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Tony Stewart used a late two-tire pit stop to take the lead and held off his two Joe Gibbs Racing teammates to win Saturday’s Camping World 200, his fifth Nationwide Series win of the season and the eighth victory for JGR’s No. 20 Toyota team.
The two-time Sprint Cup champion, who hasn’t been having much luck and has no wins in the top stock car series this season, drove away Saturday with his fifth victory in seven Nationwide starts in 2008.
Stewart got track position, restarting third after taking just two tires during his final pit stop on lap 129 of the 200-lap event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
He took the lead on lap 136 from fellow Cup star Carl Edwards on lap 136 and led the rest of the way.
Teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished second and third.
Hamlin and Busch, in fact, chased Stewart for the final 64 laps, after Stewart took the lead for good on Lap 136. Hamlin, driving Braun Racing’s No. 32 Toyota, was within a half-second of the leader when Greg Biffle crashed on Lap 200, the final circuit.
Stewart credited crew chief Dave Rogers, a native of the neighboring state of Vermont, with the consistently excellent performance of the No. 20 Camry.
“There’ve been four drivers [to] win in this car, so it’s not the drivers—that’s for sure,” Stewart said. “We’re the fortunate ones to be able to drive this thing.”
A two-tire call on Stewart’s final pit stop on Lap 129 got the No. 20 Toyota out in third place for a restart on Lap 133. Three laps later, Stewart took the lead from Edwards, who had taken fuel only on the pit stop, with a smooth pass entering Turn 1.
“That last stop is what won the race for us,” Stewart said. “To get track position and be able to stay up front and not have to overdrive the car or abuse the tires was the key to the win.”
It was Rogers, who started with the Gibbs team as an engineer on Stewart’s No. 20 Cup car, who made the two-tire call.
Asked if he had faith in Rogers’’ decision to change from a four-tire to two-tire spot, Stewart said, “It’s hard not to when you’ve won five races for him this year.
”It’s not me. That’s proof of what this program is all about. There have been four of us win in this car. It’s not the drivers, we’re just the fortunate ones who get to drive these things.”
Rogers started at JGR in 1998 and has held several positions within the organization. His most recent stint as crew chief of the No. 20 has been his most successful.
