Tony Stewart Held Off Challenge From Dale Jr.

CIA Stock Photo, Inc.

Apr 26, 2008

Pole-sitter Tony Stewart held off a last-lap challenge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to claim his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway in any series.

“Boys, we won at Talladega!” Stewart shouted as he crossed the finish line in the Aaron’s 312 Nationwide Series race .302 of a second ahead of runner-up David Stremme. It was Stewart’s third Nationwide win of the season.

“This is not like winning a regular Nationwide race.” Tony Stewart said. “To me this is the biggest one I’ve had. To finally win at Talladega, it’s more than I can put into words.”

“They were in their own deal,” Stremme said. “The rest of us were just trying to run together and make our own moves.”

Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran third, Jason Leffler fourth and Mark Green fifth, as Earnhardt dropped to sixth after Stewart repelled his last-ditch run on the final lap.

“I didn’t think leading was the place to be,” said Stewart, who led Earnhardt to the line for a restart with two laps to go in the 117-lap event, after a caution for debris in Turn 4 had slowed the race on Lap 113. “I still don’t think, even after winning the race, that being the leader there with two laps to go was the right place to be.

“But we did what we had to do, and they got spread out behind us, and we got the push we needed there at the end.”

Earnhardt surged to the front on the final lap but faded on the outside when Stremme stayed with Stewart on the bottom of the track.

“Me and Tony worked great together the whole race,” Earnhardt said. It was down to the last lap, and I thought we had it timed good, but my run wasn’t as strong as it could have been—and Tony was just so strong.”

Stewart celebrated in Victory Lane with a young girl from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and dedicated the win to her. He said he told her before the race he’d try to win for her so she could celebrate after the race.

“I told her we’d try extra hard to get her in Victory Lane today, and I’m glad we got you here,” he told her. “Now we’re going to have to take her on the road the rest of the year.”

The race was slowed by eight cautions for 27 laps, including a 12-car accident that brought a red flag stoppage of 25 minutes.

The accident happened when Kevin Lepage pitted for a loose wheel under green and blended back onto the track right ahead of the field as the pack headed into the first turn. He wasn’t at the same speed, and the cars couldn’t avoid running over him.

Carl Edwards was the first to his Lepage, with contact that lifted Edward’s car off the track.

“In my mind it just looks like somebody just pulled up right in front of the field,” Edwards said as he watched the replay. “I’m driving around, minding my own business, and good afternoon. I’m just glad I didn’t get hurt there.”

But Lepage was adamant he did nothing wrong, and said he followed NASCAR’s rules for returning to the track when he blended back in. He also fiercely defended his spotter, wife Donna.

The first wreck occurred 10 laps into the race when Dario Franchitti lost his right rear tire, hit the wall and spiraled down the track. He was down on the apron when his car was T-boned by Larry Gunselman. Both drivers were transported to a hospital for observation, and X-rays showed Franchitti broke his left ankle.