So when Regan Smith slid under the line Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway to finish first, Stewart was certain he’d be awarded his first victory of the season.
NASCAR agreed with him, and Stewart made his first trip to Talladega’s Victory Lane in 20 career starts. But Smith was adamant he’d done nothing wrong, arguing that the two-time series champion forced him below the line in a desperate blocking attempt.
“You’re darn right I did. I’ve lost Daytona 500s, I’ve lost races here at Talladega because somebody blocked,” Stewart said. “That’s the name of the game. There’s always been people blocking. The nice thing is I was actually on the right end of it this time.
“Trust me, I’ve got no regrets about what I did. I did exactly what I needed to do to win the race, and it worked out.”
Smith was in second and trailed Stewart for the final three laps, and the rookie made one attempt to grab his first career victory by ducking inside of Stewart to attempt a pass.
Stewart wouldn’t relent, moving with Smith down the track until Smith dove below the yellow line to make the pass. He moved back onto the racing surface in front of Stewart and cruised to the finish line.
NASCAR reviewed the move - a driver is allowed to make the pass if officials believe he was forced under the line - and declared it illegal. Smith went with Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Max Siegel to argue the decision, but was rebuffed and dropped to 18th in the final finishing order.
“We just watched the tape. They can argue about it for five years, they’re not going to change the decision. That’s not how NASCAR works,” Smith said. “I totally disagree with them 110 percent. I clearly moved to the outside, moved back to the inside. Tony made a move to the high side and made a move to the bottom side.
“My nose was in there. The only other option I had was to wreck him.”
The ruling helped Stewart snap a 43-race winless streak dating to Watkins Glen last year and allowed him to cross Talladega off his list of tracks where he’d failed to earn a win. Talladega has taunted him for 10 years, as Stewart finished second a maddening six times.
It looked as if he’d again come up short in his final race here with Joe Gibbs Racing, especially after he was caught in a Friday accident when Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew a tire. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli decided to fix the damaged car instead of moving to the backup, and the No. 20 crew worked late Friday night making the repairs.
Then a poor qualifying effort on Saturday - Stewart started 34th - made some wonder if the team had made the right decision in sticking with the damaged car.
Stewart proved everyone wrong on Sunday with flawless strategy that helped him avoid a late 12-car accident and execute a perfect restart when Smith and two of his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates were lurking behind him on the final sprint to the finish.
“I knew with three DEI cars behind me, it was going to be tough to hold on,” Stewart said.
A NASCAR-record 28 drivers led and there were 31 lead changes. The race also featured several tire failures and lived up to its reputation as the “wild card” of the 10 Chase events. Because of its white-knuckle racing conditions, Talladega is the one Chase race every driver fears will ruin his title hopes.
It most certainly did for Denny Hamlin, who was taken to a Birmingham hospital after his tire exploded while he was leading and his car slammed into the outside wall. He finished 39th and dropped to last in the Chase field.
Hamlin was held at the hospital Sunday night for further evaluation. He was alert and awake when he was transported to the UAB Medical Center, but was complaining of a headache and possibly had a concussion. He was also favoring his right foot after a slow exit from his crumpled car.
The Roush Fenway Racing trio of Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, who were at the front of a 12-car accident with 16 laps to go, struggled. It started when Edwards tried to give Biffle a shove to the front, but the bump caused Biffle to spin into Kenseth as all three Roush Fenway Racing cars crashed.
The carnage spread to Chase drivers Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch, but Johnson deftly maneuvered through the wreckage and pushed his lead in the standings to 72 points over Edwards. Biffle is in third, and Stewart jumped four spots to seventh.
“I was just pushing Greg as hard as I could. This is my fault, I apologize to everyone caught up in the wreck,” Edwards said. “It’s my fault. I feel bad I took my teammates out. I know Matt’s mad, and I’m sure Greg is mad. I always worry about the idiots when I come here and today it was me.”
