Cumberland, MD - Some might say Josh Richards has arrived. With the support of his father, Mark Richards, one of the most successful Late Model chassis builders in history, in addition to that of NASCAR® star Tony Stewart, a rabid Dirt Late Model enthusiast and owner of Eldora Speedway it could be easy to conclude. But when you put this formula together, it doesn’t always spell success. The person that is behind the wheel has got to have talent and ‘Kid Rocket’, as he has been dubbed exudes talent. Josh currently sits fourth in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series point standings while winning four races on their tour in 2008. And now, in just his third MACS start of the year, he bagged his second triumph claiming the $12,000 top prize, as he dominated the ‘8th Annual Big Kahuna’ at Rick and Ernie Jones’, Oval Track Promotions effort at ‘The Rock’ Allegany County Speedway, Cumberland, MD. With Richards win along came another couple notches on the belt for Rocket chassis as Jason Covert, York Haven, PA became the first, three-time MACS champion in addition to Dover, PA’s Coleby Frye claiming the 2008 AlturnaMATS® MACS Rookie of the Year title.

The 50-lap, Big Kahuna VIII was led trackside by Ricky Elliott and Richards as the paced the star-studded field to green. As the field blasted their way through the first corner and into turn two, Elliott and Richards were racing extremely hard with each other and the duo ultimately made contract causing Elliott start to lose control of his mount. Richards contact with the polesitter, left him no where to go as he tried to take evasive action after catching Elliott’s rear corner-panel sending him spinning in front of the pack. Cars were scattering everywhere as Jeremy Miller and Tim McCreadie waxed Elliott but where able maintain there momentum. The same couldn’t be said for 2005 MACS Champion, Mike Balzano, as well as D.J. Troutman as they made contract with the spun pole sitter relegating the trio to the rear of the field. All the cars involved where able to continue for the restart. The realigned field now saw ageless veteran, and 2008 National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame inductee, Gary Stuhler inherit the pole position for the ensuing restart. As the green again waved, Richards jumped out into lead over Covert, who had catapulted past Stuhler to claim second.

The action continued on the huge 5/8 mile oval as Richards caught lapped traffic in just nine short circuits. The following lap saw the events third caution as Randy Burkholder spun in turn three. On the restart, Richards led Covert, Steve Francis, Boom Briggs (from ninth), and Miller rounded out the top five. The top quintet was setting a torrid pace around the picturesque facility as Doug Horton shot into the top ten from his 17th place starting position. As racing continued, Miller locked up in a spectacular duel with Rick Eckert for fifth.

By lap 20, Richards had stretched his margin over Covert to almost an eight car lengths as the 2007 MACS Rookie of the Year, Matt Lux, was falling from sixth to eighth after both Stuhler and Horton blasted around the Franklin, PA hot shoe. A mere ten laps later Josh continued to set a blistering pace and had built a full straightaway lead while Covert and Francis were hooked up in a dog fight for second. Eckert was reeling in the competition as he moved past Briggs to claim fourth. Two late cautions closed up the field and eliminated Richards huge advantage. Each time the 20-year old Richards answered the call as he would again pull away from his closets contenders. Richards held the point the rest of the way to the checkers going claiming his second career MACS victory and the $12,000 top prize. Freshly crowned 2008 MACS Champion Jason Covert settled for second followed by Francis, Eckert, and Briggs in fifth. Miller led the next flight of five finisher with Stuhler in seventh followed by Horton, Davey Johnson, and Jared Miley, from fifteenth.

Here is the video courtesy of Cup Scene Daily at www.CupScene.com

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is working with Old Spice to give a lucky fan the sweat towel right off his shoulder – unwashed and autographed! Directly after winning the Oct. 5 AMP Energy 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Stewart signed his Old Spice towel in black ink and handed it over to a charity auction to benefit the Tony Stewart Foundation.

The charity auction begins at 9 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 7 and will run until 9 a.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 13. Fans can place a bid for the autographed towel by logging on to www.OldSpice.com or www.TonyStewart.com.

Throughout the 2008 racing season, every time Stewart wins a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, a NASCAR Nationwide Series race or a major motorsports event, his Old Spice victory lane towel will be auctioned off for charity.

Towels from Stewart’s previous Nationwide Series wins this season – February 16 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, February 25 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., April 26 at Talladega Superspeedway, July 28 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, along with his autographed hat from his May 9 Nationwide Series victory at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and the towel from his June 4 triumph in the Old Spice Prelude to the Dream all-star dirt late model race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio – collectively raised $6,536.91.

Old Spice is a longtime NASCAR sponsor and has sponsored Stewart, a 33-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner, for the past eight years. The brand is the No. 1 antiperspirant/deodorant stick and body wash choice for guys in the United States.

The Tony Stewart Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that raises funds primarily distributed to three specific groups – children, drivers and animals. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $2.1 million to assist charitable initiatives for more than 80 organizations throughout the United States. One of the prime beneficiaries of the Foundation is the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, N.C., which serves as a year-round camp for children ages seven to 15 with an assortment of life-threatening illnesses.

Presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers, the Armour Foods Vienna Sausage Showdown will kick off Bank of America 500 Week and features a possible $30,000 first place prize for the winner of the 50-lap feature.

Newman, 30, of South Bend, Ind., is slated to compete as a teammate of defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Steve Francis. He will drive the No. 12 late model with sponsorship from Alltel and the Ryan Newman Foundation.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will not be competing on the track, but will be signing autographs for the fans underneath the grandstands when spectator gates open at 5 p.m.

Adding to the star power on Wednesday is Bloomquist, who has four wins to his credit at the four-tenths-mile track. That’s the most of any current late model driver and fourth on the all-time win list at The Dirt Track. The “Mooresburg Missle” won the inaugural event at the facility in 2000 and his most recent victory at the four-tenths-mile track came in the World of Outlaws World Finals in November 2007. Bloomquist also scored back-to-back $50,000 wins in the 2006 and 2007 Circle K Colossal 100.

A 30-year veteran of dirt track racing, Moran has also been a regular in events at The Dirt Track since it opened. He has one win at the track, which came last November, in one of the World of Outlaws World Finals features. Moran, who is based out of Dresden, Ohio, is a four-time STARS series champion and a four-time champion in the All-Star Circuit of Champions. Moran also operates the Donnie Moran Racing Driving School.

The unique format of the Armour Foods Vienna Sausage Showdown provides an opportunity for drivers to earn up to $30,000 for scoring the win. If the driver who wins the 50-lap finale submitted an official entry form prior to Sept. 13, he will receive the $10,000 first-place prize along with an amount equal to $1,000 multiplied by his starting position.

The event will be the first “topless” event in World of Outlaws Late Model Series racing history. The term “topless” refers to the fact that each dirt late model must compete without its fiberglass top, giving fans a better view of the drivers as they navigate the lightning-fast four-tenths-mile oval.

More than 50 of the biggest names in dirt late model racing are expected to be on hand for the Armour Foods Vienna Sausage Showdown, including World of Outlaws points leader Darrell Lanigan and series regulars Chub Frank, Josh Richards, Shannon Babb, Rick Eckert, Clint Smith and World 100 winner Shane Clanton.

If purchased in advance, adult tickets for the Oct. 8 Armour Foods Vienna Sausage Showdown presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers are $25 with children 12 and under admitted for $5.

Tickets for this event can also be purchased as part of the four-race $99 SUPER Ticket which includes Bojangles’ Pole Night on Thursday night, Oct. 9; the Dollar General 300 on Friday night, Oct. 10; and the Bank of America 500 on Saturday night, Oct. 11.

Tickets are available online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com  or by calling the Lowe’s Motor Speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.

INDIANAPOLIS — The USAC Mopar National Midget Series heads for Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. this week for the richest Midget race of the year, the “Gold Crown Midget Nationals,” and Tracy Hines continues to lead the standings in search of USAC’s career “Triple Crown.”

Hines owns championships in USAC’s Silver Crown and National Sprint Car series but would like to add the Midgets to become the fifth driver in history to own career titles in all three National series. The others are Tony Stewart, Pancho Carter, Dave Darland and J.J. Yeley.

Jerry Coons Jr., who won the last two USAC National Midget crowns, also is seeking a career “Triple Crown” as he currently leads USAC’s K & N Silver Crown points and the USAC National Sprint car standings. Coons will be among Hines’ challengers in this week’s events at Tri-City Speedway. Preliminaries are slated Thursday and Friday, with a 25-lap feature each night on the 3/8-mile dirt oval. Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win finale is 40 laps.

USAC MOPAR NATIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS

1. Tracy Hines 1,113
2. Cole Whitt 1,047
3. Brad Sweet 982
4. Bobby East 947
5. Brady Bacon 936
6. Levi Jones 935
7. Darren Hagen 875
8. Jerry Coons Jr. 749
9. Dave Darland 717
10. Brad Kuhn 688

Until Sunday, that is, when Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Subway/Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), managed to avoid a pair of huge superspeedway-style “big wrecks” and a furious challenge during a green-white-checker finish to score the victory in the AMP Energy 500 for his first career Sprint Cup win at Talladega.

Ironically, Stewart’s No. 20 Toyota was once again the second car to take the checkered flag today, but Regan Smith in the No. 01 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) had to venture far below the yellow out-of-bounds line to complete an inside pass on Stewart to beat him across the finish line – a NASCAR no-no at Talladega that sent Smith to the back of the lead-lap finishers in 18th-place in the final standings and gave Stewart his 33rd career Sprint Cup victory and first of the season.

“It’s one thing to get back to victory lane, but to do it at Talladega – this is one of about four places I hadn’t won a Cup race at, and talk about one to win. I’ve wanted to win here for so long,” Stewart said. “I have so many friends down here – Red Farmer and Donnie Allison. And all these fans, man, there’s so much (Home Depot) orange up there. This hasn’t been one of my favorite places on the fan side. People haven’t always liked me here. But this one is for those guys up in the stands today.”

Stewart was one of a Sprint Cup Series-record 28 different lap leaders in the 190-lap event. He held the point on four separate occasions, albeit only briefly on the first three while employing a conservative strategy over the first 450 miles. Stewart moved into the lead for good with a pass of Juan Pablo Montoya on lap 174 – just before the race’s biggest multi-car accident was triggered not far off his rear bumper on lap 175. That one, featuring fellow Chase for the Sprint Cup contender Carl Edwards, took out 12 cars and brought out the race’s second red-flag stoppage.

“We just tried to be careful the first part of the day,” said Stewart, whose only other career victory at Talladega came in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in April. “When we got behind Jeff Gordon there at one point, we were trying to push too much and (the engine) got hot, so we just had to back off. I was just patient until the last half of the race, and finally got ourselves in position to stay up front.

“This thing drove awesome all day. It was just a matter of running with the right guys. The 6 (David Ragan) was really good, the 17 (Matt Kenseth), the 31 (Jeff Burton) – there were some cars that were really good pushing and I am just glad that we finally got one for Subway and Home Depot because we haven’t had much luck for them this year.”

After the lap-179 restart, Stewart and his No. 20 Toyota had little trouble keeping challengers behind him. He and Smith, in fact, opened up a hefty gap on the rest of the field with Smith pushing Stewart along. A final debris caution on lap 186, however, brought the field back together again and set the stage for the green-white-checker finish. Again, Stewart was able to ride the low line and keep everyone behind him, but Smith, made one last, valiant effort coming to the checkered flag.

“Just don’t get too big of a gap behind me and I knew, with three DEI cars behind me, it was going to be tough to hold on,” Stewart said. “We got a really good push from Regan (Smith) on the backstretch, there. I thought he was going to be able to stay on the bumper, and if he was able to stay there, then I knew there wasn’t anybody that was going to be able to get to us. He got away from us there and got a gap and he got a good run. I just had to try to protect it to the end.

“I thought once we got through that first (green-white-checker) lap we were going to be all right. But we got to the backstretch and he got to the bumper, which was the plan, and I was hoping he would get there. If he could have stayed there all the way around to (turn) four and all the way through the frontstretch, then there was no way that anybody could get to the two of us. He got a gap there off of turn four and that gave him a run and I just had to protect my line. You hate to have to do that, but to win here at Talladega, I would just about wreck the whole field to win here at Talladega, finally.”

Stewart’s JGR teammates – Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin – finished 15th and 39th, respectively, in the AMP Energy 500.

Finishing .052 of second behind Stewart in the runner-up slot was Paul Menard, who collected his career-best Sprint Cup result. Ragan finished third, while Burton and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five. Bobby Labonte, Scott Riggs, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Elliott Sadler comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 41 laps – including two red-flag stoppages for a total of 29 minutes, 12 seconds to clean up multi-car accidents – with 16 drivers failing to finish the 190-lap race, which was extended two laps past its scheduled 188-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

All three JGR drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Stewart now leads the JGR trio in points, as his victory moved him up four spots to seventh, 203 markers arrears series leader Johnson. Busch gained one position and is 11th in the standings, 331 points out of the lead. Hamlin dropped two spots to 12th and is 335 points behind Johnson.

With six races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season-finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title are as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (5,718 points) +/- 0
2. Carl Edwards (5,646 points, -72) +/- 0
3. Greg Biffle (5,641 points, -77) +/- 0
4. Jeff Burton (5,619 points, -99) +/- 0
5. Clint Bowyer (5,566 points, -152) +2
6. Kevin Harvick (5,547 points, -171) – 1
7. Tony Stewart (5,515 points, -203) +4
8. Jeff Gordon (5,486 points, -232) -2
9. Matt Kenseth (5,473 points, -245) +/- 0
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5,469 points, -249) -2
11. Kyle Busch (5,387 points, -331) +1
12. Denny Hamlin (5,383 points, -335) -2

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the halfway mark of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup – is the Oct. 11 Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. The race begins at 7:25 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.

Concord, NC - Donny Schatz used his 15th win of the season on Saturday night at Princeton Speedway to extend his point lead over Jason Meyers to 123 markers with seven races remaining on the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series schedule. The two-time defending has finished in the Top-10 in 54 of the 57 A-Feature events contested this season, as he continues his first season driving for Tony Stewart Racing.

Meyers picked up his series leading 44th Top-Five finish of the season on Saturday night. He picked up his 13th fast time honor of the season on Friday night in the World of Outlaws debut at North Central Speedway and finished in the Top-10 in the A-Feature. He also leads the series in laps led, as he chases his first series title.

Joey Saldana remains third in points, after picking up his 42nd Top-10 finish of the season at Princeton Speedway. He has won five times this season and led a number of laps at North Central Speedway before a broken throttle linkage ended his night.

Steve Kinser finished third and sixth over the weekend in Minnesota to close to within eight points of Saldana as the pair battles for the third spot in the championship standings. The 20-time series champion came from the 20th starting spot to finish sixth on Saturday night to earn his 42nd Top-10 finish of the season.

Craig Dollansky, who is currently recovering from surgery to his right arm, remains fifth in points. He and his wife Julie promoted the race at Princeton Speedway on Saturday night and he was also in attendance at North Central Speedway on Friday night, which both are in his home state of Minnesota.

Jac Haudenschild finished third on Saturday night at Princeton. He has 43 Top-10 finishes this season and is just outside of the Top-Five in the series standings.

Kerry Madsen remains seventh in points, after picking up a Top-Five finish on Friday night. The reigning Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year has 36 Top-10 finishes this season with seven of those being Top-Five performances.

Chad Kemenah picked up two more Top-10 finishes over the weekend and closed to within 12 points of Madsen as the pair battles for the seventh spot. Kemenah has racked up 35 Top-10 finishes with 12 of those being Top-Fives.

Terry McCarl picked up two more Top-Five finishes over the weekend and is solidly in the ninth spot in points. He has 26 Top-10 finishes this season, including seven consecutive. He recently picked up his first win of the season at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York.

Daryn Pittman finished ninth on Saturday night to earn his 29th Top-10 finish of the season. He remains 10th in points and has won four times this season.

Kraig Kinser used his second win of the season on Friday night at North Central Speedway to move into 11th in points. He has 17 Top-10 finishes this season driving for Tony Stewart Racing.

Sam Hafertepe Jr. is just 10 points behind Kinser. He won his first Crane Cams Dash of the season at Princeton Speedway to earn a pole position and has 16 Top-10 finishes this season.

Tony Bruce Jr. and Chad Hillier each gained a spot in points over the weekend. The sophomore drivers are 14th and 15th in points respectively.

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12 at Hollywood Hills Speedway in New Mexico.

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by the winning team in today’s race.

We will start with J.D. Gibbs. Your thoughts on today’s victory?

J.D. GIBBS: You know, it’s kind of two different days for us. We have Denny’s run first, have the tire go, hits the wall. That was scary. Get him to Birmingham, have the doctors check him out. He had a little headache, his foot was hurting. You go from that, come back over here, watching at the end of the race, Kyle got caught up in the accident there. Then Tony to go where he was, to not have a win all year, that was a big deal for us. The way we won it, you go, Man, we were so close. Then you realize you can’t go below the yellow line. We’ve been caught a few times at the other end of that. Zippy knew right away you can’t do that from past experience.

THE MODERATOR: Joe Gibbs, could you give us your thought on today’s day?

JOE GIBBS: J.D. said it right. You got three cars, tough things happen to two of them. The thing I kind of focused on right after the race was, you know, it’s been with Zippy and Tony, all of us together with Home Depot, it’s 33 wins. That’s awesome. I mean, it just doesn’t happen that often in sports that you get to enjoy those kinds of wins. This one took us a while to get this one.

Zippy has done a great job managing, handling the team, keeping everyone together. Obviously went through a lot this year with all the things that have happened to the race team. I really appreciate them and their attitude. They kept a great attitude all year.

THE MODERATOR: Greg, take us through your day.

GREG ZIPADELLI: It was a great day for us. I’m just proud of everybody in our group, all three teams, everybody that chipped in to help us on Friday to overcome what happened to us in Happy Hour. I mean, that’s first and foremost, we spent a lot of time on this brand new car to bring back here. Got tore up in Happy Hour. And everybody from all three teams helped each other fix our car, the 11 car. Very appreciative of that. Everybody did a good job, obviously.

We had a good car all day. We’ve had a lot of good cars here in the past and haven’t been able to get that victory. This is one of those places that if you were going to pick five or six racetracks to win at in your career, this is one of them. For us to finally get our first win after all those second and top fives we’ve had, it’s cool.

It’s been tough this year, up and down, keeping everybody just focused and trying to not get frustrated over the things that are going to happen or that we went through. My guys, they’ve done a good job all year of trying to stay focused doing their job, you know, trying to prepare good racecars. Hopefully this will give us a little momentum for the last few races, we can get ourselves back in the top five where I think we belong.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll take questions.

Q: Six races left, I’m sure you’re going to be out there gunning for more victories. This pretty much is kind of the end of an era with you and Tony. Could you just kind of address what it’s like to go out with a victory with him, all the times you shared, good and bad?

GREG ZIPADELLI: It’s all been good. There have been a few off days, but for the most part it’s good. If I had my choice, I wish he was staying where he was at and we were going to continue on.

But things are changing. I’m proud of everybody. That we got a win here, know that we’re not going to go winless for a whole season, you know, all those little things that wear on you. The longer you go, the more you wonder about it. You wonder, can we do this, will we do this?

Proud of everybody. Excited we’re going to racetracks we’ve won at. The rest of the year, I think we’ve won at least one. Going to Charlotte next week. Had a decent test. Probably should have won that race in the spring. So we’re definitely looking forward to the end of the season.

Q: Joe and J.D., could you answer that, please?

JOE GIBBS: For me, I really focused on the fact of keeping everybody together for 10 years, particularly in this sport, any sport. We kept Zippy, Tony, the whole team, Home Depot, they reupped with us. So my focus is when you’ve got a great sponsor like that, you want them to get what they came into the sport for. To keep everybody together for 10 years, it’s been an awesome deal. Really appreciate it.

Goes back to everybody at the shop, front office, everybody working all the way through the organization. To keep everything together for 10 years, it’s a big deal.

J.D. GIBBS: I think when you look back, it’s 10 years, it’s been closer to 13 years, open wheel, over to here, Nationwide, Busch at the time. It’s just a special bond you get, you know, over all that time. So you got your ups and downs like any relationship. But I think to have that, to finish today with a victory, is a big deal for us.

Q: Zippy, obviously the ending with Smith going below the yellow line, there’s all kind of talk from the people who preceded you in the press room about Truck Series, anything goes on the final lap, word going around this morning that if you could see the flag stand, you could go. First of all, if there’s all this scuttlebutt, why was it not brought up in the drivers meeting? How can you go into a race not knowing what the rules are on the last lap?

GREG ZIPADELLI: Obviously somebody knew what the rules were. I mean, they went below the yellow line and then got penalized. I think it’s been pretty clear for six or seven years now if you advance your position below the yellow line, you’re going to lose your position.

I swear to you, we were the first car penalized in the July race in Daytona, I think 2002, 2001 or 2002. We finished sixth. They put us all the way back to last car on the lead lap. It was on the last lap. We actually kind of got forced below there, went down there to kind the not cause a big wreck. They told us if you do that…

Honestly, if I go get my handout they handed to me today said that on the bottom of it. I don’t know that chafe changed anything. I truly believe this is the way it’s been for five, six, seven years here. It’s pretty clear cut.

Q: You said a few moments ago you want to try to get a top five out of this for the season. Why are you discounting possibly going for the championship?

GREG ZIPADELLI: I’m not. I’m just realistic. When we were 11th last week, We got to head in the right direction. We’re seventh, so let’s try to get ourselves in the top five. Let’s try adding get ourselves with a couple races to go where we can mathematically have a chance for the championship.

And we adjust our goals as we go. We’ve never not starting at Daytona in February think that we couldn’t or just weren’t going to try to do it. Honestly, we need to work on getting ourselves in the top five, then go race those guys. You know, after the last few weeks that we’ve had, I’m just being realistic and we’ll continue to move as the year goes.

I would hope a win gets everybody going. After the year we’ve had, I hope it gives everybody a shot in the arm, not only us but everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. They’ve all worked hard on these restrictor plate cars, just like they do the cars we got going to Charlotte.

You know, we’ve all struggled as a group, for some reason, first three races, you know, so this is good for us. I think Denny showed he had a good car today. Kyle was up there most of the day. We all run good at Charlotte. You know, we just need to go as a group and run good there.

Q: Greg, as soon as the race was over, you said, Where is my official? Can you take us through that conversation a little bit.

GREG ZIPADELLI: Well, I just wanted to make sure he I’m quite certain whether I asked or not, they saw the same thing I did. I just, you know, for my peace of mind, I wanted to hear him call up there and ask if they had changed the rule or is everything as it still stood. As I was asking him that, I heard in my radio, 20 to Victory Lane. So, you know, before I even asked them to call up there, they made the call.

Q: Zippy, why were you fighting so hard to keep the primary car on Friday? Obviously it worked out well for you. Can you tell us a little bit about your concerns about the front end and why you fought so hard to fix that car.

GREG ZIPADELLI: Well, it was a brand new car we built for here. It was basically a twin of the car we had here in the spring, led all those laps. Felt like we were capable of winning. And we knew that car. We had practiced it. We had drafted with it. The tune up, the gearbox on these cars are so finicky, we had tried a few things. The car responded to it. I didn’t feel that we had any damage to the car that would hurt it in the way it would drive and suck up. The important thing, the hood, the front fascia, was all intact. We only had a little work on the right front fender and the rest of it was all in the back. I felt like that was our best shot. We had our best motor in it. We put all our effort in that car.

Q: Greg, obviously there are several issues with right side tires, not only during this race today but throughout the other two races this weekend. Other drivers have been concerned. What was your take as a crew chief? Did you notice anything on your car that could have possibly led to a tire problem later on?

GREG ZIPADELLI: No, our tires looked great all day. But so did everybody else’s that came off and had some cuts in them. We had those in the spring. We were leading the race and cut a right front tire. We just didn’t hit the wall really hard. It just got us behind. We got in that later wreck. We lost a tire in the spring and don’t really have any explanation for why it happened.

If there was something if there was debris on the racetrack that was cutting them, I don’t really know. I don’t think anybody really has a great explanation. It wasn’t a wear. It certainly didn’t seem like a heat issue. But a lot of them lost air.

THE MODERATOR: We welcome the winner of today’s race, Tony Stewart. Take us through the race today, Tony, your victory here at Talladega.

TONY STEWART: Well, I mean, obviously, the lap that everybody wants to know about is that last one really I think. We got a good restart there. Just made sure that we didn’t get out too far to where, you know, we didn’t get a big gap where they could get a run on us. Coming off of two on the last lap, Regan got right to the bumper and, man, gave us a great push down the backstretch. I thought if I could keep him glued to the bumper like that, that we had a shot. Just cruising on, the two of us getting away from everybody.

When he came up in the center, I thought this is bad news. We were going to get that gap in there we didn’t want. So I saw the run coming. You know, I made a counter move early enough to get him committed to one direction, then I got back down to the line quick.

Man, I mean, it’s a tough position to be in when you’re the first guy. It’s a tough position when you’re the second guy. But, you know, we were able to finally get that first win here at Talladega. There’s only three of them left we haven’t won at now. 33 in 10 years for this group sitting up here. It’s something that we’re all very proud of.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll release Greg Zipadelli, J.D. and Joe Gibbs. We’ll take questions for Tony.

Q: Tony, I watched you race a long time on dirt, asphalt, whatever it is with wheels on it, but how big is this and to do it the way you’re doing it?

TONY STEWART: Obviously, the last 12 months, you know, we’ve struggled trying to figure out what we’ve been missing and what we need to get in Victory Lane. It’s just been one of those years that we’ve just had bad luck all season. We should have won Charlotte. We should have been in a position to win Bristol. There were four or five shots we had at winning races this year and something happens at some point in the race that is just bad luck and stuff that’s never happened.

Man, to finally get that first one of the year, but to do it here at Talladega, people don’t understand what that means to win here. Winning the Nationwide race this year was huge to me. Now winning the Cup race, somebody is going to lose their vocal cords outside how happy they are.

But, man, it’s just an awesome feeling to finally win here. I talked to Red Farmer on the phone. The funny part about talking to Red, he was talking, he thought he was talking to the guy that handed me the phone. I said, How is that? Will that work? He said, Tell Tony… I said, You are talking to him. He said, What? He can’t hear a dag gone thing. Even he was as excited as we were. Man, it’s just finally we got ourselves into Victory Lane here.

Q: Can you address the detractors that think since you’re leaving, you’re a lame duck, this just wasn’t going to happen in the Chase?

TONY STEWART: Well, I mean, it’s no secret we’ve been a little bit off all year. But there’s been opportunities, like we mentioned earlier, that we’ve had opportunities to win, and something’s happened. It was nice today. I mean, you look at all the things that happened on the racetrack, and we weren’t a part of it. We finally had one of those days where everything went right for us. You know, we were able to finish it off.

Man, I mean, there’s been a lot of nights going home at night going, Man, what do I have to do? How long is this slump going to be? What do we have to do to get out of it? At least for the next six days, I get to say that I’m out of it.

Just happy for the results today and happy we got a little luck on our side.

Q: We’ve all known about the yellow line rule since you at Daytona in 2002. Today Regan was talking about something that he understood based on the truck race yesterday and all that there was word going around the garage that if you went below the line after you could see the flagman that anything goes. Did you hear any such thing? Can you give us your interpretation of the whole matter as it unfolded.

TONY STEWART: All I’m gonna say about that is they never said that in the drivers meeting. So I don’t know that it was ever understood anywhere. I sat in the drivers meeting like everybody else did. I know that somebody’s got a copy of it. So if you hear that in the drivers meeting, then, you know, I guess we’ll all stand corrected. But that’s not the way I understood it.

Q: Earlier Jimmie Johnson said really the only offensive tool you have left with this new car on these tracks is to hit somebody, meet up with him, push him forward. Is your assessment of that the same thing?

TONY STEWART: Pretty much. I mean, with the way the bumpers match up, I mean, it keeps us from jacking each other up like we had the problems with with the old cars with the slanted noses and the tails being higher than the noses or the front bumpers are flat and the rear bumpers are flat and they’re the same height. It lets you be able to get on a guy’s bumper like that, push him around here.

When they repaved this track about three years ago, you aren’t going to find two and a half miles of asphalt that’s as smooth as this is. They don’t pave the highways this smooth. So that’s what allows us to be able to do that, is ’cause we have a surface that’s know nice that, you know, handling is not an issue. It’s a matter of just when you can get those two cars locked together like that, the car in the back doesn’t have any air resistance on it at all, it’s like shifting another gear when you can get to the back bumper of somebody.

I was happy when Regan got to the bumper of me on the backstretch, like Nemechek did the start before. I was hoping he would stay on it all the way till we got to the line. That’s why it did worry you, too, at the same time, when they get off that bumper, get that far ahead, that lets that group behind you catch up.

Q: (Question about the yellow line.)

TONY STEWART: I’ve lost Daytona 500s, I’ve lost races here at Talladega because somebody blocked. That’s the name of the game. Today’s race wasn’t any different than the last 19 races I’ve run here. There’s always been people blocking.

The nice thing is I was actually on the right end of it this time. Trust me, I’ve got no regrets about what I did. I did exactly what I needed to do to win the race, and it worked out.

Q: With eight to go, you went into turn one, you said, This is not good. What was going through your head about what you just mentioned, I lost these races a lot this way?

TONY STEWART: I knew when Nemechek got behind us like that, I knew we could get away. But the thing is when you get that second car to the bumper like that, that car isn’t getting any air to the radiator. That temperature gauge just climbing. Can stay on there as long as you want, but there’s going to be a point where he’s going to get the water temperature so high that the motor lays down and it’s pushing water out of the vent tube.

I knew that we were going to get so far ahead that it was going to let that whole line of cars, we were going to be sitting ducks up there, and that’s what happened. It got to where I think it was Elliott Sadler got to the high side of Nemechek in one and two, we were able to get up and block and get a push from Elliott and protect our spot there.

But that’s what I knew was not going to be a good situation. There’s nothing you can do as the front guy. You can’t just mash on the brakes and slow down because you got a guy pushing you. If you want to get wrecked, you can mash on the brakes. But, you know, I was better off just riding it out. Then at that point you just got to watch the mirror because you know the train’s coming.

Q: You’re seventh in the points now, six races to go, 203 out. Last week most of us were saying you probably don’t have a shot at it. Do you view these remaining races as you have a shot at the championship or is it just one race at a time?

TONY STEWART: We’re not even halfway through the Chase. Anything can happen still. The thing I’ve learned with this is until they say mathematically you’re out, you still got a shot.

So you never know what’s going to happen from week to week. This race obviously is one of those that you know big things can happen more so than at the other tracks. You know, we got to take it one week at a time right now.

Q: Any ambiguity at all in that rule?

TONY STEWART: Any what? I’m from Southern Indiana. Use smaller words (laughter).

Q: Anything in the rules that could define it better because Regan said he would have asked a question in the drivers meeting, but he didn’t feel he was a veteran, shouldn’t be doing that, held back for a second. Is there anything in it that is unclear, anything that should be clearer about it?

TONY STEWART: I mean, I’ve sat in those meetings since they had the yellow line rule. The first thing that David always says is, This is your warning. The drivers meeting is your warning about staying above the yellow line and racing above the yellow line. Always preceded by aggressive driving zones. They always say that starts with the drop of the green flag to the end of the checkered flag with emphasis in the corners and the tri ovals.

It’s been the same speech since they came up with that rule. They’ve never wavered off of it. You know, pretty self explanatory, I think.

THE MODERATOR: Tony, congratulations.

TONY STEWART: Thank you.

A written transcript will be posted. Videos courtesy of Cup Scene Daily at www.CupScene.com

Press conference Part 1

Press conference Part 2

Press conference Part 3

After being the first loser 6 times at the 2.66 mile Alabama track, Tony held off the DEI trio of Regan Smith, Paul Menard and David Ragan to hoist the winners trophy, after a few tense moments while NASCAR determined that Regan Smith, who crossed the finish line in front of Tony had passed him below the yellow line.

Prior to todays win, Tony had gone 43 races, since last years Watkins Glen victory, since he had won a race.

Great job Tony, Zippy and the entire number 20 Subway/Home Depot team. Let’s hope there’s a few more before Tony cleans out his locker at JGR.

I’ll get the official JGR press release up as soon as it’s available, in the mean time, here’s he is in victory lane.