Tony tames Darlington: Stewart wins Nationwide Series race

By Jared Turner - SceneDaily Staff Writer
Saturday, May 10, 2008
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David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing’s domination of the NASCAR Nationwide Series continues.

Tony Stewart made sure of it on a wild, crash marred Friday night at Darlington Raceway.

Wheeling a Toyota that was the class of the field, Stewart took the lead for the final time when tire trouble forced Matt Kenseth to pit road with 27 laps left, and hung on through a green-white-checkered finish for his fourth Nationwide win of the season in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200.

The victory was Stewart’s first at the facility known as “the track too tough to tame” but marked an incredible sixth straight series triumph for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has also gone to victory lane in 2008 with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

“It’s teams that win these things and we had an awesome race car,” a jubilant Stewart said.
 
Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer placed second, extending his points lead to 112 over Busch. Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann, Germain Racing’s Todd Bodine and Rusty Wallace Racing’s Steve Wallace completed the top five.

The race, the first on the recently repaved egg-shaped Darlington track, featured an assortment of crumpled sheet metal and more than a few disappointed contenders.

Frontrunners who saw their hopes of a strong finish dashed by hard encounters with the concrete included Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, Busch and JR Motorsports’ Mark Martin.

Edwards, who started on the pole, found trouble first, slapping the wall on lap 3 with a cut right front tire. He finished 43rd.

Busch, who was driving for Braun Racing on Friday, crashed in Turn 1 on lap 103 after tangling with the lapped car of JR Motorsports’ Brad Keselowski.

“It’s just a product of racing idiots,” an angry Busch said of the accident.

Kenseth crashed hard off the fourth turn with 18 laps to go after returning to the track following a visit to pit road for tires.

“It just got away from me,” Kenseth said. “I was just trying to go too fast - faster than my car would carry me.”

The final, and biggest, crash of the night came at the start-finish line with three laps to go when Martin's Chevrolet sputtered in front of the field with an apparent fuel pickup problem.

Martin, running second at the time, was subsequently tagged by Braun Racing’s Jason Leffler, setting off a chain reaction accident that collected JTG Racing’s Kelly Bires, Germain Racing’s Mike Wallace and Phoenix Racing's Mike Bliss.

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2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings

Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500

1 Jimmie Johnson 6248
2 Mark Martin -184
3 Jeff Gordon -192
4 Juan Pablo Montoya -239
5 Tony Stewart -279
6 Kurt Busch -312
7 Greg Biffle -340
8 Ryan Newman -402
9 Kasey Kahne -414
10 Carl Edwards -437
11 Denny Hamlin -448
12 Brian Vickers -556

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