Tony Stewart Breaks The Ice With First 2010 Win

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet, salutes his crew as he celebrates his 38th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win Victory Lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)By Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
Tony Stewart announced Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway that he’ll be a player in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Stewart won for the third time at Atlanta and for the 38th time in his career when he beat Carl Edwards to the checkered flag in the Emory Healthcare 500. The victory broke a 31-race winless streak for the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Jimmie Johnson came home third, followed by Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch.

Edwards led Stewart out of the pits after the seventh caution of the race on Lap 295 of 325. Stewart surged to the lead after a restart on Lap 301, but a quick caution for debris on Lap 302—after contact between Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch—set up a restart on Lap 308.

Stewart led the rest of the way and crossed the stripe 1.316 seconds ahead of Edwards.

Clint Bowyer, 12th in the standings and seventh Sunday, held serve by finishing ahead of his three closest pursuers for the final Chase spot—Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin. Bowyer now leads 13th-place Newman (eighth Sunday) by 117 points.

Polesitter Denny Hamlin led seven times early for 74 laps but his engine blew on Lap 143 and he finished 43rd.

“I was just pacing myself out there, having fun and racing with Tony and those guys,” Hamlin said. “We’ve really got a strong race team, and if we can just keep it together, we can really win this championship legitimately. We’ve just got to keep it together, and we’ll be all right.”

Hamlin nevertheless clinched a position in the Chase, as the top 10 in the standings are now locked in.

Greg Biffle fell short in his attempt to lock into the Chase when contact from Newman’s Chevy sent Biffle’s Ford sideways into the Turn 3 wall. Biffle slid across the track and took out Elliott Sadler. Though Biffle returned to the track after extensive repairs, he finished 36th, 80 laps down.

Biffle is 11th in points, 161 ahead of Newman, and can lock up a spot in the Chase with a finish better than 43rd next Saturday at Richmond.

Series points leader Kevin Harvick had one of the fastest cars in the field, but Harvick’s Chevy was crippled on Lap 255 when his left front tire exploded and shredded the fender. He finished 33rd.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the Emory Healthcare 500 - Sunday, September 5, 2010
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 325 Laps - 500.5 Miles - Purse: $6,101,958

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 5 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 325 195 10 141.7 $357,198 Running 8 176
2 4 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 325 175 5 120.4 $239,323 Running 3 32
3 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 325 170 5 116.3 $213,078 Running 1 8
4 26 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 325 160 90.1 $178,290 Running
5 3 18 Kyle Busch Pedigree Toyota 325 155 111.4 $167,456 Running
6 11 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 325 155 5 80.8 $160,823 Running 2 10
7 14 33 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 325 146 89.7 $118,500 Running
8 2 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Reserve Chevrolet 325 147 5 92.8 $141,279 Running 1 9
9 8 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Huggies Chevrolet 325 138 101.3 $140,031 Running
10 32 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Toyota 325 134 78.2 $130,623 Running
11 30 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Black Ford 325 130 72.4 $144,626 Running
12 6 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 325 127 104.6 $99,700 Running
13 18 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont / Jeff Gordon Foundation Chevrolet 325 124 88.2 $143,001 Running
14 33 83 Reed Sorenson Red Bull Toyota 325 121 63.7 $135,248 Running
15 12 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet 325 118 86.8 $131,879 Running
16 13 00 David Reutimann Aaron's Outdoors Toyota 325 115 77.0 $126,606 Running
17 27 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 325 112 64.7 $103,300 Running
18 16 43 A J Allmendinger Insignia HDTV Ford 325 109 85.3 $131,651 Running
19 9 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 325 106 72.1 $102,025 Running
20 36 37 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford 325 103 49.0 $111,248 Running
21 17 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 325 100 66.7 $108,275 Running
22 25 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet 325 97 76.3 $98,950 Running
23 40 21 Bill Elliott FordParts.com Ford 325 94 51.0 $88,075 Running
24 37 38 Dave Blaney A&W All American Food Ford 325 91 48.2 $108,210 Running
25 28 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 324 88 48.3 $115,410 Running
26 43 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 324 85 51.5 $88,450 Running
27 31 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota 324 82 50.7 $123,490 Running
28 35 26 Patrick Carpentier Air Guard Ford 323 79 37.0 $95,550 Running
29 41 34 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver's Ford 323 76 39.0 $86,375 Running
30 21 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 322 73 51.0 $94,725 Running
31 24 71 Bobby Labonte TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 320 70 43.2 $83,575 Running
32 10 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser/ Valvoline Ford 310 72 5 90.8 $125,390 Running 1 16
33 29 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 309 64 80.5 $121,026 Vibration
34 20 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 264 61 53.4 $97,148 Engine
35 19 98 Paul Menard Quaker State / Menards Ford 263 58 66.9 $90,400 Engine
36 15 16 Greg Biffle Scotch Blue Ford 245 55 79.7 $90,250 Running
37 42 7 Kevin Conway # Extenze Toyota 162 52 26.3 $96,173 Transmission
38 34 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 161 49 32.4 $81,975 Clutch
39 23 46 Michael McDowell Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 160 46 26.9 $81,850 Power
40 38 36 J J Yeley Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 152 43 31.7 $81,725 Electrical
41 22 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Ford 150 40 47.5 $89,550 Accident
42 39 55 Mike Bliss PRISM Motorsports Toyota 145 37 27.1 $81,455 Electrical
43 1 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota 143 39 5 96.7 $118,510 Engine 7 74