Another Brickyard Kiss for Stewart

Tony Stewart and his crew went out in style this weekend by planting the traditional winner’s kiss on the Brickyard after claiming Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Allstate 400 victory.

Racing at his home track, Stewart put on quite a show leading up to taking the checkered flag. After some breathtaking beating and banging to fight for position, Stewart took the race lead from Kevin Harvick with 10 laps to go. The rest, for Stewart, was just a Sunday drive.

With Harvick falling back in the pack and Juan Pablo Montoya nudging closer, Stewart maintained a strong lead but was driving like he was alone on the track. At one point Stewart even had his hands off the wheel while he took a drink from his water bottle as if time were standing still. In the end, Stewart’s relaxed mentality paid off with his second Brickyard win and second win of the season.

“It is still like a dream,” Stewart said. “To race one of my good friends Kasey Kahne for the first one [2005 Brickyard win] and a very close friend, Kevin Harvick, for this one, I couldn’t think of two other guys I’d rather race for the win here than that.”

Montoya, who’s no stranger to this track, finished second.

“At the start, I was just happy to run in the top five,” Montoya said. “That was the idea, stay in the top five, try to make the car better every stop.”

For 2007, Montoya already has one win under his belt and three top five finishes. Those aren’t bad stats for a rookie. But Montoya isn’t just a rookie to the Nextel Cup Series, he’s a rookie to stock car racing period, making his current success even more impressive.

“It’s exciting, you know,” Montoya added. “I’ll tell you, I’m happy. This is the first actual race I get to people, and I could pass them. Normally I get to like 12th and you start try to get runs on people, and you can’t. Today, it was awesome. I could really go at it, so it felt good.”

Jeff Gordon, who finished third, admits being impressed at Montoya’s NASCAR success, but isn’t cutting him any rookie slack. If anything, Gordon’s expectations for Montoya, due to his prior success in other racing series, may even increase the challenge to perform well.

“It’s obvious of how talented he is,” Gordon said. “I mean, I think you look at everything he’s ever driven, he’s fast and he’s had success. I guess I have expectations of him being able to showcase his talent when he came here, and he has. When their team steps up and gives him the car, he steps up and shows what he can do.”

Kyle Busch came in fourth, followed by pole sitter Reid Sorenson in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 of the race were drivers Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Dave Blaney and Matt Kenseth.

After a rain-soaked weekend left behind a green track for racing, NASCAR ordained a mandatory 15-lap competition yellow flag to give teams a chance to check the tires for excessive wear. Heavy rains wash away layers of tire rubber from the grooves in the racetrack, making the pavement more like a cheese grater to the Goodyear tires.

The scheduled caution was a day late and a dollar short for Jeff Green. A lap before the caution was to be called, Green blew a tire and hit the wall hard, which caused race-ending damage to his car. Because the caution was out for the wreck, the competition caution was canceled.

After the caution, Stewart took over the race lead, but lost it just a lap later to Dale Earnhardt Jr. After less than a full lap, Ryan Newman brought out a caution after spinning into the wall.

The race stayed green until Lap 39 when Kasey Kahne nudged Tony Raines, a move that spun both drivers into the wall, causing heavy damage. Just eight laps later, Jamie McMurray got loose, causing an accident involving six others–Scott Riggs, Jimmie Johnson, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd, J.J. Yeley and Robby Gordon. Carl Edwards also spun but miraculously did not receive any damage.

After less than two full laps of green flag racing, right after Stewart took the lead from Earnhardt, Jr., Casey Mears spun and collected Elliot Sadler, Kyle Petty and Johnny Sauter. Racing went green again on Lap 60, but after just one lap, Johnson’s ailing car cut the left front tire, causing him to slam into the wall where it caught fire and choked out it’s final breath.

Kyle Busch, one of the few who didn’t pit during the caution, took the race lead. About 20 laps later, Stewart reclaimed the race lead when Busch went to pit road during a Lap 77 debris caution. After another debris caution on Lap 91, Greg Biffle took the race lead.

Like a game of leap frog, the lead changed again on Lap 104 with Harvick leading the field, only t have it taken away on Lap 112 by Stewart. On Lap 128 Busch took over the lead after Stewart hit pit road, only to have Stewart take it back on Lap 130.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew an engine and spewed the track with oil, bringing out the final caution on Lap 136. While it ended his day, the caution was a relief for others, because it meant not having to make a final pit stop under green.