Tony Stewart was in no mood to make any apologies after Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. He made no effort to explain away a final-lap block he put on a rookie challenger that contributed to a controversial finish to the race.
The 2008 season has been a killer for Stewart. It’s been maddening and frustrating, and he let it be known that if people have problems with the way he won the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, well, those would be their problems.
“It’s just been one of those years that we’ve just had bad luck all season,” Stewart said after accepting the winner’s trophy. “There were four or five shots we had at winning races this year and something happens at some point. Man, to finally get that first one of the year and to do it at Talladega, people don’t understand what that means to me.”
So when Regan Smith slid under the line at Talladega Superspeedway to finish first, Stewart was certain he’d be awarded his first victory of the season.
NASCAR agreed with him, and Stewart made his first trip to Talladega’s Victory Lane in 20 career starts. But Regan Smith was adamant he’d done nothing wrong, arguing that the two-time series champion forced him below the line in a desperate blocking attempt.
“You’re darn right I did. I’ve lost Daytona 500s, I’ve lost races here at Talladega because somebody blocked,” Stewart said. “That’s the name of the game. There’s always been people blocking. The nice thing is I was actually on the right end of it this time.
“Trust me, I’ve got no regrets about what I did. I did exactly what I needed to do to win the race, and it worked out.”
“I knew I was only going to get one shot at him,” Smith said. “I knew where I was going to make my move. I don’t know. I was always told that the rule is if you get forced down there, then you are the winner of the race and on the last lap, anything goes. That’s what I was going with.
“I got forced down there, man, I had a nose inside of him and I could have piled up the whole field.”
Smith’s penalty elevated Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Paul Menard to the second position, a career-best for the driver who will leave DEI at the end of the season to join Yates Racing. David Ragan ran third, tying a career best, and Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
The race had a NASCAR-record 31 lead changes, several tire failures and lived up to its reputation as the “wild card” of the 10 Chase events. Because of its white-knuckle racing conditions, Talladega is the one Chase race every driver fears will ruin his title hopes.
The big Chase winner was points leader Jimmie Johnson, who dodged a succession of wrecks that unfolded in front of him and came home ninth in a car that wasn’t as competitive as he would have liked.
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