Backstretch Motorsports

LONG POND, PA - Tony Stewart has accomplished what many deemed impossible for a first-year owner-driver. Winning the Sprint Cup All-Star race, leading the Sprint Cup points standings before the half-way point in the regular season, seeing his teammate car and driver in the top five standings, and now capturing a victory on one the tougher tracks and races on the circuit, the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway - doing it by fuel milage gamble. Something Stewart is not known for, saving gas and keeping out of the throttle.

“I didn’t think Tony could save that much fuel, but he did a really good job.” said runner-up Carl Edwards.

Another entry on Stewart’s ample racing resume’ as Stewart Hass Racing’s burgeoning ‘dream-season’ ramps up to a higher level. Racing his way from starting shotgun on the field because of having to go to a back-up car to Vcitory Lane.

Known more for being the flat-out, hard-core, Stewart commanded the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, holding down his speed to the minimum needed to stay ahead of runner-up Carl Edwards, who also was saving fuel, Stewart crossed the finish line 2.004 seconds ahead of the No. 99 Ford. David Reutimann ran third, followed by Jeff Gordon, who benefitted from a fuel-mileage play by No. 24 Dupont Chevy crew chief Steve Letarte, and Ryan Newman.

Stewart, who increased his lead in the Cup standings to 71 points over Gordon, lost more than four seconds of a 6.8-second lead over Edwards in the final 10 laps.

“Breathe easy, boys, we’re gonna make it,” Stewart radioed to his crew as he rolled through the final corner. “God, I’m proud of you guys. You make me look like a genius in here.”

“We didn’t tell you how to save gas,” crew chief Darian Grubb retorted.

Stewart did that on his own, and he did so masterfully. He took the No. 14 car number to Victory Lane in a Cup race for the first time since Dec. 8, 1968, in Montgomery, Ala., when Bobby Allison beat Richard Petty to the finish line by four feet. Not that the No. 14 has run all of them, but the Pocono 500 was the 1,329th Cup race since Allison’s win.

Stewart competed for a decade and won 33 races and two championships at Joe Gibbs Racing, but Sunday’s victory had special significance.

Stewart became the first owner/driver to win in NSCS competition since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville Speedway in September, 1998.

“I’ve always had a great group of people to work with at Gibbs, but it’s just a little different when it’s your own, you know, when you’re the one that’s got to be accountable for (it),” Stewart said.

Edwards, who won at Pocono last August by conserving fuel, lost the race off pit road to Stewart on the final stop for both cars, under a caution for debris on Lap 159 that was extended to seven laps when a light rain shower crossed the track.

“Tony beat us off of pit road on that last stop by about three quarters of a car length or something, and that’s primarily because of his pit stall (Stewart had pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road).”

Edwards, who led a race-high 103 of 200 laps gained five positions in the standings to sixth, 281 point behind Stewart.

Notes: Because of a crash in Saturday’s practice, Stewart was driving a backup car and was forced to begin the race last. … There were no major issues with NASCAR’s new double-file restart rule. Given that there were only five cautions in the race, the new format played a minor role. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran 27th in his second race with crew chief Lance McGrew. He fell two spots to 20th in the Cup standings. … A water pump failure dropped Kurt Busch to 37th at the finish, 18 laps down and cost him a position in the standings. He’s now fifth, 224 points behind Stewart. … Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel on the final lap but coasted home in seventh place to remain third in points. … Denny Hamlin’s Toyota stopped running on the first lap because of a fuel-system issue and again on Lap 13 to cause the first two cautions of the race. Hamlin lost 22 laps during repairs and finished 38th, dropping five positions to 12th in the standings.

Race Fast Facts
Pocono Raceway
POCONO 500

Race Winner: Tony Stewart
Age: 38
Team : No. 14 - Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet
Owner: Margaret Haas
Crew Chief: Darian Grubb
Tony Stewart won the POCONO 500, his 34th victory in 370 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This marks the first win in the series by a driver-owner since 9-27-98 (Ricky Rudd, Martinsville Speedway.)
This is his first victory and 10th top-10 finish in 2009.
This is his second victory and 15th top-10 finish in 21 races at Pocono Raceway.
Carl Edwards (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in nine races at Pocono Raceway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2009.
David Reutimann (third) posted his first top-10 finish in five races at Pocono Raceway.
Joey Logano (23rd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Tony Stewart leads the point standings by 71 points over Jeff Gordon.

NASCAR Race Number 14
Unofficial Race Results for the Pocono 500 - Sunday, June 7, 2009
Pocono Raceway - Long Pond, PA - 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 500 Miles - Purse: $5,077,262

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps Rating
1 1 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet 200 190 5 $238,798 Running 2 39 122.5
2 11 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 200 180 10 $210,356 Running 6 103 138.5
3 13 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 200 165 $157,148 Running 99.6
4 2 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 200 165 5 $149,976 Running 2 9 101.7
5 5 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation/U.S. ARMY Chevrolet 200 160 5 $131,429 Running 1 1 91.7
6 20 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie/Kingsford/Clorox Toyota 200 150 $107,998 Running 85.4
7 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 200 151 5 $147,351 Running 2 31 116.1
8 15 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 200 142 $117,623 Running 71.3
9 10 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 200 138 $124,206 Running 96.5
10 26 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 200 134 $99,660 Running 76.9
11 9 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 200 135 5 $96,775 Running 1 4 117.3
12 16 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 200 127 $85,075 Running 84.3
13 22 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Vise-Grip Ford 200 129 5 $85,150 Running 1 1 70.7
14 21 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 200 126 5 $88,650 Running 1 1 70.7
15 14 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 200 118 $113,248 Running 88.6
16 8 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 200 120 5 $115,840 Running 3 6 106.1
17 32 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota 200 112 $80,750 Running 54.3
18 19 1 Martin Truex Jr. TomTom Chevrolet 200 109 $107,440 Running 78.7
19 12 5 Mark Martin Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 200 111 5 $80,100 Running 1 1 97.6
20 25 43 Reed Sorenson Valvoline Dodge 200 103 $110,876 Running 66.4
21 17 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 200 100 $99,748 Running 81.5
22 6 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 200 97 $115,723 Running 83.0
23 23 20 Joey Logano # Home Depot Toyota 200 94 $117,451 Running 59.9
24 24 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 200 91 $108,078 Running 68.1
25 27 19 Elliott Sadler Best Buy Dodge 200 93 5 $78,900 Running 1 2 55.8
26 31 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 200 85 $78,500 Running 55.0
27 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet 200 82 $85,000 Running 67.5
28 28 96 Bobby Labonte Ask.com Ford 200 79 $97,479 Running 57.2
29 33 98 Paul Menard Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Ford 200 76 $99,606 Running 49.5
30 30 44 A J Allmendinger Stanley Tools Dodge 199 73 $67,050 Running 73.1
31 34 7 Robby Gordon Pittsburgh Paints Toyota 199 70 $86,160 Running 44.9
32 37 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 199 67 $78,298 Running 43.9
33 42 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet 198 64 $66,025 Running 42.5
34 29 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge Dodge 198 61 $98,315 Running 47.9
35 35 34 John Andretti Taco Bell Chevrolet 198 58 $74,625 Running 34.6
36 43 51 Dexter Bean # Livewire Energy Dodge 196 55 $65,450 Running 29.1
37 4 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 182 57 5 $83,275 Running 1 2 90.2
38 7 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 178 49 $83,150 Running 37.4
39 36 09 Sterling Marlin Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Dodge 56 46 $65,025 Fuel Pump 28.8
40 41 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 37 43 $64,875 Vibration 27.4
41 39 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 36 40 $64,725 Vibration 31.5
42 38 71 David Gilliland Charter Air/TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 34 37 $64,575 Ignition 33.5
43 40 36 Patrick Carpentier Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota 32 34 $64,952 Vibration 30.4
Race Comments: Before an estimated Pocono 500 crowd of 105,000, Tony Stewart got his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory as a driver-owner.
Prior to the race’s start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for reasons indicated: No. 7 (driver change); No. 14 (back-up car).
Failed to Qualify: (3) 75, 64, 37.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 36 Mins, 35 Secs. Average Speed: 138.515 MPH Margin of Victory: 2.004 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 20 laps: Laps: 3-4 (No. 11 stopped on track [None]); 14-16 (No. 11 stopped on track [None]); 105-108 (Debris Turn 2 [96]); 114-117 (Debris short-chute [19]); 159-165 (Debris Turn 3 [55]).
Lead Changes: 22 among 12 drivers: T. Stewart 0; J. Gordon 1-5; J. Johnson 6-13; R. Newman 14; J. Johnson 15-37; C. Edwards 38-44; M. Martin 45; Kurt Busch 46-47; C. Edwards 48-76; T. Stewart 77-78; C. Edwards 79-100; G. Biffle 101-104; M. Kenseth 105; C. Edwards 106-117; M. Kenseth 118-120; C. Edwards 121-136; M. Kenseth 137-138; J. McMurray 139; E. Sadler 140-141; C. Mears 142; C. Edwards 143-159; J. Gordon 160-163; T. Stewart 164-200.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) T. Stewart 2,043;(2) J. Gordon 1,972;(3) J. Johnson 1,940;(4) R. Newman 1,840;(5) Kurt Busch 1,819;(6) C. Edwards 1,762;(7) G. Biffle 1,753;(8) M. Kenseth 1,745;(9) Kyle Busch 1,731;(10) J. Burton 1,725;(11) D. Reutimann 1,701;(12) D. Hamlin 1,679.
Coos Light Pole Award : Not awarded, # Qualifying rained out DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14 EA Sports Move of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Jimmie Johnson, #48 (164.477 mph, Lap 6) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Carl Edwards, #99
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : David Reutimann, #00 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14 (.53 sec )
O’Reilly Auto Parts People, Service and Performance : Carl Edwards, #99 276.977 seconds Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Tony Stewart, #14 Tissot Pit Road Precision : Jimmie Johnson, #48 188.419 seconds
USG : Tony Stewart, #14 WIX Lap Leader : Tony Stewart, #14 39 Laps)
Next Race: Jun. 14, 2009 - Michigan International Speedway