IS ON THE TRADE RUMOR TRAIL
CONCORD, N.C. - Tony Stewart won his first race as a team owner Saturday night, breaking through for a $1 million payday with a victory in the annual All-Star race.
Stewart passed Matt Kenseth with two laps to go in a thrilling final 10-lap shootout to win for the first time in 11 All-Star event starts. It was the first victory since he left Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of last year to become co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.
In just 6 months, Stewart has turned his new toy into a championship contender.
He came into the race second in the Sprint Cup Series standings - surprising because most people predicted a rocky first year for a driver accustomed to winning. Instead, he's put both himself and teammate Ryan Newman (eighth in points) in position for berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
The win at Lowe's Motor Speedway was in front of co-owner Gene Haas, who was at the track for the first time since the completion of a 16-month federal prison term for tax fraud.
"Man, he's not going to miss a week now," Stewart said. "He gets here and we win a race."
Stewart became the second driver/owner to win the All-Star race, joining Geoff Bodine, the 1994 winner. *
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