Tony Stewart won the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, scoring his 28th career Nextel Cup victory in his 281st career start.
Stewart moved into a tie for 20th on NASCARs All-Time win list, with Rex White.
It is Stewarts fourth victory in 2006. He also won races at Martinsville, the second Daytona race and Kansas.
Stewart became the only driver to post multiple victories in the first seven races of the Chase.
Stewart scored his second victory in 16 races at Atlanta. It is his third straight top-10 finish at Atlanta. Stewart last won here in March 2002.
Stewart scored his 18th top-10 finish in 2006.
Stewarts victory today was the 21st Chevrolet victory in 33 races in 2006.
Stewart won the race from the 11th-place starting position, marking the first race in the last six at Atlanta that a driver has won from outside the top 10.
Stewart remained 11th in the Championship standings. He has a 285-point lead over 12th-place Carl Edwards, who finished seventh.
Stewart led seven times for 146 of the 325 laps raced, leading the most laps for the fifth time in 2006, but the first time since the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.
This is team owner Joe Gibbs 53rd Nextel Cup victory and sixth in 2006: Stewart (four) and Denny Hamlin (two). This was Gibbs eighth Nextel Cup victory at Atlanta.
Notebook Items
Race No. 33 at Atlanta is the seventh of the 10 races in the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup.
Five of the 10 Chase drivers finished in the top 10.
Seven of the 10 of The Chase drivers changed points positions at Atlanta.
There have been six changes in the second-place points position in the seven Chase races.
Jimmie Johnson has been second in points after Atlanta in all three years of the Chase.
Four of the Chase drivers led at Atlanta: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (95), Jeff Gordon (44), Kevin Harvick (nine) and Jeff Burton (one).
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton are tied with 5,924 points with three races remaining. Earnhardt Jr. claims the fifth-place points position by the tie-breaker system which is based on finishes. Both have one victory and one secondplace finish. Earnhardt has three third-place finishes as compared to Burton with one.
The top five in points are separated by just 84 points.
Four of the seven races in the Chase have been won by Chase drivers.
Matt Kenseth has scored six top-15 finishes in the seven races in The Chase, the only driver to do so.
Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon are the only Chase drivers to score four top-10 finishes in the seven races in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have each led in five of the seven races in the Chase.
Jimmie Johnson is the only Chase driver to post six top-10 starts in the seven races in the Chase.
Johnson has scored 21 top-10 finishes in 2006 and seven top-10 finishes in 11 races at Atlanta.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (third) scored his 15th top-10 finish in 2006 and his ninth top-10 finish in 15 races at Atlanta.
Matt Kenseth (fourth) scored his 20th top-10 finish in 2006 and his seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Atlanta.
Greg Biffle (fifth) scored his 14th top-10 finish in 2006 and his fifth top-10 finish in eight races at Atlanta.
Denny Hamlin (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie for the 16th time in 2006.
At least one of the 2006 Raybestos Rookie-of-the Year contenders has scored a top-15 finish in all 33 races this season.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(10-29-2006)
