Tony Stewart and Steve Addington celebrate their third win of the season in Daytona International Speedway Victory Lane on Saturday after the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. Credit: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Tony Stewart will take the Coke Zero win from last night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, but there’s something else on his mind… Stewart wants that big Daytona 500 win, and badly! It’s all he can think of – even in July.
Here’s a quick view of what Stewart’s Top 5 would look like on his Bucket List:
1. Win the Daytona 500
2. Win the Daytona 500
3. Win the Daytona 500
4. Win the Daytona 500
5. Win the Daytona 500
After all, this IS Daytona. The same track the Daytona 500 is run on. So how can he keep winning the Coke Zero 400′s but NOT the Daytona 500? Well, the differences are between the two are simple: night and day, warmer and cooler temps and 100 miles.
Daytona International Speedway kept its’ promise of bringing back the pack, all a while allowing three-time Champion Tony Stewart to collect his third win of the season. With this win, Stewart earns his 47th victory in 482 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is Stewart’s fourth victory and 13th top-10 finish in 28 races at Daytona International Speedway.
Stewart got a final and strong push from Kasey Kahne launching Stewart into the lead, crossing the start/finish line last evening. Stewart, who started in the rear of the field due to his qualifying time being discontinued from a cockpit air hose being opened, led two times for a total of 22 laps – with Stewart leading the most important lap – the last one. Stewart had approached the checkered flag while a massive wreck in Turn 4 was in the process of disheveling the finishing order behind him.
Stewart’s spotter, Bob Jeffery, yelled over the team’s scanner frequency, “I love spotting for you – you’re a winner at Daytona!” The “big win” has not happened (yet) for Stewart and the Daytona 500, however, he IS aware of it. “I don’t know, but I’ll trade ‘em all in for just one Daytona 500,” Stewart said of his four July victories. “This is 18 wins at Daytona — we just haven’t got the right one yet. But all of ‘em are special, and it’s cool to do this.”
Oh, and Stewart’s reply to Jeffery (spotter)….. “yeah, but I wish it was the 500!”
The Coke Zero 400 produced six cautions for a total of 23 laps, and 12 lead changes among nine drivers. Matt Kenseth’s lead in the standings grew to 25 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Greg Biffle is third, 44 points behind Kenseth.
COKE ZERO 400 RESULTS
1. (42) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet
2. (20) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
3. (1) Matt Kenseth, Ford
4. (19) Joey Logano, Toyota
5. (2) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
6. (12) Carl Edwards, Ford
7. (3) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet
8. (9) Brad Keselowski, Dodge
9. (28) Michael Waltrip, Toyota
10. (41) Bobby Labonte, Toyota
11. (39) David Reutimann, Chevrolet
12. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
13. (30) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
14. (13) Paul Menard, Chevrolet
15. (24) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
16. (40) Travis Kvapil, Toyota
17. (18) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
18. (7) Casey Mears, Ford
19. (17) Aric Almirola, Ford
20. (34) Terry Labonte, Ford
21. (4) Greg Biffle, Ford
22. (33) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet
23. (11) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
24. (22) Kyle Busch, Toyota
25. (23) Denny Hamlin, Toyota
26. (27) David Ragan, Ford
27. (15) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford
28. (14) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet
29. (29) Clint Bowyer, Toyota
30. (10) Marcos Ambrose, Ford
31. (32) David Gilliland, Ford
32. (38) Landon Cassill, Toyota
33. (8) Sam Hornish Jr.(i), Dodge
34. (25) Regan Smith, Chevrolet
35. (35) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet
36. (16) Jimmie Johnson
37. (6) Bill Elliott, Chevrolet
38. (31) Josh Wise, Ford
39. (26) David Stremme, Toyota
40. (43) JJ Yeley, Toyota
41. (36) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota
42. (37) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet
43. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford