Stewart Makes His Move

Tony Stewart, who has never started a Winston Cup race in his life, will start on the front row of the Daytona 500 next Sunday.

Defending Cup champion Jeff Gordon will be on the pole--to no one’s surprise--after posting a lap of 195.067 mph in his multicolored DuPont Chevrolet during time trials Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

But it was Stewart’s 194.599-mph lap in one of Joe Gibbs’ Pontiacs that stunned the NASCAR crowd.

A product of open-wheel racing in the U.S. Auto Club and the Indy Racing League, Stewart has driven a few Busch series races for Gibbs, but this was his first outing in top-of-the-line Winston Cup cars. He will start on the pole in one of Thursday’s 125-mile qualifying races, and he and Gordon are guaranteed front-row positions for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“I’ve been preparing for this for 20 years,” said the NASCAR rookie, “so even though it will be my first Winston Cup race, it’s not as though I haven’t been in this sort of a position before. I started on the pole in my first Indianapolis 500, and I’ve been on the pole in a couple of Busch races.”

Stewart started in front of the 1996 Indianapolis 500 although he was not the fastest qualifier. Arie Luyendyk appeared to have won the pole, but his car was disqualified. Then Scott Brayton took the No. 1 spot, but was killed in an accident during practice before the race.

Curiously, Gordon and Stewart were raised in Indiana, not far from the Speedway, Gordon in Pittsfield and Stewart in Columbus. Both got their start in USAC open-wheel racing, both winning midget car and Silver Crown national championships before turning their attention to NASCAR and its lucrative stock car program.

“I tried a little bit of everything, from go-karts to three-quarter midgets to full midgets to sprint cars to Silver Crown cars to modifieds, you name it,” Stewart said. “I’ve spent a lot of time working myself up to this point. I feel like I’m in the best series in the world right now.

“Even before I drove in the IRL [and won the championship in 1997], I had made up my mind that this is where I wanted to come. I love to race and there is more racing here. There are only 11 IRL races and 33 in Winston Cup. It was an easy decision.

“Realistically, it was Kenny Schrader who started the path from USAC to Winston Cup. That helped Jeff get here and kind of threw the door open for everybody. With Jeff coming in at his age it really opened a lot of doors for open-wheel guys.”

It will be one of the youngest front rows in Daytona 500 history. Both are 27, but Gordon is three months younger.

“It’s exciting to have Tony on the front row,” Gordon said. “I remember him when I was running midgets and sprint cars, I remember hearing Tony’s name a lot and knew he was really going to be a great race car driver. It’s great to see him here. I think it’s a great asset to NASCAR Winston Cup racing to have him in this series.”

Still, it was as much of a surprise to Stewart to post such a quick time as it was to everyone else. Equally surprised and happy was his sponsor, Home Depot. It was their first time as a motor racing sponsor.

Stewart’s fastest lap in practice of 192.802 mph was not even in the top 10.

“It was just unreal,” Stewart said. “I didn’t think after the practice session we could go that quick, and after the [qualifying] run I didn’t think I had done anything special. It’s hard to gauge how you’re doing without looking at a stopwatch.

“The class clown on our crew said ’46.2’ when I asked him how I’d done. I went, ‘OK, what did we really run?’ He said, ’46.2.’ He didn’t raise his voice and I thought he was joking. Then when I came out of the fourth turn I saw the crowd standing up and cheering so I knew it was all right.”

The 194.599 lap took 46.249 seconds for Stewart to lap the 2.5-mile track.

Stewart will be the first driver to start on the front row in his first Winston Cup race since Kenny Irwin, last year’s rookie of the year, started second at Richmond on Sept. 9, 1997.

It was Gordon’s 24th career Winston Cup pole and his second at Daytona, although his first for the 500. He won the Pepsi 400 pole in 1997.

“These guys [Rainbow Warrior crew] have worked hard during the off-season to give me a good race car,” Gordon said. “All the guys in the engine shop who put the horsepower in this thing, all the guys in the chassis shop that made this car go as fast as it did and of course [crew chief] Ray Evernham, they deserve a lot of credit.

“This is just an awesome feeling to be starting on the pole in this race. I really didn’t think we could beat Tony’s time, but it was just a perfect lap for a perfect race car today.”

All but Gordon and Stewart must race their way into the 500. Starting positions will be determined by how they finish in the Gatorade Twin 125s on Thursday.