Race 2 Win: Daytona 500 - Tony Stewart Notes

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Daytona 500 - Tony Stewart Notes

TONY STEWART Home Depot Racing Team Report

Budweiser Shootout Car – Chassis No. 119: This is a brand new race car, with its only track time having come at Daytona during January testing.

Gatorade Duel / Daytona 500 Car – Chassis No. 70: This car debuted in the 2003 Daytona 500 and was responsible for Stewart’s first top-10 Daytona 500 finish – seventh. It didn’t fare well in its next two races, as it was caught up in an accident at Talladega in April to finish 35th. Its next race came at July in Daytona, where it finished an uncharacteristic 21st. It rebounded at Talladega in September with a strong third-place finish. The 2004 Budweiser Shootout marked its fifth career start, but it was the only action Chassis No. 70 saw in 2004. But after visiting the wind tunnel and testing at Daytona in January of 2005, Chassis No. 70 was chosen as the primary car for that year’s Daytona 500. There, it won its Gatorade Duel qualifying race to secure the fourth starting spot for the Daytona 500. And in the 500, Chassis No. 70 led seven times for a race-high 107 laps before finishing seventh. It resumed its up-front ways at the spring Talladega race, where it finished second to race winner Jeff Gordon. The Pepsi 400 at Daytona, though, was Chassis No. 70’s best day. There, in its eighth career start, it dominated, leading a race-high 151 laps from the pole, carrying Stewart to his first point-paying restrictor plate victory and only the second point-paying Daytona victory for Joe Gibbs Racing since Dale Jarrett won the 1993 Daytona 500. The 151 laps led set a record for the most laps led in a 400-mile, 160-lap race at Daytona. Chassis No. 70 continued its front-running ways at the fall Talladega race, qualifying fourth and leading 11 times for a race-high 65 laps before finishing second in a tight race with Dale Jarrett.

Budweiser Shootout Notes of Interest:

Stewart is a two-time Budweiser Shootout winner, having won the non-point race in 2001 and 2002.

Stewart is one of only three drivers to have won two straight Budweiser Shootouts. They are…
* Tony Stewart – 2001 & 2002
* Ken Schrader – 1989 & 1990
* Neil Bonnett – 1983 & 1984

The driver with the most Budweiser Shootout victories is the late Dale Earnhardt with six. Stewart beat Earnhardt to win his first Budweiser Shootout in 2001.

In six career Budweiser Shootout starts, Stewart has only one finish outside of the top-seven. He finished 15th in the 2003 race.

Stewart’s average finish in the Budweiser Shootout is fifth.

Daytona 500 Notes of Interest:

The Daytona 500 will mark Stewart’s 249th career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start and his 15th career point-paying Nextel Cup start at Daytona and his 29th career point-paying start in a restrictor plate race.

Stewart has six wins at Daytona:
* 2005 Pepsi 400
* 2005 NASCAR Busch Series season-opener
* 2005 Gatorade Duel
* 2002 IROC race
* 2002 Budweiser Shootout
* 2001 Budweiser Shootout

Of the 363 laps available in the two point-paying Nextel Cup races held last year at Daytona, Stewart led 258 of them (71 percent).

In last year’s Pepsi 400, Stewart led a race-high 151 laps from the pole to score his first point-paying restrictor plate victory and only the second point-paying Daytona victory for Joe Gibbs Racing since Dale Jarrett won the 1993 Daytona 500. The 151 laps led set a record for the most laps led in a 400-mile, 160-lap race at Daytona.

Home Depot store #1978, located in Peoria, Ill., will be represented on the lower rear quarterpanel of the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet during the Daytona 500. Store #1978 was judged to be the outstanding store of the past week, thereby earning its place on the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing machine.

Stewart will make a return to the NASCAR Busch Series on Sat., Feb. 18 driving the #33 Old Spice Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Hershey’s Kissables 300. It will be Stewart’s fourth career Busch Series start at Daytona, and it will also be Stewart’s first race as part of his 11-race Busch Series schedule for 2006. Stewart has a total of one win, four poles, 12 top-fives and 13 top-10s in 53 Busch Series starts.
* 11 starts for Kevin Harvick in 2005 (1 win – Daytona; 2 poles – California & Watkins Glen; 2nd at Atlanta; 4th at Watkins Glen; 5th at Phoenix; 15th at Spring Richmond; 23rd at Indianapolis; 5 DNFs – California, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte and Richmond)
* 1 start for Joe Gibbs in 2005 (crashed while contending for the lead at Fall Charlotte)
* 1 start for Richard Childress in 2004 (2nd at Spring California)
* 1 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2004 (led a race-high 105 laps at Kansas but crashed while leading last lap – finished 25th)
* 2 starts for Kevin Harvick in 2004 (5th at Spring Charlotte and 11th at Atlanta)
* 1 start for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003 (led a race-high 46 laps at Michigan but finished 11th when rain cut race short)
* 22 starts for Joe Gibbs in 1998 (2 poles – Spring and Fall Rockingham; 5 top-five finishes)
* 5 starts for Joe Gibbs in 1997 (1 top-five – 3rd at Fall Charlotte; two top-10s – Fall Charlotte and Fall Rockingham)
* 9 starts for Harry Ranier in 1996 (best start and finish were at Spring Bristol, 7th and 16th, respectively)

New NASCAR-Themed Ad Campaign:

The Home Depot will debut a new NASCAR-themed television ad during the broadcast of the Daytona 500 featuring Stewart and members of the #20 Home Depot Racing Team.

The spot accentuates The Home Depot’s brand promise of “know-how” by linking Stewart’s on-track success and, ultimately, his 2005 Nextel Cup championship, to his recent spate of home improvement projects.

The 60-second spot, “Zippy’s Link,” features Stewart giving crew chief Greg Zipadelli a tour of his home highlighting the various home improvement projects he completed over the course of the season. Starting with a kitchen renovation, Stewart impresses Zipadelli with the installation of a new garbage disposal and hardwood floors, replacing a ceiling fan, repairing a toilet, painting the living room and finally, building a new outdoor brick patio in honor of winning the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, his lifelong dream.

During the ad, Stewart tours a skeptical Zipadelli through the house showing him each completed project and how it relates back to a specific race success during the 2005 season in order to convince his crew chief of the direct link between home improvement and racing. The ads underline that the secret to success is know-how, whether you are a do-it-yourselfer conducting a home improvement project or a racing superstar.

The Home Depot’s Olympic Athletes:

A record 33 Home Depot associates earned a place on the U.S. Olympic team and will compete in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. The Home Depot athletes will represent Team USA in such sports as luge, bobsled, freestyle skiing, speedskating and curling.

Through its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee's Olympic Job Opportunities Program (OJOP), The Home Depot allows U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and hopefuls to work part time in exchange for full-time compensation and benefits. The program helps to accommodate the athletes’ busy training and competition schedules while offsetting their expenses. Currently, more than 200 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and hopefuls are employed by The Home Depot. Since 1992, The Home Depot associates have accounted for nearly 11 percent of all medals won by Team USA.

Since 1992, The Home Depot has employed more than 500 athletes through OJOP. To date, 283 athlete-associates have competed in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, earning a total of 171 medals: 75 gold, 59 silver and 37 bronze. In November 2003, The Home Depot announced that it will continue its sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams through the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

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