Tony Stewart took the checkered flag at the Brickyard 400 for the second time in his illustrious career. Stewart also won the famed race in 2005.
The Home Depot Chevrolet driver battled with good friend Kevin Harvick over the final ten laps, but eventually pulled away from the field while Harvick fell to seventh.
“That’s a hard guy to race with, ” Stewart said of Harvick. “He’s a clean guy. He’s one of my best friends and I can’t think of another guy I’d want to race with for the lead. “
Stewart dominated the race and showed us all why everyone in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series should call him their “Daddy”. Stewart flat out crushed the field and made it look easy. At one point, Stewart was driving with no hands like a five year old on a bicycle.
“We were about the only ones that could stay with anybody that had the lead today, ” said Stewart. “This thing was pretty good in traffic all day. “For some reason, I got really tight in Turn 1 on that last restart. I was just trying to be patient. “
Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya finished second while Nextel Cup points leader Jeff Gordon came home third. Montoya’s Ganassi Racing Dodge was strong all weekend as he and teammate Reed Sorenson started the race from the front row.
The twenty-one year old Sorenson became the youngest pole winner in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he won the pole on Saturday afternoon.
Montoya is a past Indy 500 winner and was hoping for a Brickyard victory on Sunday.
“It was a lot of fun, ” Montoya said. “My car was amazing. I don’t think anybody had anything for Tony. His car was way too fast. Second here at the Brickyard, it was amazing.
He was indeed no match for Stewart, who now has back to back wins after struggling to find victory lane through the first 19 races of the year.
Only Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin had anything for Stewart, but Hamlin ran out of gas on pit road while running second, and Earnhardt Jr. blew an engine while running fifth.
Earnhardt Jr. had led 33 laps of the race before his car lost aero down force due to a bent up front left fender from hitting the rumble strips in the Indianapolis turns.
Defending race champion Jimmie Johnson had issues early and ended up parking a banged up race car in the Nextel Cup garage before the race was half over.
“I had just gotten by the 88 to be in position for the ‘Lucky Dog, ’ and the tire blew again going into 3, ” Johnson said.
“Everybody’s trying hard because track position is so important, but everybody’s forgetting how areo-sensitive these cars are .... “
Johnson had an incredible start to the season, but with crew chief Chad Klaus serving a suspension, the #48 Lowes team has struggled.
Stewart and his entire crew climbed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway fence after his thrilling victory, then Stewart offered up his race winning dedication to the fans.
“This one’s for everyone of those fans in the stands that pull for me every week and take all of the bullshit from everybody else. “
We love to hear “Smoke” speak his mind, but this one is going to cost him. Dale Earnhardt Jr. dropped the S bomb on TV in recent years and suffered a 25 point penalty at the hands of the NASCAR police! Expect at least a similar penalty for Stewart or possibly even a 50 point whacking.
| 
|