Stewart Wins Pontiac Excitement 400
FOR RELEASE: May 8, 2001Stewart Wins Pontiac Excitement 400
RICHMOND, Va. - Heading into Saturday night's running of the Pontiac Excitement 400, Tony Stewart had already been labeled "one of the hottest drivers" on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. But after taking the checkers for his 10th career victory, Stewart is now simply known as "the hottest driver" on NASCAR's top tour.
Stewart, who now has a seventh, a second, a fourth and a win in his last four starts, led three times for 93 laps on the way to his second win at Richmond in just his fifth career start there. He also became the first Pontiac driver to claim a win in Pontiac's flagship event since Rusty Wallace took a Grand Prix to the winner's circle in 1989.
"It just shows 'Wider Is Better' after all," said Stewart. "This Pontiac was great all night. The guys kept making adjustments on it all night. We had great pit stops. The 'WideTrack Attack' was fast tonight."
Stewart, who has an average of one win for every eight Winston Cup starts, is now in sole possession of fourth place on the all-time Pontiac win list.
He trails Wallace (31 Pontiac victories), Joe Weatherly (20) and Bobby Labonte (16).
A total of four Grand Prix drivers finished in the top 10 on Saturday, which is something that hadn't been done since Oct. 8, 2000 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The best of the remaining three was Johnny Benson, who drove the Valvoline Pontiac to a sixth place result.
"We're real happy," said Benson. "The Valvoline Pontiac ran really good. The guys did an excellent job. I wasn't happy with the car, but I'm happy with the finish. It was just a handful tonight, but still good enough to finish sixth."
Ken Schrader made steady gains all night from his 21st starting position in the M&M's Grand Prix and ended up with a ninth place finish - his third top 10 of 2001. Bobby Labonte carried the Interstate Batteries Grand Prix to a 10th place finish after starting ninth.
Two other Grand Prix drivers were in the Pontiac Excitement 400 field Saturday. Ron Hornaday moved from his 41st starting spot to 31st at the finish, while Kenny Wallace finished 40th in the Geico Pontiac. Wallace ran as high as 17th during the night before a blown engine ended his most promising bid of the 2001 season.
The NASCAR Winston Cup Series takes a week off before running The Winston - a non-points, all-star event -- at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 19. The show will give the Pontiac "WideTrack Attack" its next opportunity to bring the excitement and unsurpassed handling and control familiar to consumers to the NASCAR circuit.