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While Chase drivers around him run out of gas, Tony Stewart has the fuel to go the distance and inject the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a dose of dominance that has him a formidable front-runner for a third title.
While Chase drivers around him run out of gas, Tony Stewart has the fuel to go the distance and inject the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a dose of dominance that has him a formidable front-runner for a third title.
Stewart smoked ’em again Sunday and made it two for two in the Chase, pulling ahead when Clint Bowyer ran out of gas with two laps left to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
“You don’t see it coming,” Stewart said.
Stewart is on a roll with eight races left, building on last week’s Chase-opening victory at Chicagoland Speedway with another strong late-race surge at New Hampshire. Both of his victories this season have come in the Chase and have propelled him to the top of the standings, seven points ahead of Kevin Harvick.
Stewart, who won Cup titles in 2002 and 2005, is the second driver to ever open the Chase with consecutive victories.
Fellow Chase contender Brad Keselowski was second, while Jeff Gordon jumped from 11th to sixth in the standings with a fourth place finish.
Meanwhile, five-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson finished 18th and dropped to 10th in the Chase standings.
“Today, it just didn’t have the speed,” Johnson said. “We’ll take it on the chin and go on to the next one.”
The outcome was a complete reversal of the race at New Hampshire last fall, when Stewart’s tank ran dry a lap from the checkered flag and Bowyer pounced for the victory.
“If that’s not a flip-flop from last year, I don’t know what is,” Stewart said over the radio as he crossed the finish line.
Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in Dallas at the Texas Motorplex in the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
•Sebastian Vettel won the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday but will have to wait a little longer to clinch his second Formula One world championship. While the championship is not mathematically over, Vettel leads the drivers’ standings by 124 points with five races left and is virtually certain to take back-to-back titles.
Tony Stewart?s crew celebrated at the pit wall after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Sylvania 300 in Loudon, N.H. Stewart has won the first two races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Tony Stewart wins second consecutive Sprint Cup race Area Sprint Cup drivers Earnhardt feeling better about title hopes Newman romps to pole position at New Hampshire Duno applies talents to stock cars Auto racing notebook Stewart ends victory drought with win at Chicagoland Area Sprint Cup drivers Stewart opens Chase with first victory of season Auto racing notebook Gordon dares to dream of fifth title Bowyer closer to getting a new ride Gordon offers conspiracy theory for Harvick?s Richmond win Kansas Speedway extends ticket office hours Newman hopes to follow Johnson as next Sprint Cup champ Five who can beat Jimmie Johnson Auto racing notebook Harvick wins Richmond, now tied atop Chase standings Race for the Chase Area Sprint Cup drivers While Chase drivers around him run out of gas, Tony Stewart has the fuel to go the distance and inject the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a dose of dominance that has him a formidable front-runner for a third title.
Stewart smoked ?em again Sunday and made it two for two in the Chase, pulling ahead when Clint Bowyer ran out of gas with two laps left to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.
Stewart is on a roll with eight races left, building on last week?s Chase-opening victory at Chicagoland Speedway with another strong late-race surge at New Hampshire. Both of his victories this season have come in the Chase and have propelled him to the top of the standings, seven points ahead of Kevin Harvick.
Fellow Chase contender Brad Keselowski was second, while Jeff Gordon jumped from 11th to sixth in the standings with a fourth place finish.
The outcome was a complete reversal of the race at New Hampshire last fall, when Stewart?s tank ran dry a lap from the checkered flag and Bowyer pounced for the victory.
Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in Dallas at the Texas Motorplex in the second of six races in the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
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