car while making the move and backed off to finish second.
“I had that one shot at him, and I couldn’t quite finish the pass,” Kenseth said.
Kenseth was glued to Stewart’s back bumper when the race restarted with 18 laps to go – and Joe Nemechek crashed two laps later, forcing Stewart to fend off the field on yet another late restart. Stewart sprinted away on the final restart with 12 laps to go, and Kenseth wasn’t able to mount another challenge in the closing laps.
Kenseth held off a charge from teammate Carl Edwards to finish second.
Edwards finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick and polesitter Casey Mears.
Nextel Cup/glance
Keys to victory: A flat tire sent Jimmie Johnson into the wall with 45 laps remaining, taking out Tony Stewart’s toughest competition.
What you might have missed: What was shaping up as a good day for Dale Earnhardt Inc. quickly fell apart in the final stages of the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running third with 58 laps to go when he fell off the pace with an apparent power steering failure – remarking over his in-car radio how “funny” it was that he couldn’t really steer his car.
Back on track: July 29, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Indianapolis, 11 a.m., ESPN
(POST WIRE SERVICES)
