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Stewart Soldiers to Seventh in Samsung 500 at Texas

Home Depot Driver Scratches Out Fifth Top-10 Finish of 2008

Date: April 6, 2008
Event: Samsung 500 (Round 7 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 24th/7th (Running, completed 339 of 339 laps in a green/white/checkered finish)
Winner: Carl Edwards of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)

Sunday’s Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth was not a race Tony Stewart enjoyed. But after finishing a solid seventh to earn his fifth top-10 of the 2008 season and gaining one spot in the championship point standings to rise to fifth, the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing had little to complain about.

With a car that was loose on entry into the track’s corners, tight in the middle, and loose coming off – and stayed that way throughout the three-and-a-half hour race no matter what adjustments were made to the chassis – Stewart persevered and scratched-out a decent finish.

“It seemed like the whole race track had a lot less grip than what we had yesterday (in practice),” said Stewart’s crew chief Greg Zipadelli. “The temperature was up. We were a lot tighter in the center and loose in entry and looser on exit. I think track position was important. We started 24th and that just killed us. We were decent, we just could never get any better.”

In a nutshell, those words best sum up the No. 20 team’s day. Not great. Not bad. But decent. And the kind of day that’s necessary when competing for a season-long championship.

The seventh-place finish was Stewart’s eighth top-10 result in 13 career Sprint Cup races at Texas, and it puts him just 108 points behind championship point leader Jeff Burton.

Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin – also had decent outings at Texas, as they finished third and fifth, respectively. It marked the first time since September 2007 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway that all three Joe Gibbs Racing cars finished in the top-10 of a Sprint Cup race. In that event, Stewart finished second, Hamlin was sixth and former Joe Gibbs Racing driver J.J. Yeley was 10th.

After Texas, Busch remains the lead Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the championship point race, as his third-place finish moved him up two spots to third, 64 points arrears Burton. Hamlin climbed one spot to seventh, and is now 152 points out of first.

Carl Edwards won the Samsung 500 to score his 10th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his second at Texas. Edwards joined Burton as the only multiple race winners in Sprint Cup competition at Texas.

Finishing .399 of a second behind Edwards was Jimmie Johnson, while Busch, Ryan Newman and Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Burton, Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 27 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 339-lap race, which was extended five laps beyond its scheduled 334-lap distance due to a green/white/checkered finish.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the April 12 Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix International Raceway. The race begins at 8:30 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 8 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.