Stewart Endures Another Hard Hit at Las Vegas
Crashes in Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series Races Makes for Long Weekend
Date: March 2, 2008
Event: UAW-Dodge 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 25th/43rd (Accident, completed 107 of 267 laps)
Winner: Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)
Tony Stewart experienced a case of déjà vu in Sunday’s UAW-Dodge 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) had led six laps and was running solidly in the top-10 until a blown right front tire on lap 107 sent Stewart hard into the SAFER Barrier that lines the outside retaining wall in turn four.
“That’s the hardest one I’ve taken in a long time,” said Stewart after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “It just blew a right front I guess and went straight in. It didn’t try to turn or anything. It was a real tight part of the corner. It hit so hard it’s got my lower back sore and made my legs feel about half numb. They just tingled until we got to the infield care center.
“I tried to knock the fence down yesterday in the Nationwide race and thought I’d made some ground on it and tried to finish it off, but it shows how good the soft walls are. They still don’t go anywhere.”
In Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race, Stewart led twice for 61 laps and had the car to beat until a lap-137 crash pitched him into the turn three wall after contact with David Reutimann.
“Yesterday, I just hit my right foot on the pedals because I hit (the wall) with the left side (of the car). It just bruised it. It bounced off it and hit it again today,” said Stewart, who wound up 27th in the Nationwide Series race and 43rd in the Sprint Cup race. “Today’s hit was probably 10 times harder than yesterday’s. My legs were tingling and my lower back is sore. That’s probably from tensing up on the way to hitting the wall. When you see the wreck coming and you know you’re not going to miss it, every muscle in your body tenses up and that makes it worse.”
Despite feeling sore and knowing some bruising would have to be dealt with in the days to come, Stewart declared himself healthy for the team’s test Monday and Tuesday at Phoenix International Raceway and the upcoming Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“I’ll be all right for the test tomorrow in Phoenix,” Stewart said. “It’s going to be a miserable two days. I was already sore today and my foot was sore from the wreck yesterday. It didn’t make it any better today. We’ll do what we have to do the next two days and get ready for Atlanta.”
Stewart’s JGR teammates – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch – finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in the UAW-Dodge 400.
Busch remains the lead JGR driver in the championship point race. His 11th-place finish dropped him out of the point lead and into second in the standings after round three of 36. Busch trails news series leader Carl Edwards by 21 points.
Stewart and Hamlin occupy the 11th and 20th positions, respectively. Stewart dropped eight spots and is 136 points out of first. Hamlin gained 11 places and is 196 points out of the lead.
Edwards took the point lead by winning the UAW-Dodge 400. It was his ninth career Sprint Cup victory and his second in a row, as the driver of the No. 99 Ford won last weekend’s rain-delayed race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. However, in post-race inspection, NASCAR officials discovered that the cover to the No. 99 car’s oil cooling tank was missing. NASCAR confiscated the car and will take it to its research and development center in Concord, N.C., where it will undergo further evaluation. The win will stand, but any possible points penalties will be announced on Tuesday, according to NASCAR.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished second in the UAW-Dodge 400, while Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton rounded out the top-five. Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Travis Kvapil, Hamlin and Mark Martin comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There was an event record 11 caution periods for 44 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the March 9 Atlanta 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race begins at 2 p.m. EST with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
