Tony Stewart faced long odds, coming from the back of the field in a backup car to win Sunday’s Pocono 500, just as he faced long odds building a race team when he assumed half-ownership of Stewart-Haas Racing last year.
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But this weekend Stewart the driver was as cool as Stewart the businessman, conserving gas in the final laps while holding off Carl Edwards to become the first owner/driver to win a NASCAR Cup event in 11 years. He stretched his series points lead to 71 points over Jeff Gordon.
“It is special for the organization,” said Stewart, who conceded that being unable to go full throttle in the final laps ran contrary to his nature. “They’ll be a banner hanging in the shop that marks this day in time.” USA Today
By Lap 30 of the Pocono 500 Stewart had powered his way from 43rd to 12th. When Carl Edwards pitted on Lap 77, Stewart move to the point for the first time.
The driver of the No. 99 would dominate most of the race, leading 103 of 200 laps. But Stewart had the optimum pit stall and with solid work by the No. 14 crew, he bolted off pit road first on the final stop with 37 laps remaining in the race.
“The guys have been doing such a great job all year. Coming in second and coming out with a lead like that — that was really the turning point there for us at the end,” Stewart said.
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In the closing laps, the end game was all about conserving fuel. Stewart masterfully worked his throttle to finish two seconds ahead of Edwards. David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five. FOXSports.com
Edwards is still looking for his first victory of the season.
“I’ll probably be happy later [Sunday], but man, to be that close to victory and not win, that was frustrating,” he said. “The points are great though. I’ll definitely take something good out of this.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a tough second week with crew chief Lance McGrew and was 27th. Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel at the end and finished seventh.
“At the end, we were just playing the fuel game and I didn’t play it hard enough,” Johnson said.
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Reutimann, long a journeyman driver, jumped into 11th place in the Chase standings. Mark Martin fell out of the top 12 with a 19th-place finish. NASCAR.com
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