Stewart wins the NASCAR Brickyard 400

Stewart wins Allstate 400 at the Brickyard again

July 29, 2007
By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) - Tony Stewart's first Allstate 400 at the Brickyard victory in 2005 was dramatic, but his second Brickyard win on Sunday was dominant.

The driver from Columbus, Indiana who grew up dreaming of winning the Indianapolis 500 has done the next best thing by becoming a two-time winner of the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"We had the fastest car today," Stewart said simply.

Stewart celebrated in typical fashion by climbing the fence at the flag stand, a move IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves did here for the first time when he won the 2001 Indy 500. It allowed him to celebrate with his legion of loyal fans.

"This one is for every one of the fans in the stands that pull for me every week and take all the (expletive) from everyone else," Stewart said.

Stewart is expected to be fined for using the off-color term on television.

"It's a little late to be concerned about it now, isn't it?" Stewart said when asked about the potential sanction. "It pretty much is what it is.

"Whatever happens, they still can't take this trophy away from me today."

Stewart's victory check of $488,111 should be more than enough to pay the fine. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked $25,000 and 25 points when he used a similar term after winning at Talladega in 2004.

It was Stewart's second-straight Nextel Cup win and the 31st of his career. He won the last race two weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway.

But unlike that win, a victory at the Brickyard is never "just another race" to the 36-year-old Hoosier native.

"I think I'll enjoy this one more than the first one," Stewart said. "The first one was just like taking the weight of the world off your shoulders. When you grow up 45 miles from here, there was a period of my life when I was driving a wrecker for a living, I was driving down 16th Street and Georgetown Road (site of the Speedway) thinking, 'Man, what would it be like to be 150 yards inside of that fence running 200 miles an hour?'"

Stewart would discover that by competing in five Indianapolis 500s and nine Brickyard 400s.

"I got to do that (in the Indy 500). Then I got to come here in a stock car then win for the first time," Stewart said of his 2005 victory. "That was such a weight off our shoulders. Today, we're just happy now. That's probably what helped us today, not being wound up, being able to be calm and relaxed because it wasn't untouchable any more.

"It was race the race those last 10 laps. It wasn't like my whole life depended on whether I pass the car in front of me or not."

Kevin Harvick got around Stewart to take over the lead with 18 laps to go. Stewart was so relaxed he could be heard over the team's radio saying, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty" as he reeled in Harvick's Chevrolet.

With 15 to go, Stewart drove right up to the back of Harvick's bumper and began to pressure the 2003 Brickyard winner.

With 10 laps to go, Stewart drove under Harvick to take the lead in Turn 1 but Harvick got next to him in Turn 2 and drove him up the race track.

"When it came to racing Kevin, he's the same guy I drive a Busch car for, it was easier to put it in perspective, calm down and do what I needed to do which was race the race," Stewart said. "Kevin got really smart and changed how he was driving turn 2 and got to where I wasn't getting as big a run as I was before. I had to do something different.

"We got underneath him I squeezed him a little bit, not on purpose and ran him into the short chute. It was almost like a countermove when he got back underneath me. It was a drag-race down the backstretch. Whoever got into Turn 3 was probably going to win the race."

It was Stewart that made it into Turn 3. Once Stewart was in the lead, he drove away from the field to score a decisive victory. Harvick's Chevrolet dropped off and finished seventh.

"It was good racing until I got the left front fender caved in," Harvick said. "He (Stewart) didn't quite give us enough room."

Stewart's Chevrolet finished 2.982-seconds ahead of 2000 Indy 500 winner and NASCAR rookie Juan Montoya's Dodge Charger.

"I don't think anybody had anything for Tony today," Montoya said.

Four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon's Chevrolet was third followed by teammate Kyle Busch.

Pole-winner Reed Sorenson finished fifth in a Dodge. Sorensen is Montoya's teammate and gave team owner Chip Ganassi two drivers in the top five.

The race was a yellow-flag affair for the first half of the 160-lap race but it became apparent early that Stewart had the dominant car. He started 14th but was up to fifth by the eighth lap. He was third by lap 14 and first four laps later when he was the first off pit road during a yellow-flag pit stop.

The crashes would take about such contenders as last year's winner. Jimmie Johnson, who was involved in an eight-car pileup on lap 47 and then later the damage to the fender caused tire rub and he crashed on lap 62. But unlike last year, Johnson was never a factor in this race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. appeared to be in prime contention to get both his first victory of the season and his first win in the Brickyard but his engine blew up on lap 136. Earnhardt led twice for 33 laps.

Stewart, who led seven times for a race-high 65 laps, would trade leads throughout the race and was in front when the green flag waved with 20 laps to go chased by Harvick, Gordon and Montoya.

Once again, the NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was hours of mindless boredom culminated with a dramatic finish.

And for the sixth time in the 14-year history of this race, the winner was a driver from the state of Indiana. But unlike four-time winner Gordon, who was born in California but spent his formative years in the state, Stewart is a home-grown native Hoosier who still lives in his hometown.

"Tony knows a lot better than I do because he was born and raised and raced his whole life around Indiana," Gordon said. "I came here as a kid, did a little bit of quarter-midget racing, then moved here when I was 15.

"I know Tony wanted that Indy 500 win; now he's got two Brickyard 400s. I know it means the world to him."

Forget Disney World, this is the place where Stewart's dreams come true and he gets to share it with the fans that mean the most to him.

"It just adds to this place being a special place," Stewart said. "My best friends are here. My family is here. People that I don't get to see very often are all at one place at one time together to watch me do what I do best, to do what I'm passionate about.

"When you're passionate about something, you wanted your family to be around it, you want you friends to be part of it. That's what makes it so special."