Stewart conserves fuel for first points win in own car

LONG POND, Pa. -- Perhaps more amazing than Tony Stewart's first victory as an owner/driver was his victory celebration Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

Actually, what was amazing was that Stewart could even manage a celebration at all, after using every trick in the book -- including shutting down his engine entering Turn 1 at the 2.5-mile triangular track -- to save enough fuel to win the Pocono 500.

Pocono 500

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
2.	Carl Edwards	Ford
3.	David Reutimann	Toyota
4.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
5.	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet

Results | Laps | Photos | Rewind

The Sprint Cup points leader had to start at the back of Sunday's race because of a practice accident forced him into his backup car. Then Stewart gambled he could drive the final 41 laps without a pit stop and it paid off, helping snap a 19-race winless streak dating to last season (watch video).

The win was Stewart's 34th in the Cup Series and his first since acquiring an ownership interest in Stewart-Haas Racing before the 2009 season. This is the first Cup win by an owner/driver since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville on Sept. 27, 1998.

"He's doing a damn burnout!" Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, said in amazement after Stewart began his victory donuts on the frontstretch.

Holding down his speed to the minimum needed to stay ahead of runner-up Carl Edwards, who also was saving fuel, Stewart crossed the finish line 2.004 seconds ahead of the No. 99 Ford.

"I didn't think he was going to be a factor," Edwards said of Stewart. "I was sure he was going to run out."

David Reutimann ran third, followed by Gordon, who benefitted from a fuel-mileage play by Letarte, and Ryan Newman.

Stewart, who increased his lead in the standings to 71 points over Gordon, lost more than 4 seconds of a 6.8-second lead over Edwards in the final 10 laps (watch video).

"Breathe easy, boys, we're gonna make it," Stewart radioed to his crew as he rolled through the final corner. "God, I'm proud of you guys. You make me look like a genius in here."

"We didn't tell you how to save gas," crew chief Darian Grubb retorted.

Stewart did that on his own, and he did so masterfully. He took the No. 14 car number to Victory Lane in a Cup race for the first time since Dec. 8, 1968, in Montgomery, Ala., when Bobby Allison beat Richard Petty to the finish line by 4 feet. Not that the No. 14 has run all of them, but the Pocono 500 was the 1,329th Cup race since Allison's win.

Stewart competed for a decade and won 33 races and two championships at Joe Gibbs Racing, but Sunday's victory had special significance.

"I've always had a great group of people to work with at Gibbs, but it's just a little different when it's your own, you know, when you're the one that's got to be accountable for [it]," Stewart said.

With a lead in the point standings and a spot in the Chase all but assured, Stewart could afford to take a risk.

The two-time Cup champion sure knows about taking risks -- and having them work out.

Stewart's secret to his fuel strategy?

"I'm not telling," he said, laughing.

Stewart won the race on fumes, but his own operation seems to have plenty of fuel.

He's destroyed all expectations in his first season as owner and driver for SHR. It was the first points victory since he left Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of last year after 10 successful seasons to become co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.

This was the first points victory for the team since its 2002 debut as Haas CNC Racing.

His second-place finish last week at Dover allowed him to become the first driver/owner to lead the points since Alan Kulwicki won the 1992 Cup championship, a span of 556 races.

"The things that he set out to accomplish this year were huge. I personally didn't believe he could get it done," Edwards said. "I'm extremely impressed with that. I can only imagine how good that feels to get that done."

Edwards, who won at Pocono this past August by conserving fuel, lost the race off pit road to Stewart on the final stop for both cars, under a caution for debris on Lap 159 that was extended to seven laps when a light rain shower crossed the track.

"I didn't think Tony could save that much fuel, but he did a really good job," said Edwards, who led a race-high 103 of 200 laps. "Our car was getting great fuel mileage all day, and [I'm] just really proud of my guys. We were great on pit road.

"Tony beat us off of pit road on that last stop by about three-quarters of a car length or something, and that's primarily because of his pit stall [Stewart had pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road]."

Edwards gained five positions in the standings to sixth, 281 points behind Stewart. But he is still looking for his first victory of the season.

"I'll probably be happy later [Sunday], but man, to be that close to victory and not win, that was frustrating," he said. "The points are great though. I'll definitely take something good out of this."

The first Cup points race with double-file restarts finished without a problem. The drivers' meeting lasted nearly 30 minutes as last-minute questions were answered on the new restart rules that line up the 43-car field following a yellow.

"I'm sure they'll refine it and make it better, but I think it worked out pretty good," said Reutimann, jumped into 11th place in the Chase standings, replacing Mark Martin, who fell out of the top 12 with a 19th-place finish.

• Notes: Because of a crash in Saturday's practice, Stewart was driving a backup car and was forced to begin the race at the rear of the field. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran 27th in his second race with crew chief Lance McGrew. He fell two spots to 20th in the Cup standings. ... A water-pump failure dropped Kurt Busch to 37th at the finish, 18 laps down and cost him a position in the standings. He's now fifth, 224 points behind Stewart. ... Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel on the final lap but coasted home in seventh place to remain third in points. Johnson also was hit with a pit-road penalty for approaching the commitment line on Lap 103 when caution flew for debris in Turn 2, and the light at the entrance to pit road turned from green to red (watch video). He had to restart at the rear of the field. "I couldn't see a flagman or lights or anything. So hopefully they can look into a little better light system," Johnson said. ... Denny Hamlin's Toyota stopped running on the first lap because of a fuel-system issue and again on Lap 13 to cause the first two cautions of the race (watch video). Hamlin lost 22 laps during repairs and finished 38th, dropping five positions to 12th in the standings.

• Press Pass: Tony Stewart | Carl Edwards | David Reutimann

The Associated Press contributed to this report.