{"id":28355,"date":"2016-06-27T12:46:23","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T19:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=28355"},"modified":"2016-06-27T12:46:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T19:46:23","slug":"tony-stewart-smokes-em-in-sonoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/tony-stewart-smokes-em-in-sonoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Stewart Smokes \u2019em in Sonoma"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NASCAR
Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Code 3 Assoc\/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota\/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 26, 2016 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Chris Trotman\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Toyota\/SaveMart 300, Sonoma Raceway<\/h4>\n

In what\u00a0can only be described as the \u2018feel good\u2019 story of the year, Tony Stewart reprised his career at the Toyota\/SaveMart 300 at Sonoma Raceway winning the race doing it in his no holds barred style dueling with Denny Hamlin in a fight to the finish.<\/p>\n

The crowd roared their approval seeing Hamlin going in the final turns struggling with his Toyota wheel hopping, locking up on the right front skidding high.\u00a0 That was just what Tony Stewart was looking for taking his chance pushing his Chevy alongside muscling his way through to win his first race since the 2013 Sonoma event snapping an 84-race winless streak in his final season in NASCAR.<\/p>\n

“I made mistakes the last two laps,” acknowledged Stewart, who missed the first eight races of the season after injuring his back in an ATV accident during the offseason. \u00a0“I had just a little bit too much rear brake for Turn 7 and wheel-hopped it two laps in a row. \u00a0I felt a nudge when I got down there and he knew where it was and he did the right thing doing it there.”<\/p>\n

“But if I could get to him, he knew what was coming. \u00a0He told me (after the race) he was proud of me. \u00a0He knows what it means. \u00a0We were teammates for a long time (at Joe Gibbs Racing), and we respect each other a lot.”<\/p>\n

It was the call by rookie crew chief Mike Bugarewicz to pit from 18th<\/sup> place on lap 85 in hopes another caution would fly and it did putting Stewart up front for the lap 91 restart of the 110-lap race with new tires and full tank.\u00a0 He was already pumped to get the day started and ended it just right collecting his 49th<\/sup> Sprint Cup win and third overall at Sonoma.<\/p>\n

Though disappointed at the outcome, Hamlin didn\u2019t begrudge Stewart the victory, given the circumstances. \u00a0Stewart needed a win to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and with Sunday\u2019s result, Smoke is 32nd in the standings, nine points away from the 30th position he needs to achieve to become Chase-eligible.<\/p>\n

“I thought with two or three (laps) to go he pretty much had it, but he made a couple mistakes and allowed us to get pretty close,” Hamlin said. \u00a0“And then we just both wheel-hopped into 7, and I just let off my wheel-hop a little bit so I could get to his rear bumper and get him out of the groove just a touch.<\/p>\n

“It was perfectly executed, but I was going through the esses knowing that I needed to get the biggest gap that I could going into (Turn) 11, and when he was two back or so going into 11, I just didn’t run a low enough line in Turn 11 from all the wheel-hopping in Turn 7. \u00a0I got the rears hot, wheel-hopped it a little bit again, got out of line, and obviously gave him the inside line.”<\/p>\n