Stewart Wins First at Talladega
Polesitter Tony Stewart held off a last-lap challenge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Saturday to claim his first victory at Talladega Superspeedway in any series.
"Boys, we won at Talladega!" Stewart shouted as he crossed the finish line in the Aaron's 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series race .302 second ahead of runner-up David Stremme. It was Stewart's third NASCAR Nationwide win of the season.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran third, Jason Leffler fourth and Mark Green fifth, as Earnhardt dropped to sixth after Stewart repelled his last-ditch run on the final lap.
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Tony's Toyota Takes Talladega Top Starting Spot
Tony Stewart won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Aaron’s 312 at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Stewart held on to his No. 20 Toyota to turn in a qualifying lap of 51.676 seconds, at an average speed of 185.308 mph, to capture his sixth pole in 82 career NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is Stewart’s second pole and fifth top-10 start in as many NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season, with his other pole this season coming at Daytona.
This is Stewart’s first pole and second top-10 start in six Talladega races. His previous best start here was
ninth in 1998.
Mike Bliss qualified in the second position, netting his third top-10 start – and career-best – in four races at Talladega. This ties his season-best
start set at Nashville.
Jason Leffler posted the third fastest qualifying speed, his third top-10 start in five Talladega races and tied his best, set last season.
Leffler tied his season best start of third – set at Daytona.
Dario Franchitti (fourth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
Video: Post-Race News Conferences at Talladega
Tony Stewart has a hard time finding words to express his excitement after finally winning at Talladega Superspeedway
(41 seconds) [Watch Video]
Dave Rogers says he needed to be honest about his driver racing on 100-lap tires
(14 seconds) [Watch Video]
David Stremme says it's great to see non-NASCAR Sprint Cup affiliated teams finish second and third in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race
(17 seconds) [Watch Video]
Video: NNS Post-Qualifying News Conference at Talladega
Tony Stewart says he enjoys running NASCAR Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing this year
(26 seconds) [Watch Video]
Tony Stewart says his NASCAR Nationwide Series pole is more about the crew than the driver
(24 seconds) [Watch Video]
