Tony "Smoke" Stewart's #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevy found Victory Lane for the first time since winning his first Sprint Cup Championship as an owner/driver yesterday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He took the lead with 30 laps left and held off Jimmie Johnson's hard-charging #48 Lowe's Chevy on 3 more restarts to win the Kobalt Tools 400. It was "Smoke's" first career win at Vegas, leaving only Darlington, SC & NSCS newcomer Kentucky as the ONLY tracks he has never won in his career.
For Johnson, it's his second straight Top 5 finish, but had to start the race in the rear after crashing the #48 in practice Saturday. Johnson is facing the possibility of not having crew chief Chad Knaus starting in Bristol, TN next weekend pending a hearing tomorrow in Concord, NC stemming from illegal modification of "C spots" February 17th prior to the non-points Bud Shootout race before the Daytona 500. Knaus was fined $100,000, docked 25 driver & 25 owner points, but appealed. Should the #48 team lose the appeal tomorrow, Knaus & car chief Ron Malec's 6-race suspension would begin Sunday with the Food City 500, the next stop on the 2012 Sprint Cup circuit.
For the 3rd week in a row, Greg Biffle's #16 3M Ford finished 3rd and now leads the points race leaving Vegas. Ryan Newman's #39 Quicken Loans Chevy finished 4th & Carl Edwards' #99 AFLAC Ford rounded out the Top 5 at Vegas yesterday.
Denny Hamlin's #11 FedEx TOYOTA, which led the points going in, had a disappointing day and leaves Vegas in 3rd, 12 points behind "The Biff". Kevin Harvick's #29 Budweiser Chevy trades places with Hamlin and is now in second place, 10 points behind Biffle. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s #88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevy, now 132 races and counting without a win, is now 4th in points, 18 points behind. Last but not least, Matt Kenseth's #17 Zest Ford rounds out the Top 5, 23 points behind "The Biff".
Speaking of Bristol, NASCAR makes its first of two visits Sunday for the Food City 500. Kyle Busch drove the #18 M&Ms TOYOTA to Victory Lane in the spring race in Bristol a year ago. "NASCAR on FOX" coverage starts at 11:30a Sunday with Chris Myers, Michael & Darrell Waltrip, plus Jeff Hammond with the prerace show.
|