Disappointing day for Earnhardt Jr., Stewart

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr., two of the most dominant drivers throughout Speedweeks at Daytona, saw a large wave of momentum come crashing down Sunday in the Daytona 500.

One week ago, Stewart won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, then returned Wednesday to win the International Race of Champions event.

Tony Stewart sits in his car after retiring to the garage.

Just two laps into the 200-lap event, the engine in Stewart’s Home Depot Pontiac exploded, eliminating the man many picked not only to win the event, but also the Winston Cup championship.

“It was the motor, I just don't know what happened,” said Stewart, who collected his thoughts in his car for several moments before exiting the ride. “(The motor) laid down a little bit on the start and then it just let go. I'm just glad I was able to get down out of the way when it happened and we didn't collect anyone or cause a problem.”

A visibly dejected Joe Gibbs, the owner of Stewart’s team, added, “It’s a very tough way to start (the season). It couldn’t get any worse. There’s not much else you can say about it.”

Junior’s day was equally puzzling.

After finishing second to Stewart in the Shootout, then utterly dominating the EAS/GNC/Live Well 300 NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday, was riding along in second position behind teammate Michael Waltrip in Turn 2 of lap 21, when the right front tire went down, sending him up towards the outside retaining wall.

			Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 29th.

Although he didn’t make contact, the frayed tire badly damaged the sheet metal on the right front of the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. After pitting to repair the car, he returned to the track in 37th position. He quickly stormed through the field as if possessed. Just 16 laps after pitting, he was back in the top-10.

He see-sawed along in the top-15 before pitting on lap 81. Two laps later, Dave Marcis ran out of gas, allowing Junior to pit and further repair the right front fender of the car. He restarted 35th.

Running 33rd on lap-94, Junior’s right-rear tire blew, sending him screaming through the infield grass. He managed to save the car. He pitted on the next lap, but was unable to stop in his pit box. The blown tire carcass wrapped around the rear end housing, and disintegrated the right rear quarter-panel.

Moments later, Junior drove the Bud Chevy behind the wall. After several laps spent replacing brake lines and welding on calipers, Junior returned to the track 11 laps down in 39th position.

“We can’t keep air in tires for some reason,” said crew chief Tony Eury. “They keep blowing out the tires on the right side of the car. I don’t know what’s going on with tires. This time it knocked the brakes off right rear. We went back to the garage and welded the caliper back on.”

Motoring along and trying to stay out of the way, the proverbial final nail in the coffin came on lap 51, when race leaders Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick got together while battling for the same spot in Turn 2. Eighteen cars were collected in the melee - including Junior.

He limped home 29 laps down in 29th position, but was still quite pleased with the effort of his guys.

"I think this shows a lot about our team today,” said Junior. “The results won't show it, but we had a lot of little victories today. This team showed a lot of heart and hard work when they repaired the car again and again. I hope I was able to show some of that spirit too. We never gave up, and it may not look like it, but a lot of good things happened today.”

Junior went on to say that, regardless of the outcome, this day proved the legitimacy of his team as a title contender.

“We want to be championship contenders this year, and I think this showed our commitment today,” he said. “It was like a bunch o' junkyard dogs or something - we were going to keep trying and trying. I'm disappointed that we lost our string of finishing first or second in the last six races here (at Daytona), but if this is as bad as it gets this year, that's pretty damn cool.

“I had a fun weekend and it's going to be a great year for us.”