Stewart sees Daytona victory go up in smoke
'It’s probably one of the most disappointing moments of my racing career'
 | Ryan Newman, No. 12, passes Tony Stewart, No. 20, on the backstretch as he gets drafting help from Kurt Busch, No 2, on the final lap of the 50th running of the Daytona 500. |
Mark Young / AP |
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - As Tony Stewart glumly entered the infield media center at Daytona International Speedway early Sunday evening following yet another disappointing finish in the Daytona 500, a NASCAR official introduced him by saying, “We have our third-place winner, er, finisher, Tony Stewart.”
That is a good indicator of how close Stewart came to shedding the unwanted title of, “Best active driver never to win the Daytona 500.” One moment it appeared he was headed for the most cherished checkered flag in all of NASCAR. And a breath later, he was merely a third-place finisher. Another bitter no-cigar moment.
For a driver who has known his fair share of frustration during his racing career, this was perhaps the lowest moment of them all. Stewart has had plenty of success throughout his nine seasons on the circuit. He has won 32 races and captured the series championship twice. He has won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the treasured track of his youth while growing up in Indiana. He also has won several times at Daytona, including as recently as Saturday in the NASCAR Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series.
But this was different. This was the Daytona 500. Some call it the Super Bowl of auto racing, but it is more like NASCAR’s version of The Masters golf tournament. Win this single event, and you are remembered forever. Never win it, and regardless of what else you accomplish, there is still something painfully missing from your resume.
Stewart was all too aware of this fact in the moments following Sunday’s race. He had led the race when the field of cars took the white flag entering the final lap. He led through turns 1 and 2 and down most of the lengthy backstretch.
Then it was gone. The lead, the dream, the ultimate prize. The man nicknamed “Smoke” saw his Daytona 500 victory go up in smoke. Blown away by the one-team punch of Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, who zipped past Stewart entering turn 3 as if he had suddenly slammed on the brakes.
“It’s probably one of the most disappointing moments of my racing career,” the often-volatile Stewart said later in a monotone voice tinged with sadness. “It breaks your heart. You spend 10 days here trying to win the biggest stock car race of the year. When you can’t capitalize on it, it breaks your heart. It just absolutely crushes you.
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It was Stewart’s fifth top-10 finish in the past six Daytona 500s, and his third top-five. What made it worse for Stewart this time around was that it was a case where he partly blamed himself for the missed opportunity. As he roared down the high side of the backstretch with Newman behind him in second place and Busch in third, there was a question as to whether the Penske teammates would be able to make a pass in the final half-lap. On the television broadcast of the race, analyst Darrell Waltrip predicated that the duo would not be able to get by him.
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Then Stewart made a decision he almost immediately regretted. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, was running on the low side of the track. Kyle Busch’s car had been dominant most of the day, having led 86 of the race’s 200 laps. Using the logic that two cars are better than one at a restrictor-plate track such as Daytona, Stewart dropped low in anticipation of receiving a valuable push from his teammate.
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