Jimmie Johnson and the 48 Lowes Team won tonight’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. This win is special for Hendrick Motorpsorts as it is number 200 in the history of Hendrick Motorsports.

Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR

Below is a timeline of Hendrick’s notable and milestone victories on its way to 200:

1 – On April 29, 1984 at Martinsville Speedway, Geoff Bodine earned Hendrick Motorsports’ first victory. He led 55 laps in the event.

4 – HMS won its first Daytona 500. Geoff Bodine started on the front row (second), leading 101 laps on Feb. 16, 1986.

10 – HMS won its first Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. Tim Richmond helped Hendrick reach double-digits in victories with his “crown jewel” win from the pole on Aug. 31, 1986.

16 – HMS won its first Coca-Cola 600. With 41-year-old Darrell Waltrip driving, Hendrick nabbed its first win in NASCAR’s longest race on May 29, 1988.

36 – HMS won its first Brickyard 400. In the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon, then 23, won his second career race on Aug. 6, 1994.

50 – Jeff Gordon, whose 85 victories are more than any other Hendrick driver and third-most on the all-time list, won at Darlington Raceway on March 24, 1996.

61 – At the time, Gordon became the youngest winner in Daytona 500 history at 25 years, six months, 12 days on Feb. 16, 1997. His record was later broken in 2011 by Trevor Bayne (20 years, one day).

100 –Gordon won another milestone race, this time at Michigan International Speedway on June 10, 2001. Gordon would go on to win his fourth series championship that season.

150 – Jimmie Johnson captured victory on March 11, 2007 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Later that season, Johnson would win his second-consecutive championship.

196 – OnApril 17, 2011, Jimmie Johnson edged Clint Bowyer to the finish line by a miniscule .002 seconds, matching the closest margin of victory in series history.

198 – In a race delayed two days because of inclement weather, Gordon captured historic win No. 85 on Sept. 6, 2011 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to move into third on the all-time series wins list.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Disclosure – We were given some M&M’s as compensation for writing about this contest. We would have shared this story with you anyway but the good people at M&M’s Racing sent us some nice sweets to enjoy. Here are the details of the contest and good luck.

M&M’S Racing Announces Its “When We Win, You Could Win” Sweepstakes

Race Fans are Invited to Enter an Instant Win Game & Sweepstakes Combo

With the Sprint Cup Series now underway, fans are gearing up for another exciting season of NASCAR racing. M&M’S Racing is celebrating the season with the “When We Win, You Could Win” sweepstakes, which features instant-win prizes and the chance to win a 2012 Toyota Camry each time the #18 M&M’S car wins a race.

Once fans register and enter the sweepstakes at the “When We Win, You Could Win” site, they are automatically eligible for the Instant Win Game. Each time the #18 M&M’S car wins, a panel of judges will conduct a drawing, selecting one lucky grand prize winner. The prizing breakdown is as follows:

• GRAND PRIZE: Six (6) grand prize winners will win a 2012 Toyota Camry when the #18 M&M’S Car wins
• 1^st PRIZE: Six hundred fifty (650) first place winners will receive a set of two M&M’S Racing 16 oz. Tervis Tumblers w/ Lid
• 2^nd PRIZE: Five hundred (500) second place winners will receive a $25 NASCAR.com Superstore Gift Certificate
• 3^rd PRIZE: Two hundred fifty (250) third place winners will receive an M&M’S Racing Branded Backpack
• 4^th PRIZE: One Thousand (1,000) fourth place winners will receive M&M’S Racing Earbud Headphones

Submissions are open now through November 21^st at http://mms.com/us/racing/wewinyouwin/. For complete rules and additional details, click on the official rules tab.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

NASCAR Honors Its Pioneers:

NASCAR has always stuck close to its roots and there isn’t another sport that honors the tradition and its pioneers quite like the boys, and girls, of auto racing. That is why when NASCAR declared they were building a shrine to honor their history in Charlotte, North Carolina, everyone knew that it would be of epic proportion. Indeed it was.

It was of no shock to anyone when NASCAR announced that Charlotte would be the site for the Hall of Fame. Nearly 75% of all employees associated with NASCAR lives and works in the Charlotte area. Team owner Rick Hendrick was the key player involved in locating the land and securing the bids for the development.

When the ground breaking took place on January 26th, 2007 it was clear to see that this was an important event and the NASCAR Hall Of Fame would mean as much to its creators as it would the fans. $160 million later, the Hall is as great as any in the Country.

The doors opened and the first fans entered on May 11th, 2010 and they have not slowed down yet. Most of the Hall’s success comes from the different attractions that serve to please a wide variety of fans in general.

From the older generation that hold the legends such as Fireball Roberts and Tim Flock close to their hearts, to the modern era fan that drives up to see Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt’s Daytona 500 cars, NASCAR Hall Of Fame has something for the whole family to see.

Plenty To See At NASCAR Hall Of Fame

When visiting the Hall Of Fame, keep in mind that there is much more to see than merely pictures of drivers past and present and a few classic cars. Visitors have four floors in which to attempt to take everything in.

Considering all the unique attractions and displays, it would be well advised to set aside a couple of days to enjoy everything there is to see. Trying to view all the different things there is to see in one day only leads to rushing through, possibly missing important things and failing to truly enjoy the experience entirely.

On the bottom floor is a movie room that has video screenings describing all The Hall’s features, as well as clips from some of the greatest races in the sports long history. Think of it as a video tour through time. Taking visitors from the dusty dirt roads of the moonshine runners stomping grounds, to the 3 wide finishes at the Daytona 500, these video tours are a must see for first time visitors.

The videos continue up to the 2nd floor, where visitors will also find a replica of the 33 degree banked turns at Talladega, referred to as “Glory Road”. Viewers of Showtimes’ “Inside NASCAR” will quickly recognize “Studio #43″, named after the historic car number of King Richard Petty.

The 3rd floor draws much of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame attention. Located in the center is a 360 degree “Wall Of Honor”, in which the photos of drivers from every era are proudly displayed. However, the real excitement is the race weekend simulator that lets fans enjoy a race weekend from the team perspective. It is the favorite among the children age 3-83.

There is so much more to see and enjoy during a visit to the NASCAR Hall Of Fame. There is a restaurant, the Hall Of Fame Cafe, Buffalo Wild Wings, a ballroom and simply way too much to try and experience all in one day.

That is one of the best tips anyone can give a potential first time visitor, plan a two day trip if you truly want to get the full NASCAR Hall Of Fame experience. Also purchase an audio tour guide for $5. The device gives you a detailed description and history of any attraction you point it at. The audio tour guide is by far the best $5 you will spend all day.

The Places To See And Stay While Enjoying Charlotte’s NASCAR Hall Of Fame

By taking one of the many bus tours, visitors will see the Hall in all its glory, plus get an up close view of a racing garage, pit crew practice and a variety of other interesting sites and sounds associated with NASCAR. The bus tours are scheduled every few hours, so getting one isn’t too difficult.

There are areas where a visitor can become a pit crew member, visit inside an actual race hauler, and get an idea of what the life of a team member is really like on race day. The driving simulators alone will have you not wanting to leave.

Those that choose to plan a trip to the NASCAR Hall of Fame and decide they need an extra day to take it all in, need to book their hotel rooms in advance. Trying to find vacancies in and around the Charlotte area, especially near the Convention Center, in uptown Charlotte, where The Hall is located, can be very difficult. On race weekends even more so.

The Hotels closest to NASCAR Hall of Fame are The Hampton Inn, The Hilton Garden Inn, TheWestin Hotel and The Hilton Center City. All of these hotels are within walking distance of The Hall Of Fame, as well as the train station and tour bus rentals.

The NASCAR Hall Of Fame has a huge video room that displays races for visitors to see on race day. On Saturday and Sunday, the Hall is pretty crowded with visitors waiting to watch the race, taking simulator rides and touring the facility. So if you are not from around Charlotte and want to enjoy every aspect The Hall Of fame has to offer, it would be best to come through the week.

NASCAR Hall Of Fame Package Deals And Rates

Hours of operation; Open 7 days a week 10am – 6pm
Thursday, OCT. 11th 7am-8pm

TICKETS ;
( ADULTS : $19.95) / Children ages 5-12 ($12.95)
Seniors (60 and over) $17.95
(Military: $17.95)
There are several package deals that offer discounts, such as;
($87.80 Family Pack)/ includes 2 adult tickets, 2 children tickets, 4 simulator rides, 4 cafe vouchers and 4 tickets. Lanyards to hold your tickets.
($26.95) Individual Package Deal / includes one ticket, adult, 1 simulator ride, 1 cafe voucher and 1 lanyard.
($99.80 Adult Combo Pack)/ includes 4 adult tickets, 4 simulator rides, 4 cafe vouchers and 4 lanyards.
See more details at NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

This past week I was at the NY Auto show in the Jacob Javits center. As I was looking at all the new models coming out I kept stumbling across some race cars. Some were from Indy, some from F1 and some from road courses. Here is a quick view of some of them.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Ryan Newman finished off a great day by winning the 63rd Annual Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville. His Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet had a good battle on the final laps with the #22 AJ Allmendinger Shell Pennzoil Dodge. Ryan overcame a speeding penalty on pit road earlier in the race and was in the right spot at the right time when there was a late race wreck. This is the third win for Stewart Haas racing this year.

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

With only a hand full of laps left and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson battling for the lead there was a late race caution because of David Reutimann stalling on the racetrack. Jeff and Jimmie both lead the most laps as Jeff led for 328 and Jimmie led for 112 laps.

On a day that totally dominated by Hendrick owned cars the best placed Hendricks car was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished third and led for a few laps.

Dale Jr after the race said “Yeah, I’m real happy with our finish. We worked really hard all day, all weekend really we worked hard to obviously get the best finish we could. This is our first race with AMP on the hood, and we are proud to have a good finish for those guys, had a lot of people here in weekend.”

Kasey Kahne continued his bad luck streak when he had a blown engine on lap 316. It was a bad day for both Busch brothers as Kurt had a tire go down twice early on and Kyle had a crash on lap 99 when something broke in the rear end.

AJ Allmendinger on finishing second:  “Well, I knew I had a shot.  I knew Dale and Martin were on two tires, as well. So you know, I was — I knew I had a shot, but Ryan had been really good all day.  He kind of — I think he basically had one bad run that got him shuffled in back — or he had a pit road penalty and that’s what caught him there.”

But today was all about Ryan Newman after the race had a few comments.”No doubt an impressive day for us; for me to take us out of the game and we ended up going a lap down because of my speeding penalty, and the guys did an awesome job in giving us the car to make the changes.

We were not a dominant race car today but we put ourselves in contention.  The way the strategy and everything worked out, coming in for two tires and Clint kind of clearing out turn one for us, we were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.

We have been in that position here and been in the wrong place at the wrong time and it’s nice to be able to at least balance it out and get Outback in victory lane.  That was really special for us, their first race with the team and if we get in the Top-10, we get free Bloomin’ Onions if you go to Outback and mention my name.  Not sure, they might be rethinking that after this week.”

Average Speed: 78.823 MPH Lead Changes: 19 among 10 drivers Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 26 Mins, 12 Secs. Cautions: 7 for 56 laps Margin of Victory: 0.342 Seconds Attendance: 63,000

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Credit: Jeff Zelevanksy/Getty Images for NASCAR

The two most dominant drivers in recent memory at Martinsville Speedway are still smarting from last season’s uncharacteristic Victory Lane shutout. If the 2011 blanking has made Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson even more motivated, the rest of the field could be in trouble.

Hamlin and Johnson will get their chance to scratch the win column again when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its first stop of the year at its shortest track for the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 (FOX, 1 p.m. ET).

The two drivers combined to win every event in a nine-race span from 2006 to 2010 at Martinsville; Johnson won five, Hamlin four. That changed last season.

Kevin Harvick won this race last April as both Hamlin and Johnson finished just outside the top 10. Both rebounded for top-five finishes at Martinsville in the fall, but victory narrowly eluded Johnson when Tony Stewart bypassed him for a statement-making win on the way to his third title.

“I certainly want to get back to my winning ways there,” Johnson said. “But at a minimum, we always end up with a real strong finish. When I think of how close we were to victory last fall . . . it didn’t happen, but we led a lot of laps and was a factor in the end.”

For Johnson, there’s extra motivation for a milestone victory. The next win by Hendrick Motorsports — winless so far in 2012 — will be the team’s 200th.

For Hamlin, an extra edge may come in the form of Darian Grubb, who manned the pit box for Stewart’s Martinsville win last October. The new driver-crew chief combination has already produced one victory for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 team this season, lifting Hamlin to seventh in the Sprint Cup standings.

Hamlin hasn’t lacked for confidence at many points in his career, but exuded it with a bold Tuesday tweet: “If you are wondering who to pick in fantasy this weekend . . . choose 11.”

Gary Sinise Slightly Injured in a car Accident

Actor Gary Sinise may not be at Martinsville Speedway in person, but he will be there in spirit, and doubtless he’ll be thinking of Marine Corporal J.B. Kerns as he waves the green flag to start the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on Sunday.

There’s a kinship between Sinise and Kerns, the depth of which transcends the “Lieutenant Dan” character Sinise played in the movie “Forrest Gump.”

Lt. Dan lost his legs in the Vietnam War, but that was make-believe. In stark reality, Kerns is a triple amputee, having lost his legs and right arm in the explosion of an IED (improvised explosive device) during his third tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Though Kerns is a NASCAR fan, this is his first visit to Martinsville. As honorary starter, he’ll wave the green flag and unleash the power of 43 800-horsepower stock cars.

“With me being a longtime NASCAR fan, it’s a pretty big honor for me to wave the flag and everything, and also, Matt Kenseth having my name on his car, too,” Kerns told the NASCAR Wire Service. “I’ve been following Matt since probably ’04.”

Kenseth is sporting a special paint scheme on his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. The car pays tribute to Kerns’ service as part of an initiative by Sinise’s foundation and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation to raise money to build a “smart home” for the veteran in his home town of Ararat, Va.

“One morning I got up, and I got a phone call, and it was Frank Siller from the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation,” Kerns said. “He was saying, ‘We want to build you a house.’ At first I was in disbelief, but as it’s coming along, I’m realizing it’s all real.”

Sinise was scheduled to take part in those fundraising efforts and to serve as grand marshal for Sunday’s race. An auto accident on Friday, in which Sinise was involved as a passenger, forced a change of plans, as well as the cancelation of a concert Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band was scheduled to play Saturday night at Martinsville High School.

Sinise, who was not seriously injured in the accident, has promised to reschedule the concert, but no date has been set.

Though Sinise won’t be at the race to see Kerns wave the flag and to renew their acquaintance, his efforts and those of the Siller Foundation will have no less of an impact.

“I met Gary once,” Kerns said. “I hung out with him for a day. He’s a really good guy, too. He’s not like you’d think an actor or celebrity would be. He’s a really chilled, down-to-earth guy.”

The track announced Saturday that Richard Petty will serve as grand marshal in Sinise’s place.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Just thought I would give an update on our fantasy league. I am amazed that I am not in last place already. How are you doing in the league! Let me know if you have any secrets to keep me from finishing last again.

Remember this weekend we have the Camping World truck race on Saturday and Sprint Cup race on Sunday.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Credit: By Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR

Tony Stewart had a fast car today and it proved to be enough to win the Auto Club 400 in Fontana California. In a race that was caution free until the rains came out on lap 124 Tony Stewart’s Mobil 1/ Office Depot Chevrolet was the best car of the day.

Early on in the race it was the Kyle Busch show as he lead for 3/4ths of the race until Tony took over the lead around lap 80 or so. The #18 rubbed the wall slightly and Kyle Busch lost handling on the car a little bit. Kyle Busch finished 2nd, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards completing the top five.

Denny Hamlin who was in second place at the time of caution decided to pit along with Jimmie Johnson and finished 10th and 11th. Many question why he would pit knowing the rain was coming but if they had gone back green they would have been in good shape. The red flag was great for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 Lowes team as they had an oil leak and major engine problems which would have cost them many laps had the race continued on.

Post Race Quotes:
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: We had a really good car. The car was really quick in practice at the end of the day yesterday. We carried the same car into the race. I was real happy about that. We started off moving forward. Had some really good pit strategies, pitting a little bit earlier than most guys. Steve brought us down pit road and we gained a little bit of time, passed some guys on pit road.

We drove the car up to fifth before the weather came. We had been watching the weather all day. We felt certain if it started to rain it wasn’t going to stop. We made the right choice by staying out and building ourselves into the top three.

Pretty happy. Pretty uneventful weekend. Other than the qualifying miscue we had, we’ve had a really good weekend.

KYLE BUSCH: We had a great race car there from the beginning of the race. Got the lead from Denny after the first lap, led a lot of laps. I just wish we led 30 more and we’d be in a different position right now.

Had a great car. The Interstate Batteries Camry was fast. Can’t say enough about those guys, Dave and everybody, for putting together a really good car this weekend. Wish we would have been able to race the whole thing on one hand, but on the other hand I’m kind of glad we’re not because we kind of have a little bit of damage that slowed us down there about 20 laps ago.

All in all it was a really good day. Glad we were able to run that way and up front like we’re supposed to and to our potential, that we had a day where we didn’t have attrition or something else get in our way.

Tony’ claimed his second victory of the season, his second at Fontana and the 46th of his career, tying him with Buck Baker for 14th on the career victory list.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Martinsville Speedway Fund-Raising Silent Auction Will Be A Race Fan’s Delight

Race fans will be able to pick up some pretty impressive racing memorabilia while helping build a home for an American hero on March 31 at Martinsville High School.

Actor Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band will play a concert at Martinsville High School on March 31 as part of a fund-raiser for the construction of a specially-equipped smart house for Cpl. J.B. Kerns, who lost both legs and an arm in an explosion in Afghanistan a year ago.

Before and during the show, concert-goers will be able to bid on an amazing array of racing items, including the autographed rear bumper from Tony Stewart’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 winning car last fall and an autographed driver’s uniform worn by Rusty Wallace during his Last Call Tour in 2004. There will also be some non-racing items, including a script from CSI: NY, signed by Sinise, the show’s star. All of the money raised from the auction will go to the house-building efforts for Kerns.

To be eligible to bid on any items, you must have a ticket to the Lt. Dan Band Concert. Sinise will be the Grand Marshal for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on April 1 while Kerns will be the Honorary Starter.

“We have been amazed at how the racing community has responded with items for this auction. They understand that J.B. is a true hero and they want to help all they can,” said Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell. “Not only have we gotten a large number of items to auction, but the quality and value has been impressive. And we expect the list to grow over the next two weeks.”

Autographed silent-auction items include: Darrell Waltrip chrome helmet; Rusty Wallace driver uniform from his final career win at Martinsville Speedway in 2004; rear bumper from the car Tony Stewart drove to victory at Martinsville Speedway last fall; rear bumper from Ryan Newman’s car; Kyle Busch helmet visor; Jeff Burton racing shoes; Richard Petty diecast car; Richard Petty crew shirt; crew outfit from Kevin Harvick’s GM Goodwrench team; GM Goodwrench hat from Kevin Harvick; a Kevin Harvick autographed diecast car; the hood from the Fastenal Tunnel to Towers car driven by David Gilliland at Richmond last year, autographed by Gary Sinise and J.B. Kerns; and a script from CSI: NY autographed by Sinise.

Other auction items include four suite tickets to the Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega and pace car rides and the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Daytona International Speedway.

Tickets to the concert are $25 an may be purchased online at www.piedmontarts.org or by calling 276.632.3221.

Newman Makes Animal Friends, Talks Racing At Martinsville Speedway

Ryan Newman is in the spotlight after a strong fourth-place showing in this past weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but Wednesday he found himself upstaged by a lumbering, lovable Great Dane named Bodhi.

Newman was in town visiting the Martinsville-Henry County SPCA as part of a media promotion for the upcoming Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He was greeted in the parking lot on arrival by the 20-month old, 165-pound Bodhi, who seldom left his side for the next 90 minutes and even visited with Newman at the track later in the day.

The visit to the SPCA was second nature to Newman. He and his wife Krissie share a love of animals and formed the Ryan Newman Foundation several years ago to help educate and encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters. The Martinsville-Henry County SPCA has helped the Ryan Newman Foundation in the rescue of animals.

“They have a great facility, run by great people,” Newman said of the Martinsville-Henry County SPCA. “I got to see a great skit, their Paw and Pet Show. It was really fun, educational, cool and amazing for them to put together something like that.”

While much of the day was spent with animals, and talking about animals, Newman did manage to talk some racing, especially racing at Martinsville Speedway and the upcoming Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on April 1.

Newman has come oh-so-close to winning at Martinsville, but has never visited victory lane at the historic half-mile oval. In last spring’s Goody’s Fast Relief 500 he looked to be on the verge of breaking through, running fourth on lap 327 when a header pipe broke and cost him two laps in the pits for repairs. He wound up 20th after starting second.

“You have to survive here, that’s the hardest part,” said Newman, whose Chevrolet will be sponsored by Outback Steakhouse in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500. “You can show up and be ready to go to war, but if you are the first person to get bombed, it’s over for you.”

Martinsville Speedway will be kicking off its 65th season of racing with the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 weekend on March 30-April 1.

Great ticket packages and seats are on sale for the entire weekend and may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or online at www.martinsvillespeedway.com.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans

Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

It was Tony’s first win under new crew chief Steve Addington. Greg Biffle finished 3rd, Ryan Newman 4th and Carl Edwards 5th. It was a good day for Stewart-Haas racing.

Below is the transcript of Tony’s post race interview along with his Co Owner Gene Haas and his crew chief Steve Addington.

KERRY THARP: We’re going to go ahead and get started post race with our winning team at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We’re joined by crew chief Steve Addington and co-owner Gene Haas.

Steve, I’m going to ask you first, three races in, your first victory with Stewart Haas Racing. Must be one you’ll always cherish.

STEVE ADDINGTON: Yes, I will. The points race, to be here in Vegas, to know how bad Tony wanted to win this race after last year. Just tried to come in and we had a great practice all weekend really. I was really disappointed that we didn’t get the poll.

He said our goal is Sunday, I’m not a good qualifier. I was like, I didn’t do a good job for you on Friday, but we’ll try to go after them on Sunday.

He did a heck of the job. Gave great feedback all day long from the car. Stayed cool when we got off a little bit. Were able to adjust and get back up to the front.

KERRY THARP: Gene, this race team has taken it up a notch. I believe you’ve won six out of the last 13 Sprint Cup races, almost 50% of the last 13 races, the 14 car has been to Victory Lane. Talk about the run you’re on right now.

GENE HAAS: I think it really comes down to Tony Stewart. Phenomenal driver. He has great throttle control. He’s very adept at figuring out what’s going on in a race. I think as Steve mentioned, he doesn’t always qualify the best. He’s not always trying to hang it out 110%, but he can consistently get the car to do what he wants.

I think even today when you watched on those three restarts, he’s just smooth as glass. He doesn’t hiccup. He just gets it done.

It’s very nervous when you do those kind of things because it can slip away so fast for a while. There’s just so many things that can happen. You can break something. You can spin the tires. Someone can slide up into you. The closer you get to the green-white-checkered, the white flag, the harder it is to keep doing that, because sooner or later your competitors figure out what’s going on. You do it three times, you don’t make a mistake, that’s hard to do.

But Tony is great at that. I think in the last 13 races or so, he’s won six of them. That’s phenomenal. I really believe that Tony is just coming into his own with Stewart Haas Racing. He’s as calm as I’ve ever seen him. He’s composed, very confident in what he does. I have no doubt this could be another pivotal year for Tony.

KERRY THARP: We’ll take questions now.

Q. Steve, you were cautiously optimistic, feeling heat to get that first win out of the way. How much pressure does this take off of you taking over for a championship crew chief, getting to Victory Lane so quickly?

STEVE ADDINGTON: It’s a big relief, to know you’re the difference in the race team right now.

I’m going to tell you, everybody has been awesome. Nobody put the pressure on me except myself. I really didn’t realize how much I’d put on myself going to work for the championship team the very next year. It’s been a lot of pressure. I think that even when Tony feels good about the car, I’m still questioning. He’s just like, Relax, dude, it’s going to be all right.

I texted him a couple times last night.

He was like, What do you want to do?

I told him a couple little things.

He was like, Okay, we’re good. Just go ahead and do what you feel like you need to do.

He was real confident in the racecar. It’s just me wanting to get that win. It’s the first mile-and-a-half racetrack together and just a little nervous about it.

Q. Steve, was there anything special about the restarts you did?

STEVE ADDINGTON: I mean, the car was pretty good off the truck. We were able to just do little things. We were able to make some changes. We had a game plan going in that if the car was doing this, doing that, we were going to change that.

All through practice, all the ideas, the guys and myself would come up with to try, it was getting the car a little bit better, a little bit better. That’s why I was disappointed Friday not getting the pole because I thought we had a car that could do that.

It wasn’t anything special. Everybody working together, communicating all through practices and stuff. We didn’t get in a panic. We just did our deal, didn’t pay attention to other guys’ lap times other than when Tony asked where we stacked up. Just got the car driving good for him.

KERRY THARP: Tony Stewart goes to Victory Lane here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is Tony’s 45th NASCAR Sprint Cup win, his first win here at Las Vegas. I believe, Tony, you’ve won six of the last 13 Sprint Cup races. I’m not real good in math but that’s almost 50%. You checked off a track that you hadn’t won at. It’s got to be a big win here for you.

TONY STEWART: It is. Just an awesome day. We felt like after Happy Hour yesterday we had a really good, solid, fairly balanced racecar. That’s probably the best I felt leaving Happy Hour in a long time.

The hard part was just looking at the time sheet, seeing how many guys, we were all right together speed-wise. You knew it was going to be a tough day to get an advantage. It didn’t take long in the day to see who the three guys were. I felt like we were the third guy in the group. But definitely Matt Kenseth and Jimmie were guys we were going to have to battle to the end with.

Just nerve-wracking end of the day for sure. Obviously, from the driver’s side, not knowing what the pit strategy is going to be. That’s the hard part for Steve. That’s where he makes his big money, making those clutch calls like that. We pulled out, two tires, a couple guys behind us on two, it was pretty nerve-wracking knowing we were going to have to get going.

Every time the caution came out, you knew that was another heat cycle on the tires. Our car was so, so strong today on restarts. We could get to the start/finish line and get to turn one so good today, that was a big key in holding these guys off. Seemed like we were a little bit weaker than the guys behind us for the first three laps. Then the next three laps, we would break even. After six or seven laps, we would start pulling away.

It was a matter of getting a good restart, hitting our marks for a couple laps, going on.

Every time the caution came out, you cringed knowing you were giving them another opportunity to take a shot. Seemed like everybody got their turn at it. Just different person on each restart that we had to hold off. Steve Addington did an awesome job. Our guys did an awesome job in the pits all day, kept us with good track position. We had an awesome Mobil 1 Office Depot Chevy and great Hendrick horsepower.

After a rough weekend last weekend, they definitely rebounded this week.

KERRY THARP: We’ll continue with questions.

Q. How important was clean air out here? It looked like track position was almost everything in this race.

STEVE ADDINGTON: That was where it came down to the call there to put two or four on. I figured some guys were going to do that. I figured a lot more would do it. If we went for four, we would be back to seventh, eighth, not have that.

I thought the run previous we started with 25 laps on our left side tires and right sides, took off pretty good, held our own for a while. We got a little bit tight. When we put right sides on with 30 laps on our left side, I made an adjustment with the right side air pressure to try to hopefully fix that. I was a little nervous it wasn’t the right call, but there were only a few with us.

Just getting out there in that clean air, looking at the lap times, it evened that out what I watched all day long.

Q. Tony, a week ago there were people already questioning your decision on Darian. Seven days later you win. Do you feel this takes a lot of the pressure off Steve? Are you glad to put some of those naysayers behind you?

TONY STEWART: You guys know I never worry about what everybody else says anyway. I’d like to think over 32 years of racing we’ve made some pretty decent decisions over that period of time.

It still was a tough decision, like we talked about a million times now. It was a tough decision to leave with Darian. From day one we told Steve that we had an awesome scenario at the end of the year, winning the championship. I guess it’s easy for us to not feel that pressure from our side. You understand why the pressure — that Steve puts the pressure on himself in that scenario. We told him from day one we’re going to go have fun, race hard, take what it gives us.

Today was more a day for me personally of winning at a track I haven’t won at. For Steve, it’s getting that first points win for us. I think it was a pretty cool two weeks.

I was really happy for Darian last week to get that win. I know it was a tough scenario for us to part ways at the end of the year. It was neat to see him and Denny get a win last week. It’s neat to see me and Steve get a win this week. Hopefully it will calm everybody down and get back to the task at hand. I’m glad both teams have come out strong like this.

Q. Is this an indication of your mile-and-a-half program going forward? Can you feel good about the other tracks coming up this package? And how different is this from what those guys were running on these types of tracks last year?

STEVE ADDINGTON: Like I told you at Daytona, I’d be an idiot to come in here and blow this thing apart the way they ran at the mile-and-a-half places. We unloaded close to where they raced last year. We had to tweak on it. We did little things here and there to get it driving better.

I felt better after the Texas tire test to go to a mile-and-a-half and run as fast and comfortable as we got him in the car down there, to bring that car here. I felt more comfortable because I worked with it a little bit before, made changes with it.

I’m sure the chassis they would get from Hendrick Motorsports are going to be identical to this one and we’ll go about it and approach it the same way. We’re just going to build from what was here before and get the car driving the way we did this weekend.

TONY STEWART: The thing that everybody has to remember, too, we did have different tires this week than what we had last year. The package changed. It’s like Steve said, even though we started very similar to where we were last year here, there was a lot of work to go through to figure out the different right side compound, the different left side tire altogether.

It wasn’t a layup weekend, throw the notes from 12 months ago and say, All right, this is the magic here. It still took going through the steps and process to try to figure out exactly what it took to keep the left side and right side tires happy and figuring out what it liked different from last year’s tires. Don’t underestimate the amount of work he had to do this weekend to get us to where we were today.

Q. Tony, you said you cringed every time the yellow came out. You had these great restarts. Take us through what stands out in your mind about any or all of them.

TONY STEWART: It just seemed like every time the caution was out, we started building the lead back up and started pulling away. The trend we were getting every time the caution came out, we’re starting to get to where we can relax, run our rhythm, not have guys pressure us on entry, back my corner up and do what I wanted to do.

When the caution comes out like, that it seemed like for the first three laps, those guys were able to put a little pressure on us, were probably quicker than us for the first three laps. We could get that initial jump from the restart point into turn one, get that first clean lap in. It seemed like during the course of the next two and a half laps, those guys were street strong. It seemed like for the next three laps, we would break even with them.

It seemed like if we could get six or eight laps under our belt, we could start building that margin out again. As soon as you started pulling away, the caution would come out again. You hate having to reset it like that, knowing for the first three laps you had to be spot on and not let them take advantage of a restart like that.

You sit there and go, How many times are we going to risk losing this race because of a restart, something is going to get taken away from us because of this. It’s very nerve-wracking. That was the great thing about our racecar, is it would go from there to turn one, it was just awesome. I think we were hands down the strongest car on restarts of getting to turn one from the restart point.

Q. Other than the short tracks and road courses, will clean air be the factor except at short tracks and road courses?

TONY STEWART: As time goes on, the sport evolves, technology gets closer and closer, the rules get closer and closer, that’s a variable that’s free, is air. If you can get out front and get in clean air, it’s always going to be an advantage. It’s been that way in Formula One, IndyCar, sports car racing.

We run with the World of Outlaws. It’s big in the World of Outlaws. It’s not just here. It’s everywhere you find that. Because the technology has got so close, the cars have got so close, it’s little differences like that that make a huge difference on the racetrack.

Do I think it’s going to be that way everywhere? Absolutely not. The pace was so fast today, it never really slowed down a lot like we thought it would. The pace was very, very fast.

The tracks that the tires fall off more, it’s not near as critical ’cause it seems like you move around more. The more that the track gets wider, the guys can offset themselves, the less the air becomes a factor.

Q. Steve, your rivals want to see the data from your computer. Are you going to let them see it willingly?

TONY STEWART: I’ll handle this. No (laughter).

KERRY THARP: Steve, we’re going to let you go because I know you have some other responsibilities. Congratulations on a victory here today.

We’ll pick up with questions again.

Q. Tony, the calendar is March 11th. This is the third race of the year and you’re in Victory Lane. Is this a personal hurdle you cleared? I’m always remembering you winning in the summer is more of your thing.

TONY STEWART: Not so much the time of year we’re winning at. This has always been a race, especially when you get so close, we’ve been lucky and fortunate to win as so many of the racetracks we run on the schedule.

The spring has historically not been our strong suit. You’re 100% right on that. They’re not going to move this Vegas race to the middle of the summer so we can win one. We had to figure out how to be good in the spring at some point.

It’s not so much when it is, I guess, as where it is. That’s a huge personal accomplishment for me. I take a lot of pride in being good in different types of cars, at least being competitive in different types of cars, being competitive at different racetracks. This is one we’ve been close a couple times and it got away.

To finally check this off the list. That’s what makes today so special, not so much the time of year we’re getting it, just the fact we finally got this one.

It’s hard when you go to a track one time a year and you lose it like we did last year. We had to wait 365 days to come back and have a shot at it again. I wouldn’t have probably been in such a bad mood on the airplane last year if I would have known one year we would be sitting here like this.

Q. Before you walked in, Gene said you’re about the most relaxed he’s seen you since you started the team. Would you say you found a good balance between driving and owning since you started the team?

TONY STEWART: Gene makes it easy. That’s why it’s so easy to do what we do, I feel like. We have a great partner. He’s been so easy to work with from day one. He’s never sat me down and say, We have to finish here, here or here, we have to win this many races. He’s like, what can we do to make our program better? That’s what I appreciate from his leadership side.

He obviously is a successful businessman and he knows how to work with people and he knows how to be successful on the business side. He’s really helped me understand how to run the business side of it.

The racing thing is kind of my niche a little bit more than it was his. I think we’re a good team together. It’s having a partner like this that gives you the confidence, pats you on the shoulder, says, Have fun, good luck, let’s go out and do the best we can.

He doesn’t put that pressure on you. So there’s not that huge weight on your shoulders. I think it makes it a lot easier to go out and do what we do each week because we have a partner that makes it easy.

Q. On the restart where you went three-wide to go from third to first, that’s really what I wanted to find out. It was interesting to people watching.

TONY STEWART: It was nice to be on the inside. We had a lot of real estate down there. We almost got too good a restart because I got such a good run on Brad. Knowing we can’t pull out of line till we cross the start/finish line, I almost got to him too quick. If we would have got there a foot earlier, I was going to have to check up and we probably wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to get underneath him like that.

We all took off at the same time and I had enough of a gap to let myself get that run on him. As soon as we got that line, it’s got a really nice transition from the racetrack to the apron. You can use it. Gave us the room to go underneath him there.

It didn’t have that nice, wide arcing entry into one that I wanted to have. The big thing was, that was when Matt and Jimmie had taken four tires and we had taken two. We knew if we could clear those guys, it would give us a little bit of a buffer and have some lap cars that would keep them occupied. We didn’t know we were going to have three or four restarts after that. It was key to get out front right away and try and build a gap.

Q. Tony, Jimmie came in here and said they really want to see the mapping sequence. Biffle said he’s never seen a car take off like that on restarts. Do you see the irony in the fact in one week after you had an EFI problem, everybody wants to see it?

TONY STEWART: I’ll let them pop breakers if that’s what they want to do. They have to shut the car off one time after the breaker pops. It was just irony. It was just bad luck last week.

It wasn’t that we were just tromping the throttle. I was pedaling it to get to the start/finish line. The new tire that they brought, it was easy to get a lot of buildup on the tires on the cautions.

That’s why you saw everybody, you were seeing guys working hard to keep the tires cleaned off. We found a sequence to do that that helped out a lot and I could do it consistently. I knew when it was time to go, that I could go when I needed to, knew exactly what to expect. I think that was a pretty big factor in it.

But I can promise you, our teammates with Hendrick will know what’s going on. If the roles were reversed, they would make sure we had that information. We will make sure they have that information.

Q. Of all the drivers that you compete against that lurk in second place in the closing laps of a race, is Jimmie Johnson one of the guys you may be concerned the most about because he’s traditionally won a lot of races from that position?

TONY STEWART: It was funny because they were like, Were you sitting there worried about the five-time champion? Are you kidding me, he’s sitting there, There’s a three-time champion I have to pass.

You know guys like Jimmie, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, guys like that aren’t going to make mistakes at the end. There’s a reason they win a lot of races. That’s because when it comes to the bottom of the ninth, they need to make that big move, they know how to do that.

That’s what made today a little more special. It wasn’t handed to us. Not only did we have to fight off a challenge once, we had to do it about four or five times in the last 30 laps.

It makes you feel like you’ve earned your deal. Every one of those guys took a shot at us at some point on a restart. That’s why I’m really proud of the effort we had today. It wasn’t just one time we had to hold somebody off, it was four or five times we had to hold all those guys off at some point.

You know guys like Jimmie aren’t going to make a mistake like that. He came down and shook my hand like he always does. He’s a class act. He’s either the first one to send you a text message or comes down to Victory Lane to tell you you did a good job. It was good to see him marvel at all the restarts, that’s not the right word to use, but he was giving me praise about my restarts.

Q. NASCAR is actually talking about trying to release the data from the top five finishers. They haven’t decided yet. Do you think that’s good or bad, not just for today, but in general?

TONY STEWART: Well, I think they’ve got their guidelines of what parameters we’re supposed to stay in. I don’t know that they need to give all the information away all the time. There’s still the part of having the creativity and guys doing their homework. I feel like from the Hendrick side, those guys have done a great job.

It’s not a big drama for us because we don’t do our own engine program. From the Hendrick side, those guys should be proud of what they’ve done. They’ve worked hard last year to get this ready. I don’t think it’s fair you give all that information to everybody else because you did a good job.

I think as long as it stays in the parameters of NASCAR says we’re allowed to work in, there should be that creativity. You don’t just give hard work away. So I don’t think it’s right to do that.

KERRY THARP: Tony and Gene, congratulations. We’ll see you at Bristol.

TONY STEWART: Thank you.

Keep up with all your racing news at Awesome Race Fans