Tony Stewart Wins Heluva Good! at The Glen

Tony Stewart continued his dream race season on a cloud of racing success Monday in the rain delayed Heluva Good! at The Glen, by taking his fifth victory on the pavement at Watkins Glen International in front of an enthusiastic crowd. He got back in the car after making a few adjustments to the way his No. 14 Chevrolet handles and then was able to get to the front of the pack and hold off his competition with a much improved car. The Sprint Cup leader stayed near the front until there were only 17 laps left, before moving in front of Australian road-course guru Marcos Ambrose, and then holding him off in a race to the finish that saw him make it to the line 2.699 seconds ahead of Ambrose. Stewart was in the lead for the last 24 laps of the race after getting ahead of Busch in Turn 1 during a restart on Lap 67. Ambrose did stay close to Stewart during the last two laps but eventually backed off to save fuel and his second place standing. This second place finish is Ambrose’s best in the Cup Series to date and improves by one position over the third place finish he managed at The Glen last year and at Infineon Raceway in June.

Tony Stewart's win keeps him in front of Jimmie Johnson in the Cup Series standings

This win at Watkins Glen International is a record fifth in Stewart’s NASCAR career, his third victory of the 2009 season and the 36^th victory of his Sprint Cup career. Tony Stewart must like road courses, as this is also his seventh win on a road course in his racing career, which puts him second in the record books to Jeff Gordon’s record nine road-course victories. This victory improves Stewart’s lead over the pole-sitter for this race, Jimmie Johnson, who managed to finish 12^th after going off the course in Turn 1 in the later laps of the competition.

Carl Edwards finished third in the Heluva Good! at The Glen after a fast and tactical run from 33^rd position. Kyle Busch decreased the points he needs to catch the driver in 12^th position in the competition to make the Chase with a fourth place finish. Busch is just 58 points behind Matt Kenseth in the race for the Chase, who finished 14^th in this race.

“Image: Zuma Press”