Stewart wins Darlington Nationwide

'Smoke' was once again the class of the field leading more laps than any of his rivals but also getting through a tough test as many of his strongest contenders ended up wrecking, some even before the green flag waved for the first time.

"This team is so awesome. It's not me, it's not Denny (Hamlin), it's not Kyle (Busch). It's (crew chief) Dave Rogers and all these guys," said Stewart after claiming his sixth Nationwide Series career win.

"We had an awesome race car today. My teammate Denny Hamlin was the fastest car in practice yesterday but I'm telling you, this thing is head and shoulders better than it was last night and we had something for him tonight."

Hamlin had dominated the final practice session and seemed the favorite to claim pole but his race ended even before it started when he crashed on his first qualifying lap, wrecking any chance of making the race.

Polesitter Carl Edwards got the 'Darlington stripe' on the first lap of the race and then crashed heavily against the wall due to a cut right front tyre. With Edwards and Hamlin out, Stewart's day seemed a little easier but he still had to get the job done.

Kyle Busch - who drove for Braun Racing this weekend - chased him closely in the first half of the race but he was also among those involved in incidents when he crashed after making contact with the lapped car of JR Motorsports' Brad Keselowski.

Just as he did last week with Steven Wallace, Busch later blasted his rival while speaking to the media.

"He was wrecked earlier tonight, got wrecked three times, in qualifying and yesterday in practice," Busch said of Keselowski. "So next time I'm wrecked and I'm a lap down I'm going to race him like an SOB and wreck him, too. If that's the way he plays... he raced me hard at Phoenix for no reason and again here tonight. So, he's got one."

Matt Kenseth emerged as the main contender in the closing stages of the race after Stewart pitted for the last time from the lead. However the former Cup champion had to pit with 26 laps remaining due to a loose wheel, giving the lead back to Stewart, before crashing into the wall as well.

"We just had a loose wheel while we were leading and we had to pit because it was getting ready to fall off," said a frustrated Kenseth. "When we came back out, I was just driving way over my head to somehow try to get back in the race.

"We were a lap down and I was trying to catch up where I thought the lucky dog was and I just let it get away from me."

Following Kenseth's crash, the other Roush Fenway Ford of David Ragan crashed hard against the inside barrier on the backstretch while running ninth, only ten laps after his teammate had done the same at the opposite end of the track.

Then, on what was expected to be the final restart with only three laps remaining, Jason Leffler got into the back of Mark Martin's JR Motorsports' Chevy when the winningest driver in the series was slow on the restart, apparently due to being too low on fuel.

The initial contact ignited a multi-car wreck that involved six cars and caused the race to be red-flagged for the second time, forcing a green-white-chequered finish where Stewart went unchallenged to claim his team's eighth win of the season.

Clint Bowyer finished a strong second, showing once again the supreme consistency that has rewarded him with what is turning into a healthy lead in the points standing.

David Reutimann beat Truck Series champion Todd Bodine for third in a photo finish, in what was Bodine's first Nationwide start of the season. Meanwhile Steven Wallace claimed his second consecutive top five ahead of his teammate David Stremme.

Despite not finishing the race, Kyle Busch remains second in the standings but he is now 112 points off from Bowyer.

Pos  Driver                Car        Laps
 1.  Tony Stewart          Toyota      149
 2.  Clint Bowyer          Chevrolet   149
 3.  David Reutimann       Toyota      149
 4.  Todd Bodine           Toyota      149
 5.  Steve Wallace         Chevrolet   149
 6.  David Stremme         Chevrolet   149
 7.  Jason Keller          Chevrolet   149
 8.  Chase Miller          Dodge       149
 9.  Jason Leffler         Toyota      149
10.  Marcos Ambrose        Ford        149
11.  Sam Hornish Jr        Dodge       149
12.  Brad Coleman          Ford        147
13.  Kevin Harvick         Chevrolet   147
14.  Mike Bliss            Chevrolet   147
15.  Brad Keselowski       Chevrolet   146
16.  Morgan Shepherd       Dodge       146
17.  Kenny Wallace         Chevrolet   146
18.  Bryan Clauson         Dodge       146
19.  Stanton Barrett       Chevrolet   145
20.  D.J. Kennington       Dodge       145
21.  Jeff Burton           Chevrolet   145
22.  Brad Teague           Chevrolet   145
23.  Mark Martin           Chevrolet   144
24.  Kelly Bires           Ford        144
25.  Mike Wallace          Toyota      144
26.  Kevin Lepage          Ford        141
27.  David Ragan           Ford        137
28.  Matt Kenseth          Ford        126
29.  Kertus Davis          Chevrolet   124
30.  Bobby Hamilton Jr     Ford        102
31.  Kyle Busch            Toyota      101
32.  Derrike Cope          Chevrolet    84
33.  Eric McClure          Chevrolet    63
34.  Burney Lamar          Ford         62
35.  Danny Efland          Chevrolet    36
36.  Kenny Hendrick        Chevrolet    30
37.  Mike Harmon           Chevrolet    25
38.  Johnny Chapman        Chevrolet    16
39.  Andy Ponstein         Chevrolet    13
40.  Carl Long             Dodge         9
41.  Terry Cook            Chevrolet     7
42.  Ruben Pardo           Dodge         4
43.  Carl Edwards          Ford          3