But it was the first time that he ever won a NASCAR Nextel Cup race by virtue of fuel mileage.
Throughout the race at Kansas, Stewart was lurking around the bottom half of the top ten. His car became noticeably better as the race progressed, but still he appeared to be no match for Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, or Jeff Burton. But after the trio of frontrunners pitted for fuel in the closing laps, Stewart and company were doing what every other non-chaser should do- go for broke! Not known for their fuel mileage aptitude, the Joe Gibbs Racing team was able to master the art of fuel conservation.
"I got to see the checkered flag for a really long time for once," said Stewart after he slowly rolled across the finish line.
Casey Mears, also a non-chaser, gambled on fuel and it prosperously paid off. Mears finished 2nd, his best finish since finishing runner-up at Daytona in February.
Dale Jarrett, who finished 4th, scored his first top five of the season.
Jimmie Johnson led the most laps but a couple of gaffes eradicated any chances of tying Kasey Kahne with five wins for the NASCAR Nextel Cup series lead.
As Johnson slowed down to make his final pit stop of the day, Kasey Kahne spun out in front of him. Johnson pulled back on to the track to run another lap, anticipating a caution. When the caution didn’t happen, Johnson came down pit road, however, he was caught speeding on his exit from pit lane.
Instead of finishing sixth, he was consigned to a 14th place finish.
"I definitely don't feel I was speeding on pit road but the computer doesn't lie, so we'll just have to see what happens," Johnson said.
Johnson is 8th in the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship standings, 165 points behind Jeff Burton.
It could have been a lot worse. Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon scored his fifth DNF of the season after a fuel pump malfunction. Gordon was staying on pace with Jeff Burton in the championship hunt until his car unexpectedly slowed. Gordon finished 39th and now sits 6th in the current NASCAR Nextel Cup championship standings, 120 points behind Burton.
Burton eluded disaster and placed a fifth place finish. Early in the race, Ryan Newman spun out directly in front of Burton. He was able to drive through the cloud of smoke and proceed. He now owns a 69 point lead over rookie Denny Hamlin in the Nextel Cup standings.
Hometown hero Clint Bowyer appeared to have the car to beat until he spun around on lap 173 after vying with lap car Scott Riggs for the same piece of real estate. The Emporia, Kansas native hit the wall and damaged the back end of the 07 Chevrolet, but the team rebounded admirably and finished 9th.
Is it just me, or does the Robert Yates Racing teams appear to be on the upswing? For the past several weeks, Dale Jarret has skulked around the top fifteen. He was able to pull off an notable fourth place finish at Kansas. Also, rookie David Gilliland, the 2006 Busch Series Cinderella Man, has shown continual improvement. If he could just keep the car on the track, the 38 team will be all right.
Quote of the week
Matt Kenseth on his surprisingly sour performance at Kansas
"We just couldn't fix it. Those guys worked their butts off today and we're actually pretty lucky to finish 23rd.”
