Stewart takes Daytona victory

Stewart has endured a fairly miserable run in recent weeks. An accident at Charlotte left him with a broken shoulder blade, and preceded a series of incidents in the following races.

Things didn't run completely smoothly for him at Daytona either, where he had the best car in the field for most of the night but had to come back from 10th in the final moments.

For most of the 160 laps the race proceeded in relatively tranquil style, without any of the multi-car accidents that the restrictor plate races have become notorious for.

Indeed the first caution of the evening was for nothing more alarming than a stray beach ball finding its way onto the track.

But a pair of cautions in the last dozen laps interrupted Stewart's progress.

The yellows also saw the demise of his main rivals for the race win, however.

First Jimmie Johnson slid into Bobby Labonte, and then Jeff Gordon - Stewart's other primary threat - had to retire from the race after a tangle also involving Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Mark Martin.

Stewart had dropped back to 10th when he pitted during the first of these cautions.

Shock polesitter Boris Said decided not to stop and cruised into an even more surprising race lead.

The former sportscar driver had stunned the paddock by taking pole for the tiny and recently-formed No Fear Racing team.

Said's ambition for the race was simply to stay in the top 20, but thanks to a canny strategy, he now had a genuine shot at a sensational win.

By the time the yellows flew for the Gordon incident, Stewart was back up to second. He then toyed with Said at the final restart by hanging back, allowing the leader to pull out a comfortable advantage.

But this left Said without any drafting assistance, whereas Stewart still had a pack of cars to 'push' him into contention. Sure enough with two laps to go he was able to sweep around the outside of Said and into the lead.

He celebrated with his now traditional climb of the debris fence, making it all the way to the flagstand. Stewart then descended into the crowd and was mobbed for several minutes.

When he finally extricated himself, the winner praised his Joe Gibbs Racing team's role in the victory.

"I'm so proud of all these guys," he said. "These guys ware the ones who made it happen, not me.

"When we go to these restrictor plate races, Greg Zipadelli and everyone on the team do such a good job.

"It's awesome, this team needed this. We've had two really rough weekends at Michigan and Sonoma, so it's nice to finish this one off."

Kyle and Kurt Busch came through to complete the top three in the final scramble, with Said hanging on for fourth.

Pepsi 400 results:

Pos  Driver              Make      Laps
 1.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  160
 2.  Kyle Busch          Chevrolet  160
 3.  Kurt Busch          Dodge      160
 4.  Boris Said          Ford       160
 5.  Elliott Sadler      Ford       160
 6.  Matt Kenseth        Ford       160
 7.  Casey Mears         Dodge      160
 8.  Jamie McMurray      Ford       160
 9.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  160
10.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet  160
11.  Ryan Newman         Dodge      160
12.  Ken Schrader        Ford       160
13.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet  160
14.  Robby Gordon        Chevrolet  160
15.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  160
16.  David Stremme       Dodge      160
17.  Denny Hamlin        Chevrolet  160
18.  Brian Vickers       Chevrolet  160
19.  Joe Nemechek        Chevrolet  160
20.  Scott Riggs         Dodge      160
21.  Tony Raines         Chevrolet  160
22.  Dale Jarrett        Ford       160
23.  Mike Wallace        Ford       160
24.  Sterling Marlin     Chevrolet  160
25.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge      160
26.  Jeff Green          Chevrolet  160
27.  Dave Blaney         Dodge      160
28.  Kyle Petty          Dodge      160
29.  Martin Truex Jr.    Chevrolet  160
30.  Travis Kvapil       Chevrolet  160
31.  Greg Biffle         Ford       160
32.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  160
33.  Mark Martin         Ford       160
34.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge      159
35.  Chad Chaffin        Chevrolet  159
36.  Jeremy Mayfield     Dodge      159
37.  J.J. Yeley          Chevrolet  158
38.  Michael Waltrip     Dodge      157
39.  Carl Edwards        Ford       157
40.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  154
41.  Hermie Sadler       Ford       154
42.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge      146
43.  Kirk Shelmerdine    Chevrolet  28