Tony Stewart slams into the wall after cutting a tire. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Stewart tied for lead after tough night at Lowe's

CONCORD, N.C. -- Tony Stewart was sitting pretty, comfortably leading the UAW-GM Quality 500 and steadily bolstering an already solid championship points lead with each passing lap.

Two hundred fifteen. ... Two hundred sixteen. ...

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UAW-GM Quality 500 Unofficial Results Pos. Driver Pts/Bonus 1. J. Johnson 185/5 2. Ku. Busch 175/5 3. G. Biffle 170/5 4. J. Nemechek 165/5 5. M. Martin 155/0 Complete Results: click here Unofficial Standings: click here Inside the Chase Point standings after Lowe's Pos. Driver Points Behind 1. T. Stewart 5777 -- 2. J. Johnson 5777 -- 3. G. Biffle 5766 -11 4. R. Newman 5760 -17 5. M. Martin 5726 -51 6. C. Edwards 5723 -54 7. R. Wallace 5685 -92 8. J. Mayfield 5662 -115 9. M. Kenseth 5653 -124 10. Ku. Busch 5635 -142 Down and outPoints leader Tony Stewart cuts a tire and hits the wall Tough nightTony Stewart comes in a disappointing 25th at Lowe's Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Stewart, the race leader on Lap 217, ran over debris and popped a right rear tire, sending his No. 20 Chevrolet hard into the Turn 3 wall backward.

The resulting damage forced Stewart to pit several times for repairs to the rear end of the car, dropping him five laps to the leader.

Then, when David Stremme blew a right front tire on Lap 244, Stewart pitted again and lost yet another lap. With 81 laps remaining, he restarted 33rd and looked doomed to take a considerable points hit.

But with assistance from five more caution periods that included eight competitors, he rallied to finish 25th and remain tied with race-winner Jimmie Johnson for the Nextel Cup Series points lead.

"Screwed-up night, one of those nights where everybody had a problem," said Stewart, who entered the evening with a 75-point cushion. "It was just take your lumps and go home from here. From our standpoint, we had the fastest car all night and cut a tire down."

It could have been worse. He could've totally forgone the points lead, right?

Wrong.

"Who cares?" Stewart said. "Most screwed-up night I've ever seen. All I want to do is go home. I'll be honest, I don't really care about anything right now."

For what it's worth, with five races remaining to settle the championship, Stewart and Johnson share the lead with 5,777 points apiece, 11 points ahead of Greg Biffle and 17 up on Ryan Newman. One hundred forty two points separate the top-10.

"Just a screwed-up night that will probably dictate the way the Chase turns out," Stewart said. "It sucks when you're the fastest car all day and something like that happens that shouldn't happen.

"We were pulling away in the points [Saturday night]. We had the best car all night, we should have been 100 points ahead in the lead, and instead I'm tied for the lead."