Page 21 - ARUBA TODAY 1 MAART, 2017

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SPORTS Wednesday 1 March 2017

At last, Stewart finds his way to Daytona 500 victory lane

DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)
— Tony Stewart needed to
retire to win the Daytona
500.
From runner-up through
DNFs, he failed to win NAS-
CAR’s marquee race.
Stewart’s NASCAR career
ended without a win in 17
tries in the Daytona 500.
Turns out he just needed to
trade the firesuit for street
clothes to bring home the
checkered flag.
Just months into retirement,
Stewart finally got to cele-
brate in victory lane.
“If I had known all I had to
do was retire, I would have
retired 17 years ago if I
knew it was what it took to
win the race,” Stewart said.
Kurt Busch helped Stewart
fill the biggest void in his il-
lustrious career, driving the
No. 41 Ford to victory Sun-
day for Stewart-Haas Rac-
ing. Stewart, the three-time
champion who co-owns
the team with Gene Haas,
retired at the end of last Kurt Busch, right, is congratulated in Victory Lane by team owner Tony Stewart, left, after winning the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto
season and watched his race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017.
four cars race from the pits. Associated Press
As Busch neared the finish
line, Stewart went wild with was involved in a wreck ferent things. It’s probably otherwise sterling resume. watch the team perform
crew chief Tony Gibson in- and finished 22nd. the most patient race I’ve Busch and Stewart were and put all the puzzle piec-
stead of heading home in Busch, the 2004 Cup cham- ever watched Kurt Busch so euphoric after the vic- es into place.
his usual heartache. pion, kept charging and run. He definitely deserved tory, the often tempestu- “We’ve made our stable
“When you’ve grown up swept past Kyle Larson on that one for sure.” ous personalities laughed that much stronger with
all your life as a race car the final lap for his only Stewart gave Busch a big off how they blew their shot Tony Stewart in this role.”
driver, you want to win it as lead of the race to win the hug, whispered words to to win the 2007 Daytona Stewart seemed at peace
a driver,” Stewart said. “For Daytona 500 for the first him during the lengthy em- 500. Stewart got loose and with retirement at Daytona
every driver, there’s a point time. Busch had a whop- brace, and patted the driv- spun into Busch, wrecking and joked about the perks
where you step out of the ping 0-fer streak of his own. er on his back. the cars and they failed to of shifting into an owner-
car and you do something He had the longest Dayto- Stewart stepped away finish the race. ship role. He could be late
different.” na 500 drought in field, an from full-time racing at the Stewart even gently nee- for practice, or skip it com-
What could be more dif- 0-for-15 mark that started in end of last season, calling it dled Busch over the differ- pletely and no one would
ferent from partying with 2001. But this was the one quits after 18 years, 49 wins, ences in personality now care. He talked wistfully
Gronk in victory lane? for Smoke and The Outlaw. three Cup Series cham- that he’s a full-time owner. about how much he would
It seemed for a spell like “The “I ran this damn race (17) pionships and more than “Be very careful,” Stewart love to run the 24 Hours of
Great American Race” years and couldn’t win $125 million in prize money. deadpanned. Le Mans. Stewart-Haas won
would be a disaster for it, so to finally win it as an Out of NASCAR, he never “I love your glasses. It a championship in 2011
Stewart-Haas Racing. owner and to watch Kurt, said he was retired and makes you look so educat- with Stewart and another
SHR’s Danica Patrick and man, what an awesome planned to race 70 sprint ed,” Busch cracked. three years later with Har-
Clint Bowyer were among job those last couple of car events at dirt tracks “Tony’s very patient. And vick. Stewart had bolted
the 15 drivers collected in laps,” Stewart said. “You across the country. he is astute to the manage- Joe Gibbs Racing for the
wrecks and failed to finish. just really didn’t know what Smoke never won his be- ment of the people,” Busch shot at starting his own
Kevin Harvick, who won was going to happen be- loved Indianapolis 500, but said. “There is the self-sat- team with Haas and they
the second segment, also cause guys were trying dif- had few other holes in his isfaction that he gets ... to ran their first race in 2009.q