NASCAR WCUP: Tony Stewart returns to New Hampshire with a full tank
16 September 1999
New Hampshire 300New Hampshire International Speedway - 1.058-mile oval
Race 26 of 34 - NASCAR Winston Cup Series
September 17-19, 1999
Race time: Sunday September 19, 1999 , 12:30 PM (ET)
Live television coverage: TNN, Live radio coverage: MRN
This weekend, Tony Stewart and the #20 Home Depot crew return to the New Hampshire International Raceway - a track where an empty gas tank robbed the team of its first win in the final laps of the July race - with a victory on the record books. Following Stewart's spectacular run under the lights at Richmond International Raceway this past Saturday night - where he dominated all night leading 333 laps of the 400-lap race - he returns to Loudon, N.H. as the first rookie since the late Davey Allison (1987) to visit the Winner's Circle in his first year of NASCAR Winston Cup competition.
The team's first victory almost came at New Hampshire earlier in the season. In July, Stewart qualified the #20 Home Depot Pontiac 10th on the grid but by the time the final practice hour wrapped, word throughout the garage are was that "it would be Stewart's day on Sunday." On race day, Stewart moved to the front of the pack by lap 65 and went on to lead 118 laps, the most of any driver in the race. However, the team's decision to take a gamble on fuel strategy late in the race did not pay off and Stewart found himself out of gas with less that three laps remaining. The team went on to finish where they started in 10th position.
With nine races remaining in the 1999 Winston Cup season, Stewart is fourth in the overall point standings with 3508. In 25 races, he has recorded two poles, eight top-fives, and 16 top-10s, and finished outside the top-15 just three times. He has recorded an average finish of 9.7, led 11 races, and earned bonus points in 18 of the 25 races. No rookie has finished the season in the top 10 in points since Jody Ridley finished seventh in 1980. The best rookie points finish ever was James Hylton's second-place in 1966.
Tony Stewart, Driver -- (Fourth in standings with 3,508 points)
On winning Richmond:
"We are all still buzzing from this past weekend at Richmond. Putting the Home Depot Pontiac in Victory Circle is the best thing that's ever happened to me. You dream about something like this your entire life and when it finally happens, it's like you're still dreaming. I kept waiting for someone to wake me up. I was stunned; we all were. It was the best moment of my life so far."
On returning to New Hampshire:
" We're bringing the same car back to Loudon this time but one thing is for sure -- we aren't going to run out of gas this time around. We're confident about our chances but we're sticking to our game plan of qualifying well and staying out of trouble. We'll have the new Goodyear tires on the Home Depot Pontiac this weekend. We were comfortable with these at Richmond so it should only help us."
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