Tony Stewart Holds Off NASCAR’s Best Drivers To Win the Allstate 400 At Indianapolis
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Indianapolis, Ind.
Jul 30, 2007
CIA Stock Photos
Home State Hero Stewart Wins his Second Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
Tony Stewart makes no secret about his love for Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He loves to race here. He also loves to win here.
Sunday, Stewart held off the challenges of NASCAR’s best drivers and won the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard before a pro-Stewart crowd of some 200,000 fans.
Stewart is from Indiana and lives in Indiana and Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been on his mind since he was a kid growing up.
Stewart’s second win here (he also won in 2006) produced some of the best racing this historic track has ever seen.
He took the lead from Kevin Harvick with 10 laps to go. The two banged together several times before Stewart moved on.
The beating and banging upset the handling of Harvick’s Chevrolet and he faded to seventh place after running in the top five most of the day.
Juan Pablo Montoya, making his first start in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, finished second. The Columbian was trying to match his Indy record, he won the first Indianapolis 500 he ran in a Chip Ganassi IRL car.
Finishing third was former champion Jeff Gordon. Kyle Busch finished fourth. Pole winner Reid Sorensen was fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Mark Martin, Harvick, Jeff Burton, Dave Blaney and Matt Kenseth.
For the first time this weekend, the sun was shining as the field took the starting flag.
Rain hampered things Friday afternoon, although the track dried in time for a three-hour practice period Saturday before qualifying.
In the interest of safety, NASCAR instituted a 15-lap competition yellow flag to allow teams to check their tire wear.
Just before the mandatory caution, Jeff Green’s Chevrolet jumped from underneath him in turn three and slammed into the outside wall.
After the pit stop, Stewart came out first with Earnhardt on his bumper. Pole winner and previous leader Sorensen was third, trailed by Burton and Montoya.
Earnhardt sailed past Stewart for the lead right after the restart but Ryan Newman brought out the caution again when he spun coming out of turn four. He smashed the outside wall and slid across the track in front of oncoming cars but drivers managed to swerve around him.
Earnhardt set sail with Stewart a full second behind. It remained that way until the 40th lap when Kasey Kahne and Tony Raines tangled out of turn two bringing out another caution.
When the green flag waved again, it was Earnhardt, Stewart, Montoya, Gordon and Sorensen leading the field.
A multi-car accident on lap 45 ended defending champion Jimmie Johnson’s attempt to make it two in a row at the Brickyard.
Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, J.J. Yeley, Scott Riggs, Ward Burton and Carl Edwards tangled in turn one, covering the track in smoke.
Johnson and McMurray sustained the most damage in the melee.
Another five-car smashup brought another caution out on the 54th lap. This time, it was Elliott Sadler, Casey Mears, Johnny Sauter and Kyle Petty in a pileup.
Stewart passed Earnhardt after the restart but they didn’t get to race long before another caution fell.
Johnson, returning to the track after his first accident, slammed into the third turn wall after a previously-damaged fender cut the left front tire. Johnson was not injured even though his car burst into flames.
