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Newman Surges Past Stewart On Final Lap

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By TONY FABRIZIO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH - Who would have been a more fitting winner of the 50th Daytona 500 than Tony Stewart, a two-time NASCAR champion and larger-than-life figure yet to win his sport's biggest prize?

It was all set up for Stewart late Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. But in a last-lap turn of events, Stewart was left with a broken heart and Ryan Newman had a surprise victory.

Newman, who blew by Stewart with drafting help from teammate Kurt Busch, called the victory "probably one of the most awesome things that's ever happened to me." He spoke of sitting in the prerace drivers meetings and admiring the many retired former Daytona 500 winners who had been invited. Now, Newman is a 500 winner himself.

"The drivers that were up there, A.J. Foyt, Junior Johnson, even Pete Hamilton - guys I'd never seen before ... to see Mario Andretti sitting elbow to elbow with A.J. Foyt, picturing those guys, the way they used to run, the dirt miles, things like that, it's all part of it," Newman said.

Stewart had the lead at the white flag, he was driving a fast Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and he had a teammate, Kyle Busch, coming from behind with potential drafting help.

But when Stewart dropped low coming out of Turn 2 to get a push from Busch, Busch couldn't get there quick enough, and Stewart couldn't hold off the outside lane. And Newman, with a "push from heaven" from his teammate, Kurt Busch, drove to the biggest victory of his career.

Minutes later, Stewart - who has won Daytona's summer 400-mile race twice - couldn't believe he'd missed the opportunity to win the 500.

"It would be a lie to come in here and say I was happy about going from first to third on the last lap of the Daytona 500," Stewart said. "I just made the wrong decision on the backstretch. I tried to get down in front of Kyle. I thought I would get a push down there, and the top line, the 12 Newman and 2 Kurt Busch got glued together."

Kurt Busch, whom Stewart reportedly punched in the NASCAR officials' hauler after a recent spat, offered Stewart his condolences during the postrace activity.

"Hey Tony, sorry it didn't work out for you," he said, grabbing Stewart's hand. "Teammates."

Newman won for the first time in 81 races - his last victory came in the opening Chase race at New Hampshire in September 2005, when he won a side-by-side duel with Stewart - and he gave Roger Penske, a 14-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, a long-sought Daytona 500 triumph.

The most-hyped 500 ever was supposed to come down to Hendrick Motorsports with its superstar lineup of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears and Joe Gibbs Racing's stout trio of Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

But Hendrick didn't come close to adding to its seven Daytona 500 victories.

Gordon, a three-time winner, fell out with a suspension failure. Johnson, the two-time defending Sprint Cup champion and 2006 Daytona 500 winner, and Mears crashed. And Earnhardt, the fan favorite by a considerable margin, didn't have nearly the car he did in winning the Feb. 9 Bud Shootout and one of Thursday's qualifying races.

Gibbs, on the other hand, was as good as advertised with its new Toyotas. Busch and Hamlin led repeatedly during the first half of the race, and after Hamlin fell back because of damage sustained in pit road contact with Bobby Labonte, Busch took command of the race.

But the dynamics changed on a final restart with three laps remaining.

Jeff Burton led as the drivers took the green flag, and Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 86 laps, carried too much momentum into the corner and dropped down below the yellow line. He had to back off to keep from getting penalized, and Newman, who had restarted fourth, moved to second.

Stewart led Newman at the white flag with Newman behind him and Kyle Busch trying to catch up on the inside. When Stewart dropped down in front of Kyle Busch, Newman and Kurt Busch went by.

"Stewart could have gone up and blocked the momentum of the 12 and the 2, but he decided to stick down low and stay with me to see what we could come up with," Kyle Busch said. "I wasn't getting a big enough push from behind to get up to his back bumper. I held the gas down. I didn't care how hard I hit him - it was coming to the checkered flag."

Stewart said that even if he had stayed high and tried to block Newman and Kurt Busch, he isn't sure he could have held them off.

"I don't know who was behind him and how close they were to be able to give him a push," he said. "I mean, Kyle finally got to me off Turn 4. But by that time we were both way too far behind to make a charge. We needed another lap. If we could have got another lap, the outcome might have been different."

In a race that was supposed to be decided between Chevrolets and Toyotas, Dodges took six of the top eight spots, including the 1-2 finish by the Penske cars. After Stewart and Kyle Busch, Reed Sorensen finished fifth, Elliott Sadler sixth, Kasey Kahne seventh and surprising Robby Gordon eighth.

Newman not only collected a career-high $1,543,045, but Penske also earned a $1 million bonus that new Chrysler chairman Bob Nardelli promised to any Dodge team that could win the 500.

As important as anything, Penske finally won the Daytona 500.

"I can say I've been here almost probably 30 years trying to get in Victory Circle," Penske said. "To achieve this with this competition, with Ryan, a student of the sport, and crew chief Roy McCauley and the whole team, it's just been unbelievable."

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