It took three years, but Tony Stewart finally found himself back in victory lane after taking the checkered flag at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. With 20 laps remaining, pit stops and cautions would change the order of the race and Tony Stewart would take his spot at the front with the leaders of the day right behind him. Every time we would get past the guys that we were racing, a caution would come out and those guys would beat us out of the pits. “It could have worked either way”. But Turn 11 has been a thorn for Hamlin – “I think I went six straight years with somebody wrecking me in Turn 11”, he said last week – and the nightmare continued.
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“Especially at a place you’re going to for the last time, it means a bunch”, Stewart said. “It was the ideal opportunity for us”.
“If he wanted to go around me on the outside, I was going to give him all the room he wanted”.
Though disappointed at the outcome, Hamlin didn’t begrudge Stewart the victory, given the circumstances. But knowing all Stewart’s been through as of late and that this is final season, any bitterness Hamlin quickly subsided. “I had a little too much rear brake in Turn 7 and wheel-hopped it two laps in a row”, Stewart said. “But I’ve felt like if we got things right, that it was still there”.
Stewart led 22 of the 110 laps, guiding the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet to a.625-second margin of victory in the race. I just slid up just a little in the middle (coming into Turn 11) and that allowed him to get a really good run.
“I made mistakes the last two laps”, Stewart said. “I thought it was a great race”.
It was a remarkably accident free race, in sharp contrast to Saturday’s Chevy’s Fresh Mex 200, a NASCAR Pro Series race that had a lot in common with the demolition derby.
“It had to be an ignition or wire fire”.
After the race Hamlin offered Stewart his heartfelt congratulations.
“Feel like we had the best auto; we just couldn’t get track position”, Truex said. I’m sure a wire was rubbing on something and just shorted out and burned up. The driver that was seemingly invincible, wasn’t able to be touched for the first couple months of the season. I was sitting third, watching those two guys. “If I don’t win another one, it’s cool to win the last one here”.
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Harvick was sixth, Kyle Busch seventh, while Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.
SONOMA, Calif. – NASCAR is unlikely to add a road course to the Chase for the championship schedule because it would be hard to get one moved into the Sprint Cup schedule.
The victory, Stewart’s first of the year but eighth on a road course, puts the three-time champion into contention for a season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs – because of missing several races this year because of injury, he needs to win a race and finish in the top 30 in points.
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“The fun part was discussing what we wanted to do”, Stewart said. “We’re getting closer to where we need to be – we’re not there yet but we’re getting closer”.
