'Special' victory for Stewart sure bet of more to come

LONG POND, Pa. -- Fans lined Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway Sunday, shouting praise and encouragement for the winning team in the recently concluded Pocono 500.

One took a long pull from his beer can, leaned across the railing, and yelled, "I put money on you in Vegas, baby, and you came through!"

Press Pass: Stewart

Tony Stewart speaks on his first Cup win with Stewart-Haas Racing and his relationship with his teammate, Ryan Newman.

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There was too much mayhem unfolding all around for Tony Stewart to hear him. But as Stewart hoisted the winning trophy over his head, it was just the type of comment that would have brought a smile to his lips.

Then again, he already was grinning widely. How could he not be? Only moments earlier, he had become the first owner/driver to win a race in NASCAR's top touring series in more than a decade -- since Ricky Rudd did it in September of 1998 at Martinsville.

Stewart did it in his first season as owner/driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet that he took to Victory Lane for Stewart-Haas Racing. He did it in only his 14th race with the fledging team, just three weeks after winning the non-points Sprint Cup All-Star Race in Charlotte that copped his new organization a cool $1 million.

Had Stewart gone to Vegas to place a bet on himself prior to this season, it's unlikely even he would have wagered that he would have had all this success so quickly in his new venture.

Odds against

In fact, had anyone been looking to wager on Sunday' race in Vegas, the odds on Stewart would have fluctuated wildly from day to day over the weekend. On Friday, when steady rains washed out the only scheduled Sprint Cup practice and also qualifying, he was placed on the pole by virtue of being first in the point standings.

But after crashing during the first practice of the weekend Saturday morning, Stewart was forced to start Sunday in the rear of the 43-car field in a backup car. Throughout the weekend ordeal, crew chief Darian Grubb preached optimism and Stewart obviously was listening.

"This was a very interesting weekend all the way around," Grubb said. "To come up here and sit in the rain and get the pole because we earned it -- because the guys have been working really hard and we had the points lead -- that was big for the entire Stewart-Haas organization to get that.

"Then having to go to the backup car, it was great to see everybody just keep their heads about them, stay calm and stay cool. We made all the changes we needed to between the two cars, and I think we actually made the second car better." (Continued)