KFDM COOP Posted February 18, 2006 Report Posted February 18, 2006 Stewart gets help from rookie to win Busch race DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Tony Stewart just wanted to have some fun and stop thinking about Sunday's Daytona 500. "This is going to make sleeping tonight a little easier," Stewart said Saturday after wresting the lead from pal Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 13 laps to go, then holding off a series of challenges to win the crash-filled Hershey's Kissables 300 NASCAR Busch Series race. It was the second year in a row Stewart, the two-time and reigning Nextel Cup champion, has won the 300-mile race at Daytona International Speedway in a car fielded by fellow Cup star Kevin Harvick's Busch team. Last year, it was Harvick who pushed Stewart to the win. This time, the help came from a much more unlikely source -- new teammate Burney Lamar, a rookie making only his third Busch start. "He did an awesome job," Stewart said of Lamar, who battled with Clint Bowyer, a Cup rookie this year and last year's Busch series runner-up, to the finish line and was awarded second place after a review of the video by NASCAR. Jon Wood was credited with fourth and Harvick fifth in a Richard Childress Racing car. The race was punctuated by a series of crashes, the biggest of which came on the final lap. As Stewart raced away to the victory, a melee involving at least 10 cars erupted close behind the leaders, with cars crashing into the wall and sliding and spinning through the infield grass. There were no injuries reported.
Recommended Posts