In a statement race for the forthcoming "Chase for the Sprint Cup" Tony Stewart made perhaps the loudest noise breaking his 31 races winless streak and dominated Emory HealthCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway that celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Stewart who was in the leading pack for the most of the race, he separated his car from Carl Edwards who finished 2nd and the rest of the field with 18 laps to go since the last caution. It was the two-time Cup champion's third victory at the 1.54-mile track and the 38th of his career, locking his entry for the Chase of the sprint Cup.
Stewart, Edwards, Burton, Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and the Busch brothers clinched spots in the 10-race Chase.
"I've never been so happy to win a race in my life. It's been a while. I forgot what it's like, it's been so long. I don't know how many races it's been, but it seems like an eternity since we won a race.
Especially with the Chase ... we needed those 10 [bonus] points [for a victory], and we need this momentum."
Jimmie Johnson finished 3rd in a much-needed, problem-free run although his unusual average finish of 23.3 during the previous seven races.
"To get a good race here, to be in that moment and to feel the pressure, is something we needed. That pressure is fun to have and it was a familiar excitement inside of me, and I was excited to be out there racing with everybody and being a part of it. Hopefully, we can go to Richmond and get in that moment again to be as prepared as we can for the Chase."
Jeff Burton ran 4rth, thanks to a late four-tire call. Kyle Busch finished 5th and his brother Kurt 6th although they both experienced handling problems during the race falling down the leading pack. Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya and Marcos Ambrose completed the top 10.
Starting 5th Stewart, never lost its pace with the leading pack and when Ryan Newman lost his lead from Hamlin, it was him that chased Hamlin down exchanging the lead 5 times before Hamlin retired with a blown engine.
Stewart had a fast victorious car in the race but his spinning struggle was obvious during the restarts although the first caution came with 100+ laps past. It got so bad that Stewart flipped through the notebook in his mind containing about 31 years of racing experience and was tempted to try something from his open-wheel days.
Stewart commented:
"I struggled on restarts all night. Finally the last two, I hit it a lot closer and kept them from spinning quite as bad.
I was almost embarrassed to talk about it, but it's just an old sprint car trick that you do. They have got a lot of rear brake and don't really have much front brake and you can drag the brake pedal and keeps you from spinning the tires. I'm not sure it would have worked but I didn't have enough confidence to take the brake balance and just run it to the back like that and drag the brake to help the wheel spin.
I was afraid I would get going through the gears and get going and not count my rounds back and get myself in a problem at the end of the straightaway. So that was about the only thing I didn't try."
But Stewart didn't have to use such risky tricks, because of two reasons.
One, his pit crew kept turning out perfect stops, putting Stewart up front even when he was losing places on the track every time the green flag fell. And his No. 14 Chevrolet was strong enough to pull away in clean air at the end, allowing him to pull away from Carl Edwards on the final restart with 17 laps remaining.
After the 7th caution of the race on Lap 295 of 325 Edwards led Stewart out of the pits but soon Stewart overtook hims before his victorious momentum was paused by another quick caution for debris on Lap 302 -- after contact between Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch. On the final restart on Lap 308 nobody could ever threaten Stewart to increase his leading gap that pushed him smoothly onto the victory lane after so long time.
Yet, Edwards kept his chase hopes high from the second-place run, which is a continuation of an upswing during which he has finished in the top seven in seven of the past eight races. His consistency performance is so crusial in the Chase races although he has scored no victory yet.
"If we keep running like this, we'll win this championship. Keep your heads up. Keep digging like you're doing. You guys are doing a great job. This is all we got to do. We've scored more points than anybody the last two months."
Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin led seven times early for 74 laps, but his engine blew on Lap 143 and he finished 43rd.
"I was just pacing myself out there, having fun and racing with Tony and those guys. We've really got a strong race team, and if we can just keep it together, we can really win this championship legitimately. We've just got to keep it together, and we'll be all right."
Greg Biffle fell short in his attempt to lock into the Chase when contact from Newman's Chevy sent Biffle's Ford sideways into the Turn 3 wall. Biffle slid across the track and took out Elliott Sadler. Though Biffle returned to the track after extensive repairs, he finished 36th, 80 laps down.
Biffle is 11th in points, 161 ahead of Newman, and can lock up a spot in the Chase with a finish better than 43rd at Richmond.
Harvick, the series points leader, had one of the fastest cars in the field, but Harvick's Chevy was crippled on Lap 255 when his left-front tire exploded and shredded the fender. He finished 33rd. Another winless driver, Jeff Gordon although he had a trouble free race running his Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation/Dupont No24 Chevrolet painted by his daughter, he finished 13th.
