New England 300 - New Hampshire International Speedway

Stewart Continues Hot Streak, Dominating in Loudon Victory
Competitors serve notice; Tony Stewart’s recent hot streak has him on fire and he has his eyes focused on a second Championship trophy. This afternoon in Loudon, Stewart absolutely dominated the New England 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, scoring his 22nd career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 231st career start. The win is Stewart’s third in the last four races; taking home the checkered flags from Sonoma, Daytona and today in New Hampshire. Stewart celebrated today’s victory by climbing the catchfence and onto the flagstand, in what has turned out to be his trademark celebration, much the same way he did after his win at Daytona. Stewart led the event six times for a total of 232 of the race’s 300 laps, no one else led more than 22 laps on the day and only eight other drivers led. This is the sixth time this season that Stewart has led the most laps in a race. Kurt Busch had several incidents on pit road that cost him several spots, several times, but he also had a fast car as well as he ended up passing a bunch of cars and eventually passed Stewart on lap 240 and hoped he could win three straight at Loudon before Tony regained the lead on lap 246 and led until the end of the race, beating Busch by 0.851 seconds to the finish line. The win, Stewart’s second career victory at Loudon, moved him into a tie with Terry Labonte for 25th on NASCAR’s All-time win list. Stewart now has scored five consecutive top-five finishes in his last five races and 11 top-10 finishes in 19 races this season. Kurt Busch finished in the second position, posting his fifth top-ten finish in nine races at New Hampshire; including four top-fives. He scored his 10th top-ten finish in 19 races in 2005 and climbed from 10th to fifth in the NEXTEL Cup point standings. Bobby Labonte finished in the third position, just his fourth top ten of the season. Rookie Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle rounded out the finishing order in the event. Rusty Wallace extended a 32-race streak of running at the finish that began at Bristol last August. The first six laps of the New England 300 were run under both the green and yellow flags as light rain had fallen onto the race track before the start of the event, in all, there were 10 yellow flags for a total of 49 laps.

New England 300 Notes

· Race Results · Chevrolet Post-Race Quotes · Ford Post-Race Quotes · Dodge Post-Race Quotes · Point Standings · Owner Point Standings · Starting Lineup · Qualifying Results · Chevrolet Qualifying Quotes · Dodge Qualifying Quotes · Ford Qualifying Quotes · Final Practice · Practice 1 · Jeff Gordon Friday Quotes · Kurt Busch Friday Quotes · Dodge Friday Quotes · Qualifying Order · Entry List · Race Notes · Weekend Schedule · Raybestos Rookie Notes · Bobby Hamilton Jr. Notes · Scott Wimmer Notes · Mike Bliss Notes · Jeff Green Notes · Dave Blaney Notes

· Jimmie Johnson Notes · Greg Biffle Notes · Tony Stewart Notes · Rusty Wallace Notes · Elliott Sadler Notes · Mark Martin Notes · Ryan Newman Notes · Jamie McMurray Notes · Jeremy Mayfield Notes · Kurt Busch Notes · Dale Jarrett Notes · Carl Edwards Notes · Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes · Kevin Harvick Notes · Matt Kenseth Notes · Jeff Burton Notes · Joe Nemechek Notes · Kyle Busch Notes · Kasey Kahne Notes · Brian Vickers Notes · Sterling Marlin Notes · Casey Mears Notes · Bobby Labonte Notes · Scott Riggs Notes · Ricky Rudd Notes · Ken Schrader Notes

Vickers Wins Pole Position at the "Magic Mile"
Brian Vickers won the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Bud Pole for the New Hampshire 300, lapping New Hampshire International Speedway in 29.225 seconds, at an average speed of 130.327 mph, his third career Bud Pole in 60 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races. Vickers broke Ryan Newman’s track-qualifying record of 28.561 seconds, 133.357 mph, set Sept. 12, 2003. This is Vickers first start of better than 23rd in three races at New Hampshire and his eighth top-ten start in the 2005 season. Vickers now becomes the 12th different Bud Pole winner this season and gives Chevrolet its ninth Bud Pole in 2005, including each of the past four races; Dodge has seven Bud Poles and Ford has two. Kasey Kahne posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 29.250 seconds, at an average speed of 130.215 mph – and will join Vickers on the front row tomorrow. Kahne posted his second top-ten start in three races at New Hampshire. It is his ninth top-ten start this season, including back-to-back Bud Poles at Darlington and Richmond. After qualifying third for the NASCAR Busch Series race earlier in the day, Elliott Sadler matched that effort with another third-place starting position, posting just his third top-ten start in 13 races at New Hampshire and his 10th top-ten start this season. The favorite for the pole Ryan Newman will start from fourth, while Kurt Busch, who won the past two races at New Hampshire, will start fifth. There have now been 10 Bud Pole winners in 21 races at New Hampshire. The race winner started in the top 10 in 11 of the 20 races at the Loudon track, including four of the past five, while the deepest in the field that a race winner has started was 38th by Jeff Burton in July 1999.