Posted on 08/08/2005 10:10:18 AM PDT by Panerai
Tony Stewart was too spent to climb the fence right away and too happy to care.
A lifelong quest to win a race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ended yesterday with Stewart finally getting his ``Holy Grail,'' and he made sure to draw out the celebration as long as he could while the partisan crowd roared with approval.
It wasn't the native Hoosier's beloved Indianapolis 500, but the former IndyCar champion, who has longed to win a race at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, held off a determined challenge from Kasey Kahne to grab an emotional victory in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. It was the fourth victory in the last six races and seventh top-10 finish in a row for the hottest driver in NASCAR, moving him into the lead in the Nextel Cup standings for the first time since he wrapped up his only Cup title in 2002.
"I wish I could put it into words,'' Stewart said. ``It's been my entire life.'' This one was up for grabs nearly to the end, with Stewart taking his first lead by passing Brian Vickers 60 with laps to go. But the 25-year-old Kahne, last year's top rookie, didn't make it easy, passing Stewart for the lead with 27 laps left in the 160-lap event.
Stewart stayed with Kahne, though. After Jimmie Johnson – who came into the race as the points leader – blew a tire and hit the wall on lap 144, bringing out the last of nine caution flags in the race, Stewart took advantage of the restart on lap on lap 150 to regain the lead.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.bostonherald.com ...
It was a great race. It wasn't much fun trying to get through all the traffic on the west side of Indy though.
I watched it on TV and I agree with you - it was a great race. I'm very happy that Tony fulfilled his boyhood dream of winning at Indy.
Man, Tony could really hurt somebody with that trophy. :)
Seriously, good to see him win in his hometown. It's been a weird NASCAR season overall. Can't believe Little E is going to miss the top 10, but it sure looks that way.
}:-)4
Don't worry. With the current racing media we have, he will ALWAYS be the story. If he's winning, it's a story. If he's losing, it's a story.
Don't get me wrong, I like Dale Jr. But way too many in the media think that ALL race fans are Jr fans. It makes me wonder what they will talk about during the last 10 races when #8 isn't the chase.
For the record, they are just as guilty of treating Jeff Gordon the same way, but at least Gordon is a 4-time cup winner which makes missing the chase more of a story.
I have been a die hard Tony Stewart fan from the beginning. It was a great race to watch yesterday. Now he is costing me more money as everytime he wins a race, I buy one of those limited edition plaques with the piece of the tire and picture. They are really nice and cost $50 but they are limited to like 320 of them. Most have gone up in value 4-5 fold, so I try to look at it as an investment. Now I have to save up so I can see it live in Vegas in March 2006.
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