Tony Stewart won the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, scoring his 23rd NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 233rd career start.
Stewart climbed from second to first in the NASCAR NEXTEL CUP point standings, 75 ahead of second-place Jimmie Johnson. The last time Stewart led the point standings was at Homestead in November 2002 [when he won the championship].
Stewart’s last victory came at New Hampshire, two races ago. He scored his first victory in seven races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Stewart has scored four victories in 2005, all in the last six races. He also won at Sears Point, Daytona and New Hampshire.
Stewart has scored seven straight top-10 finishes, extending a streak that began with a second-place finish at Michigan.
Stewart became the fourth different race winner in the last four races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the eighth different race winner in the 12 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races here.
Stewart moved into a tie with Ricky Rudd for 24th on the NASCAR All-time win list.
Stewart won the $90,000 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Leader Bonus for winning the race and leading the point standings. It marked the third time in 2005 that the bonus has been won. Jimmie Johnson won it at Las Vegas ($30,000) and at Charlotte ($90,000).
This was Stewart’s 14th career superspeedway victory in 181 career superspeedway races.
Stewart led the most laps for the seventh time in a race this season. He led 44 of the 160 laps raced.
Stewart has scored 13 top-10 finishes in 21 races this season, tied with Jimmie Johnson for the most of all drivers.
Stewart scored the second victory for car owner Joe Gibbs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Bobby Labonte won for Gibbs here in 2000.
This was Gibb’s 46th victory as a car owner and fourth in 21 races this season.
This is the 11th victory for Chevrolet in 2005. Ford has nine and Dodge has one.
Notebook Items
Kasey Kahne (second) posted his second top-five finish in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kahne has scored six top-10 finishes in 2005. Kahne remained 21st in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 711 points behind first-place Tony Stewart.
Brian Vickers (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It marked his sixth top-10 finish in 2005. Vickers remained 22nd in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 716 points behind first-place Tony Stewart.
Jeremy Mayfield (fourth) posted his second top-10 finish in 11 races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He scored his fifth top-10 finish in 21 races in 2005. Mayfield remained eighth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings now 369 behind first-place Tony Stewart.
Matt Kenseth (fifth) posted his third top-five finish in six races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kenseth climbed from 17th to 15th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 168 points behind 10th-place Carl Edwards.
Jeff Gordon (eighth) climbed from 15th to 14th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, now 523 points behind point leader Tony Stewart and 87 points behind 10th-place Carl Edwards
Jimmie Johnson (38th today) has ranked in the top-10 of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings for 54 consecutive races, the longest current streak. The streak began at Atlanta in March 2004.
Rusty Wallace (25th) extended a 34-race streak of running at the finish that began at Bristol last August. Wallace has scored 16 top-15 finishes in 21 races in 2005.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (43rd) finished last for just the third time in his career and the first time since February 2001. He dropped from 14th to 16th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings, 627 points behind first-place Tony Stewart and 191 points behind 10th-place Carl Edwards.
Six of the top-10 positions in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings changed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Eight drivers are within 400 points of current point leader Tony Stewart with five races remaining before The Chase begins in New Hampshire in September.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(8-7-2005)
