After winning two of the past three Allstate 400 at the Brickyard races, Tony Stewart suffered his worst finish in the NASCAR race Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Running as high as fourth late in the day, he started drifting back after the final two pit stops and ended up 23rd. His worst finish had been 17th in 2001, the third of his 10 Brickyards.
The 15th NASCAR race at the Speedway turned into a fiasco with little green-flag racing due to problems with the way the Goodyear tires on NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow wore on Indy’s grooved surface.
After the race, the popular Columbus, Ind., native drove his No. 20 car to the garage area and walked into his trailer without a word. Nearly 20 minutes later, team officials said Stewart and crew chief Greg Zipadelli had left IMS.
“I think it was just one of those deals where everybody was taking two tires, four tires, whatever,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot you can talk about today.
“It was a very tough day, and everybody tried to make the most of it.”
“Just a tough day. I mean, there’s really no other words to describe it,” Stewart said. “Just an unbelievably tough day.”
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