Tony Stewart’s Top 10 Racing Headaches
Tony Stewart drives hard and hates losing. He’s also
an expert on pushing his car, and maybe a few track
officials, to the limit. Tony Stewart knows legendary
headaches and each month he’ll unveil one of his
Top 10 Cool Orange Racing Headaches.
Tony Stewart’s Top 10 Racing Headaches
- #5
-
2007 – After scoring back to back
wins in the Budweiser Shootout
and Gatorade Duel in Daytona,
Tony Stewart was feeling
confident about becoming the
only driver to sweep all three
Nextel Cup events during
Daytona Speedweeks with a
victory in the Daytona 500.
Tony lead twice for 35 laps,
but then a nudge from Kurt
Busch on the left rear bumper
sent Tony hard into the turn
four wall. Tony emerged
unscathed from the mangled
No. 20 car, but finished 43rd,
and 50 laps off the pace.
- #6
-
2006 – Was the first time Tony
came up short in his bid to make
the top-10 drivers, 10-race
Chase for the Championship,
and only by 16pts.
"You can't race like you normally
race because you're scared to
make a mistake around the
guys still in the chase and
cause them problems. It's
stressful. There's less give ‘n'
take than normal. It's a lot
more fun being in the top-10
trying to race for wins than
being on the outside worrying
about the guys in the chase."
- #7
-
Spring 2005 –
Leading twice for 45 laps during
the Samsung/RadioShack 500,
Tony Stewart's engine grenaded
on lap 297, sending fl ames into
the cockpit.
"I haven't had an
explosion like that since I was
leading the Indy 500 in 1998,"
Stewart said, after receiving
attention for first-degree burns.
- #8
-
Spring 2005 –
Tony Stewart led for a race-high
247 laps in the Advance Auto
Parts 500. But with a broken
wheel, Stewart finished a
disappointing 26th.
"Jeff Gordon
got the trophy, but he wasn't
going to beat us. They could run
with us for 15 laps, but we always
drove away. We're leaving here
today with our heads up high,"
said Stewart.
- #9
-
2002 Daytona 500 – Tony Stewart
was the pick of many to notch his
13th career win in the Daytona
500. Instead, Stewart was the
first driver to fall out of the
200-lap contest.
"Something happened to the
motor," said Stewart, remarkably
calm. "It laid down on the start a
little bit, then as the lap went
on, it laid down even more.
"I'm glad I didn't cause a wreck
trying to get off the track. I'm
glad everybody got by us clean."
- #10
-
1999 – Going for his first Cup win, Tony leads 118 of 300 laps at the July race in New Hampshire before running out of gas with just 11 laps to go.
"That was a tough loss," Tony remembers. "Your first win is always a big deal, and we all thought we had that one. And when it didn't happen, we couldn't believe it."