Tony Stewart wins at Texas Motor Speedway

by NASCARKrissy on Nov 6, 2011 10:04 PM EST in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, poses in victory lane after he won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 from Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2011 in Fort Worth, Texas.
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Tony Stewart warned Carl Edwards that he "better be worried" about the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Stewart meant it.

Sunday before a crowd of 151,000 fans at Texas Motor Speedway, Stewart dominated the race and won the AAA Texas 500 in grand style. He was simply untouchable.

"We had a great race car today," Stewart said. "The key for us was just hanging on for the first 10 laps of the run and then start pulling away after that."

Stewart led 173 of the 334 laps to capture his fourth victory of the season. The win at Texas Motor Speedway was Stewart’s second at the track and his 43rd victory in 462 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. His previous victory at TMS was on November 5, 2006, when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing.

More importantly with the win on Sunday, Stewart gained ground on second place finisher Carl Edwards in the series point standings. Edwards entered the race leading Stewart by eight points, but with the win was able to close the gap to only three points going into next weekend’s race at Phoenix International Raceway. In the past three races, Stewart has gained 21 points on Edwards.

"Carl kept us honest today and we did everything that we could do," Stewart said. "We got all of the bonus points that we could get and the win. We gained more than we needed to gain, so we are doing good. I’m really confident right now."

Edwards’ second place finish was his sixth top-10 finish in 14 races at TMS. It was also his 24th top-10 in the 2011 season.

"Now it looks like it is going to come down to two guys in the last two races," Edwards said. "A couple of guys have lost a little grown in third and fourth. It’s going to be exciting and I’m enjoying it. We did what we needed to today and that was just to hang on because Tony was so fast. He got me there on that last restart and he went out there and did his job."

Edwards led three times for 14 laps and trailed Stewart for most of the race, but he never was a factor on the track. Stewart proved to be too dominant.

"It’s fun to be able to compete with a guy who races so hard and we can trash talk each other a little big and have a little fun," Edwards said. "If Tony and I can keep doing this there is going to be one heck of a battle between him and I at Homestead. Now I just can’t wait to go to Phoenix. I wish we were starting that race right now."

Kasey Kahne, driving the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished third and posted his sixth top-10 finish in 15 races at TMS."We had a great Red Bull Toyota," Kahne said. "We weren’t quite as good as the 14 (Stewart) or the 99 (Edwards) there at the end. It was a good race and it was exciting."

Matt Kenseth finished fourth in his No. 17 Crown Royal Ford and led five times for 87 laps.

We will take a top five whenever we can get it," Kenseth said. "Our car was off tonight for some reason even though we were in front. We had great track position, but not that great of a car. We had really great pit stops, but that was about all we had."

Greg Biffle, who started on the pole in his No. 16 Scotch Blue Ford, finished a strong fifth. Biffle led once for 23 laps and was a strong contender throughout the race.

"Our car was really good," Biffle said. "I think I screwed up on Saturday in practice trying to get this car right. It was off a little big on the start of that race and it took us a little time to get it right. I think I could have ran with the leaders there at the end if I could have gotten track position."

Rounding out the top 10 in the 43-car field was Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and A.J. Allmendinger.

"If you would have told us a year ago that we would be leading the points with only one guy on our heels going into the last few races, I would have asked what that costs," Edwards said. "I would have given everything that I had. Even though we didn’t win the battle here, we are focusing on the war. Those guys are going to have to keep the same past for the next two races and just see what happens."

Results from Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 from Texas Motor Speedway can be found after the jump.

Unofficial Finishing Order:

1	5	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Mobil 1	48/2	334	Running
2	7	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Aflac	43/1	334	Running
3	9	4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	Red Bull	42/1	334	Running
4	3	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Crown Royal	41/1	334	Running
5	1	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape	40/1	334	Running
6	23	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	38/0	334	Running
7	16	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard "Trained by Tradition" / AMP Energy	37/0	334	Running
8	19	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	36/0	334	Running
9	18	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Cheerios / Hamburger Helper	35/0	334	Running
10	26	43	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	"Immortals" / Best Buy	34/0	334	Running
11	12	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Dewalt	33/0	334	Running
12	2	6	David Ragan	Ford	UPS My Choice	32/0	334	Running
13	21	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Rheem	31/0	334	Running
14	11	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	MyLowe's	31/1	334	Running
15	4	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Quaker State / Menards	30/1	334	Running
16	24	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Quicken Loans Carrier Classic	29/1	334	Running
17	13	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	0	334	Running
18	15	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	26/0	334	Running
19	30	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	Carquest / Go Daddy.com	25/0	334	Running
20	28	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Office	24/0	333	Running
21	20	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Red Bull	23/0	333	Running
22	6	00	David Reutimann	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	22/0	333	Running
23	10	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Companies	21/0	333	Running
24	8	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	21/1	333	Running
25	33	13	Casey Mears	Toyota	GEICO	19/0	333	Running
26	29	51	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit	0	332	Running
27	31	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	18/1	332	Running
28	32	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Wounded Warrior Project	16/0	332	Running
29	43	71	Andy Lally *	Ford	TRG Motorsports	15/0	332	Running
30	14	22	Kurt Busch	Dodge	AAA	14/0	331	In Pit
31	41	38	Travis Kvapil	Ford	Long John Silver's	0	331	Running
32	34	34	David Gilliland	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	12/0	331	Running
33	17	18	Michael McDowell	Toyota	M&M's	11/0	331	Running
34	37	32	Mike Bliss	Ford	Street King	0	329	Running
35	36	135	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Big Red	9/0	316	Running
36	22	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Arctic Cat	8/0	295	Running
37	25	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	7/0	258	Engine
38	42	36	Geoffrey Bodine	Chevrolet	Luke & Associates	6/0	215	Vibration
39	39	46	Scott Speed	Ford	Green Stuff Absorbent	0	30	Rear Gear
40	35	66	Josh Wise	Toyota	HP Racing LLC	0	23	Rear Gear
41	38	37	Mike Skinner	Ford	Max Q Motorsports	0	19	Brakes
42	40	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves	0	14	Clutch
43	27	55	J.J. Yeley	Ford	Ingersoll Rand	1/0	10	Fuel Pressure