DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The payback was perfect as Tony Stewart turned the tables on Hendrick Motorsports to win the Nationwide Series opener.
Now, if only he can do it again today.
Stewart and teammate Kyle Busch finished 1-2 on Saturday, combining to hold off Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished third.
The Joe Gibbs Racing teammates showed they have learned some important lessons about cooperation from the drivers at Hendrick, the team that fired Busch to make room for Earnhardt.
“We worked with each other the whole race. That’s something that, you know, we’ve learned that from (those) guys,” Stewart said. “And it just shows if you get two of these guys to work with each other, Kyle and I can. I think Kyle and I could have stayed up front all day no matter how many guys challenged.”
That will be tested in the Daytona 500 in the expected showdown between Hendrick and Gibbs.
It will be Stewart, Busch and Denny Hamlin, who won his Daytona qualifying race Thursday, against Hendrick’s all-star cast of Earnhardt, two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears.
Earnhardt, Daytona pole-winner Johnson and Gordon are all former 500 winners. Gibbs’ drivers are looking for that first win in NASCAR’s biggest event.
But Earnhardt is convinced Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing are for real.
“The Toyota has been fast,” said Earnhardt, who had his string of Speedweeks victories ended at two. “Those guys, you know, got knowledge to get cars around the track, know how to get to Victory Lane.”
Stewart and Busch put on a good show Saturday, leading 93 of the 120 laps.
