Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Tony Stewart Wins Coke Zero 400 at Daytona

Tony Stewart won for the third time this year on Saturday night in Daytona in a finish that people will talk about for years. In his rookie season as a team owner and driver, Stewart, who is sponsored by Safety-Kleen, held off a hard charging Kyle Busch on the last lap. When Kyle tried to block Stewart coming to the finish line, it was all over for Busch. Busch ended up flying though the air and got rear-ended by Kasey Kahne and then T-boned by Joey Lagano. Needless to say, Stewart had the best car all night. When you come to race at Daytona with restrictor plates, the field races very close. There were a number of drivers who took wild rides at 200 miles per hour. Mark Martin was the first to visit the inside of the turn four wall. Clint Bowyer, in his Safety-Kleen sponsored Chevy, crashed coming off turn two. The "big one" came on lap 77 after David Stremme got spun on the backstretch by Kasey Kahne. Eight cars were involved in this wreck, including Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who wouldn't finish the race. On the last lap, you knew that the Fourth of July fireworks were going to be set off. Coming off turn two, Kyle Busch made his move and passed Stewart. Busch led all the way down the backstretch and then Stewart went to the inside as they entered turn four. Busch paced Stewart through turn four coming to the tri oval. Stewart dove to the inside and Busch blocked him. Then Stewart made his move to go to the outside. That is where Busch messed up. Stewart held his line and Busch came across the nose of the Burger King Chevy and got a Whopper in the face, a Kasey Kahne Budweiser in his back end and a Joey Lagano Home Depot in his side. Busch walked away from the car and was taken to the Infield Care Center and released. Jimmie Johnson watched the whole thing happen and drove around the spinning Busch and crossed the finish line second behind Stewart after a solid race despite not leading any laps. Denny Hamlin had probably the second best car of the day, leading 63 of the 160 laps and came home with a third place finish. Carl Edwards finished fourth, while the Penske Racing Safety-Kleen driver Kurt Busch came back from a cut tire to finish fifth. Marcos Ambrose, another Safety-Kleen driver, continues to have good runs as he finished sixth at the end, followed by Brian Vickers in seventh. The Sanford branch weathered the heat and helped out at the track this past weekend. Thanks to Richard Baum and Antoine Cockerhan for all the help. Next race is Chicagoland next Saturday night.