Photo Credit: Sal Sigala Jr/OnPitRoad.com
By Justin Tucker
June 2nd,2013, That was the last time Tony Stewart had won a Sprint Cup Series race leading up to this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
For Stewart it had been 84 races filled with injury, frustration, and personal hell since he last went to victory lane. Many wondered if Stewart’s best days were behind him and many questioned whether or not Stewart still had what it took to win on NASCAR’s highest level.
Stewart who had missed the season’s first eight races faced the daunting task of winning a race and being in the top 30 in points to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in his final season after September’s race at Richmond.
On Sunday, Stewart answered the critics and showed he still had plenty in the tank after battling Denny Hamlin clear down to the final turn to win at Sonoma for the third time and the 49th time in his storied career.
When asked in victory lane if this win was anymore special than the others in his career, Stewart replied, “They’re all good; it doesn’t matter where you get them. But, we ran close to those guys all day”, Stewart said. “We just got stuck back in traffic. It’s pretty ironic the last one we got was in a Code 3 car and I’m proud to do it again. I’m proud of Mobil 1 and Bass Pro and everybody. It’s just an awesome job.”
Stewart also discussed the final run to the checkers with Hamlin and the respect that they have for each other.
“I made mistakes the last two laps. I had just a little bit too much rear brake for Turn 7, and wheel-hopped it two laps in a row. But, I felt a nudge when I got down there and he knew where it was and he did the right thing doing it there; but if I could get to him, he knew what was coming. He told me he was proud of me. He knows what it means. We were teammates for a long time and we respect each other a lot.”
Hamlin, who isn’t known as a road course specialist showed he had the car to beat for much of the afternoon leading a race high 33 laps. However, he said it was mistakes that led to him falling one spot short of his first road course win.
“I got out of line and obviously gave him the inside line, and once I knew he had position and we had a wall on the other side of us that I knew a pretty good chance we would go in the wall [if I pressed the issue] — I don’t think he was going to leave it to chance for a drag race [to the finish],” Hamlin said.
“It was a great, fun race. We were fortunate to be in that position. We definitely had a car that could have and should have won. We were just on the bad end of the deal.”
Joey Logano would finish third followed by: Carl Edwards and Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top five.
Kevin Harvick was sixth followed by: Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top ten.
Other notable finishers include: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 11th, Jimmie Johnson 13th, AJ Allmendinger 14th, Brad Keselowski 15th, Danica Patrick 19th, Matt Kenseth 20th, Chase Elliott 21st, Ryan Blaney 23rd, and Clint Bowyer would finish 40th after electrical problems would send him to the garage after just six laps.
