Tony Stewart holds off Johnson for first Las Vegas victory

LAS VEGAS — Tony Stewart scratched another racetrack off the bucket list.

Powering away from Jimmie Johnson after a restart with four laps left in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the reigning Sprint Cup champion took the checkered flag .461 seconds ahead of Johnson.

The victory was Stewart’s first at the 1.5-mile track, leaving only Darlington and Kentucky as active Cup tracks at which he hasn’t won. The win was Stewart’s 45th, 15th all-time, in 467 Cup starts.

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 11, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 11, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images for NASCAR)

“Man, I’m just finally glad to win one here,” said Stewart, who had the fastest car in last year’s race but squandered his winning chances when he incurred a penalty for dragging an air wrench from his pit stall. “We were so close last year and had a dominant car.

“I’m not sure we had the dominant car (Sunday), but we had an awful fast Chevy. Just glad to finally, finally get one at Vegas. We have to win ourselves a Southern 500 (at Darlington Raceway) and we’ll have won at all the tracks we’re racing at right now.” (Stewart apparently forgot Kentucky, which was added to the Cup schedule last year.)

Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards came home third through fifth, respectively. Biffle, who took over the series lead by 10 points over 11th-place finisher Kevin Harvick, has finished third in each of the three Cup races this season.

Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.

Stewart took two tires during a pit stop under caution on Lap 204 and pulled out to a comfortable lead over McMurray. A caution for debris slowed the field for the fifth time on Lap 228, and Stewart came to the pits for fuel only.

Brad Keselowski and Bowyer remained on the track and led the field to green on Lap 234, but Stewart regained the top spot with a three-wide dive to the inside moments after Keselowski crossed the stripe.

Stewart pulled out to a one-second lead over Keselowski before Landon Cassill’s blown engine caused the sixth caution. As Stewart sped away after the restart on Lap 250, Keselowski’s fuel pickup failed, and the driver of the No. 2 Dodge took his car to the garage.
 
In fact, it was Stewart’s prowess on the restarts that proved the difference.
 
“Every time the caution came out, I’m like ‘Not again,'” Stewart said. “You wonder how many times you’re going to give them a chance at it on a restart there, and when are they’re going to be able to capitalize on us.
 
“But, that was our strong suit today. We were really strong on the restarts. Just proud of the Hendrick engine department; making great steam with it. That was the key to our restarts was the power that we had. We could go without spinning the tires, and we could get a really good lead into Turn 1 and just haul butt down the backstretch.”
 
Johnson agreed that the restarts settled the issue.
 
“They were awfully strong,” he said. “The last two restarts . . . second to the last restart, I just blew it. He got away from me. The next to the last start, I felt like I got a good one. He still cruised away.

“My only chance was to be at his outside through (Turns) 1 and 2. Didn’t have that opportunity. He had the lane at that point. I drove my guts out, but just didn’t get it done.”

RACE RESULTS

 1.  (7) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267, $428,175.
 2.  (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, $281,776.
 3.  (9) Greg Biffle, Ford, 267, $207,365.
 4. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, $201,273.
 5. (21) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, $187,281.
 6.  (5) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 267, $150,854.
 7. (26) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, $127,865.
 8. (19) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 267, $152,498.
 9. (25) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 267, $112,865.
10.  (4) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, $118,240.
11.  (3) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, $153,641.
12. (16) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 267, $150,241.
13. (15) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 267, $133,313.
14. (22) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 267, $142,680.
15. (28) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 267, $129,413.
16.  (8) Joey Logano, Toyota, 267, $111,230.
17. (10) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267, $128,069.
18. (13) Mark Martin, Toyota, 267, $99,755.
19.  (1) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, $112,555.
20. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, $140,321.
21. (35) David Ragan, Ford, 267, $113,063.
22. (11) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 267, $140,691.
23.  (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 266, $138,363.
24. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, 266, $130,366.
25. (29) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 264, $122,846.
26. (24) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 264, $113,388.
27. (32) Casey Mears, Ford, 264, $101,788.
28. (43) David Stremme, Toyota, 263, $98,677.
29. (38) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 263, $85,905.
30. (41) Ken Schrader, Ford, 263, $97,630.
31. (31) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, 261, $85,430.
32. (20) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 259, $122,975.
33. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 258, $85,030.
34. (23) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 252, $92,830.
35. (12) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 251, $92,605.
36. (30) Landon Cassill, Toyota, Engine, 240, $110,750.
37. (14) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 238, $128,755.
38. (39) Michael McDowell, Ford, Rear Gear, 147, $83,982.
39. (37) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, Engine, 123, $88,450.
40. (33) Josh Wise, Ford, Brakes, 64, $81,675.
41. (40) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, Vibration, 44, $79,925.
42. (42) Timmy Hill, Ford, Accident, 42, $79,780.
43. (36) JJ Yeley, Toyota, Engine, 39, $80,044.

Race statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner:  137.524 mph.
Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 44 Secs.
Margin of Victory:  0.461 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  8 for 33 laps.
Lead Changes:  16 among 11 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Earnhardt Jr. 1-43; K. Harvick 44-45; G. Biffle 46; D. Earnhardt Jr. 47-73; G. Biffle 74; D. Ragan 75; K. Harvick 76-77; M. Kenseth 78-98; J. Johnson 99-133; T. Stewart 134-175; B. Keselowski 176; A. Allmendinger 177; J. Gordon 178-179; T. Stewart 180-230; C. Bowyer 231-233; T. Stewart 234-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  T. Stewart 3 times for 127 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 2 times for 70 laps; J. Johnson 1 time for 35 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 21 laps; K. Harvick 2 times for 4 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 3 laps; G. Biffle 2 times for 2 laps; J. Gordon 1 time for 2 laps; D. Ragan 1 time for 1 lap; B. Keselowski 1 time for 1 lap; A. Allmendinger 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 12 in Points: G. Biffle – 125; K. Harvick – 115; D. Hamlin – 113; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 107; M. Kenseth – 102; C. Edwards – 102; T. Stewart – 100; M. Truex Jr. – 98; J. Logano – 98; M. Martin – 97; P. Menard – 89; Kyle Busch – 87.

 

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.