Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by finishing second in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
Stewart dominated the event by leading four times for a race-high 163 laps, but a pit road miscue on lap 151 dropped him to 21st. He rallied to take over second from Juan Pablo Montoya on lap 263 of the 267-lap race, but ran out of time to run down Carl Edwards, who took the win by 1.246 seconds over Stewart.
The result was Stewart’s first top-five finish of 2011 and his fifth top-five result in 13 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1.5-mile oval. He also finished in the runner-up spot at Las Vegas in 2000.
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished fifth. It was his second top-five finish in 11 career Sprint Cup starts at Las Vegas and his second top-five result of 2011.
The last time both SHR drivers finished in the top-five came last October at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Stewart won and Newman finished fifth.
By winning the Kobalt Tools 400, Edwards scored his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his second at Las Vegas. His previous victory at the 1.5-mile oval was in 2008.
Following Edwards, Stewart and Montoya across the stripe in fourth was Marcos Ambrose. Newman, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were seven caution periods for 35 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish.
With round three of 36 complete, Stewart is tied with Busch for first in the Sprint Cup championship point standings. Each driver has 113 points and is seven markers ahead of Edwards and Montoya, who are tied for third. Newman moved up to fifth in the standings. He has 103 points and is 10 out of the lead.
The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before heading to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for the March 20 Jeff Byrd 500. The race begins at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m.
SHR PR
