Tony Stewart wins Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire – NASCAR news
Tony Stewart is having the time of his life as he made it two consecutive wins in a row by taking the chequered flag at Sylvania 300 in New Hampshire.
Stewart, who was winless before the Chase started, has now won the first two races and has climbed up to first place, overtaking Kevin Harvick.
For Stewart, the race was a flip-flop from 2010. Last year at this track, Stewart was leading Clint Bowyer but ran out of fuel and lost the race to Clint Bowyer. This year, 2011, it was Clint Bowyer who was leading the race but ran out of fuel to gift the
race to Tony Stewart.
The race winner was not the only thing resembling last weekend’s race in Chicago as this race also turned into a fuel mileage gamble for most teams. Stewart once again found himself on the right side of the things as he coasted to victory in the final three
laps as cars around him tried to conserve fuel until the end.
Apart from Stewart, only four other Chase drivers managed to make it to the top 10 in the race.
Brad Keselowski finished in 2nd place after a great comeback midway during the race. He was lying in 24th place at one point in the race and will be delighted with the result.
Greg Biffle finished third with Jeff Gordon reviving his championship hopes with a solid 4th place. Brian Vickers continued his impressing weekend with a 5th place finish while Matt Kenseth, who started
off from 27th place, finished 6th.
The only other Chase racer in the top 10 was Carl Edwards, who finished in 8th place.
For the rest of the Chase racers, the race represented lost points as Kyle Busch finished in 11th place. Kevin Harvick lost his overall points lead to Tony Stewart after a 12th place finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished
17th with Jimmie Johnson ending up in 18th.
Kurt Busch had a torrid day as his car failed the early morning inspection and he finished in 22nd place.
Stewart’s teammate and pole sitter Ryan Newman also had a race to forget. Newman led the first 60 laps of the race but He was struck with tragedy at the first pit stop as his car had an airhose problem and he lost a lot of time in that interval. He then
had a tire going down and ended up in 25th position.
Denny Hamlin is all but out of the Championship as he finished in a miserable 29th place.
The win takes Stewart 7 points clear of Kevin Harvick at the top of the series table. Brad Keselowski stands third with Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon placed 4th and 5th. Five times defending champion Jimmie Johnson is all the way down in 10th place
and it looks like the streak will end at five for him.
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