Congratulations Tony!

Fist win this season, First win EVER at Talladega!

Stewart wins after NASCAR disallows Smith's pass
Move results in penalty for Smith and 18th-place finish
By Sporting News Wire Service October 5, 200810:21 PM EDT


TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Tony Stewart, a six-time bridesmaid at Talladega Superspeedway, finally got to Victory Lane at the 2.66-mile track in Sunday's AMP Energy 500. But a controversial finish left rookie Regan Smith shouting, "Stop the wedding!"

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance of 188, Stewart was declared the winner, even though Smith crossed the finish line first. With a quarter-mile to go and Stewart protecting the bottom of the track, Smith was forced to dip below the yellow line, which divides the speedway proper from the apron, to complete the final pass for the lead.

In NASCAR's view, Smith's move was out of bounds, violating NASCAR's rule against improving position by passing below the yellow line. Accordingly, Stewart was awarded the victory, and Smith was demoted to an 18th-place finish as the last car on the lead lap.

Smith thought he was within the rules on the pass, and went with Dale Earnhardt Inc. president Max Siegel to defend himself to NASCAR.

The ruling gave Stewart his first win of the season and snapped a 43-race winless streak dating to Watkins Glen last year. There was concern in his voice as he questioned whether Smith would be awarded the win, but he quickly started the celebration when his spotter gave the "20 is the winner" declaration.

"Man, it's one thing to get back to Victory Lane -- but to do it at Talladega -- this is one of four places I haven't won a Cup race, and talk about one to win," Stewart said. "I wanted to win here for so long."

Stewart said further that he had no qualms about blocking Smith.

"I've lost Daytona 500s, and I've lost races here because somebody blocked," Stewart said. "The nice thing is that I was on the right end of it this time. I have no regrets."

Smith saw it differently.

"They always tell us in the drivers' meeting, if you get forced to the inside, you can go for it, especially on the last lap," Smith said. "I saw the replay when I was pulling in here [to pit road], and I felt like we won that race. I could have caused a big pileup, and you don't want to do that, either.

"You cannot improve your position any time you go below the yellow line," NASCAR vice president of corporate communications Jim Hunter said. "In our judgment, he [Smith] improved his position, and the penalty for that is a pass-through, so he was moved back to the tail end of the longest line, or 18th position.

Notes: Denny Hamlin sustained an ankle injury during hard contact with the outside wall in Turn 2 on Lap 99. He was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. ... The race produced 28 different leaders, a NASCAR record for all tracks, not just Talladega.


The Associated Press contributed to this report.