Stewart back in points race after win at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Frustrated with certain past performances at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart and Greg Zipadelli ventured to the track last fall to conduct an assessment of their struggles.

Not one second of that session was spent on qualifying setups. It was all about the race.

On Sunday, that hard work paid off as Stewart utterly dominated the MBNA America 500. He by far led the most laps -- 143, to be exact -- in taking his first win of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series campaign, and the first of his career in a race longer than 400 miles in length.

Stewart now has 13 career victories overall. He has jumped from 43rd to fifth in the Winston Cup standings since Daytona.

“We just had an awesome car today,” said Stewart from Victory Lane. “It was bad in traffic, but awesome out front. As long as we got out of the pits close to front, we could go. I’m proud of what I do and happy with what I do, but it’s a team effort. I’m just glad I get to get in ‘em and drive around.”

Stewart drove around Ward Burton -- who had taken just two tires on the final stop to gain track position, with 24 laps remaining -- giving him the lead for the final time. That pass, he said, was crucial.

“I had to get by (Burton) as fast as I could,” Stewart said. “He was good out front, but I thought if we could get by him I thought in clean air we had a chance.”

			A bad pit stop foiled Matt Kenseth's chances at victory. Credit: ASP

Once past Burton, Stewart held off hard-charging Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and impressive rookie Jimmie Johnson -- whose third place finish marked a career-high -- to gain the sixth victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in the past 12 Atlanta races. Labonte had won five of the past 11.

Earnhardt Jr.'s runner-up finish is his best of the season and best-ever at Atlanta. In five career starts, he’d never posted a top-five finish at AMS, and just one top-10.

“I wish I could have gotten up there and made it a little more exciting,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We haven’t had a great start to the season. We needed this - everybody’s gonna be in a good mood coming from Atlanta.”

Matt Kenseth finished fourth, but may have been a contender for Victory Lane were it not for a slow final pit stop -- the result of the front left tire getting caught in the wheel well. Meanwhile, Ricky Craven used a two-tire stop to gain his second fifth-place finish in the past two weeks.

			Kurt Busch led 59 laps. Credit: ASP

Having led so many laps, one might assume Stewart was untouchable.

That wasn’t exactly the case.

The race saw an event-record 34 lead changes. Kenseth led 46 laps, while Junior was out front for 38 laps. Kurt Busch led the second-most circuits, 59, and was running third prior to a slow final stop that spit him out in 12th position. He managed an 11th-place finish.

Labonte’s shot at a sixth career Atlanta win was foiled early on.

Coursing the pit lane during the second round of green flag pit stops, Labonte had steered down toward his pit stall when he was turned completely around by Jimmy Spencer, who upon exit from his pit drove into the left side of Labonte's Pontiac. Labonte spun around and hit the pit wall.

Crew chief Jimmy Makar said that in turning the car around Labonte over-revved the motor, resulting in a lost cylinder later in the race. He finished 37th.

			Bobby Labonte: Disappointing day

Spencer, crew chief Doug Randolph and team owner Chip Ganassi were summoned to the NASCAR trailer after the race.

Labonte wasn’t the only former winner to suffer from engine trouble Sunday.

Last year’s emotional winner, Kevin Harvick, was retired with 56 laps remaining after the motor expired in his Goodwrench Chevrolet.

Harvick's Richard Childress Racing teammate, Jeff Green, also blew a motor Sunday. Overall, five drivers suffered from blown engines, compared to eight a year ago.

After two Dodge victories and one by Ford, General Motors began to bicker about aerodynamic inferiority. Now, they’re in Victory Lane with the Pontiac Grand Prix. The Chevrolet Monte Carlo has yet to visit Victory Lane in 2002.

With the win, Stewart surged from 11th to fifth in the championship point standings, and trails leader Sterling Marlin by 101 points heading to Darlington Raceway.