DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tony Stewart has mastered how to win at Daytona International Speedway on Saturdays.
Now, if he could only figure out how to win on Sundays.
Stewart continued his domination of the Nationwide Series season opener, overcoming a late pit stop to fix a flat tire to catch Clint Bowyer at the finish line. It was his fourth consecutive win in the opener for NASCAR’s second-tier series and sixth in the past seven seasons.
He’s been unable to carry that success into the main event, the Daytona 500, a race he’s yet to win in 12 previous starts.
“The first thing I thought about is ‘Man, here we go with another Saturday that we win, and we’ll have bad luck (today),’ ” Stewart said.
Stewart had bad luck Saturday — a flat tire that forced him to give up second place for a late pit stop under caution. It dropped him to 11th on the restart, with six laps to go, and he hooked up with Landon Cassill to charge his way through the field.
Bowyer, the pole-sitter, led the field with Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushing him around the track. Bowyer and Earnhardt took off in a two-car pack, with Stewart and Cassill hooked up, and Kyle Busch and Joey Logano paired. The three two-car packs put on a thrilling show up to the final lap, when the Busch-Logano tandem ended with Busch hitting the outside wall and spinning down the track.
Bowyer had to brace for Earnhardt’s eventual attempt to pass, and he was busy blocking the move when Stewart and Cassill came blazing along the outside.
