USA TODAY International Edition
STEWART ENJOYS THRILLS IN BRICKYARD FINALE
Tony Stewart was circling Indianapolis Motor Speedway for what felt to most like an interminable number of laps under caution. A series of late- race accidents would extend the Brickyard 400 by 10 laps in stifling heat. But these were the retiring three- time Sprint Cup champion’s final turns around a storied old speedway that was the backdrop of his youthful infatuation with racing and the scene of professional triumph and frustration. So this last caution period was just a little extra time to savor, sweat and think.
Stewart isn’t one for ceremony, especially when he’s the focus of it, but he possesses a keen sense of history. And he sensed a moment in the offing. Just a few cars back was Jeff Gordon, a fellow Hoosier who retired last season as a four- time Cup champion but returned this week to replace ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
“I had my spotter go down to his spotter and say, ‘ When this thing is over, we need to take a lap together around here.’ The message I got was, ‘ Well, let’s see how this restart works out,’ because we were restarting around each other,” Stewart, who finished 11th, said, bursting into uproarious laughter. “That’s a moment that is never going to happen again. We’re never going to get that chance to do that again, and Jeff and I have a pretty unique friendship now, and to be able to share that moment with him was pretty cool.”
Stewart and Gordon negotiated the restart just fine and circled at slow speed after Kyle Busch took the checkered flag, waving and forging a moment that is certain to be immortalized in some prominent vista of the 107- yearold track. Gordon, who finished 13th, pulled his race car behind Stewart’s on a mobbed pit road. The two shared a hug and a personal exchange. Gordon and Stewart had their differences contesting the same prizes during their careers, but the personal relationship between them blossomed as each approached retirement. Stewart quips about how it endured, even though Gordon orchestrated the dune buggy excursion during which Stewart broke his back in January, costing him the first eight races of the season. Stewart’s business team consulted with Gordon this offseason on how to manage a farewell tour while remaining competitive.
Gordon led an impromptu recognition in the prerace driver’s meeting for Stewart, who won at Sonoma Raceway to end an 84race winless streak and put him in strong position to qualify for
“I know he wants to downplay a lot of things, but he deserves so much.” Jeff Gordon, on Tony Stewart
the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“I’ve gained so much admiration and respect for Tony. I love this guy,” Gordon said. “I’ve always respected his talent and appreciated what he does for others and off the track, but I was with him when he got hurt earlier this year and I learned a lot about Tony Stewart. He’s tough.
“To see him in that pain I saw him in, for him to come back and win Sonoma and see him battle like this and have a chance to maybe win the championship, that’s impressive. I know he wants to downplay a lot of things, but he deserves so much. I think everybody should be going over the top for Tony Stewart for what he’s given this sport.”
The afternoon began with moments, also. Stewart agreed to lead the field on three ceremonial pace laps, accepting the applause from the crowd in a slow revolution of the 2.5- mile track. After posing for photographs he requested with family, including his mother, Pam Boas, and father, Nelson Stewart, Chevrolet officials and team members before the race, Stewart eased off the apron to uproarious applause. It was a respectful, if not raucous, moment that could only have been improved had yards of sparsely filled, shimmering grandstands not back- dropped most of his journey.
“I didn’t care what happened the rest of the day,” Stewart said. “That was a cool moment and a memory that will last a lifetime.”
Stewart seemed determined to keep the view, starting third and making a dive- bomb move by Carl Edwards on the first lap to take second place and focus his attention on pole- sitter Busch. But he soon experienced handling problems and slumped to eighth by the time he pitted under green on lap 25. Stewart restarted 11th on lap 59 but vaulted to sixth three laps later. He was eighth when told there were 79 laps left and responded, “Piece of cake.” He was caught speeding while exiting pit road during a lap 119 stop as a caution flew and was forced to restart 23rd. He called the mistake “100% my fault.”
Stewart appeared frustrated for the first time on a restart with 26 laps left, asking if “somebody in NASCAR would tell us where the ( expletive) we’re supposed to be.” It was 24th and lapped, but late- race accidents helped him recover spots.
Stewart will leave IMS with other parting gifts, though it might take time to collect them. Track President Doug Boles said Stewart would be given a full roll of catch fencing taken from the frontstretch after a 2015 renovation. Boles presented Stewart with a frame square of the fence — he’d climbed it after his first Brickyard win in 2005 — Friday.
This major event in his season and career complete, Stewart sets about attempting to join Gordon in another way — reaching the season finale at Homestead- Miami Speedway with a chance to win a fourth championship.
“We’re having fun with it,” he said. “That’s what we said we wanted to do at the beginning of the year. We wanted to have fun and win a race, and we’ve done all that. I don’t think we’re quite done yet, so we’re just going to keep having fun and going for it.”