Rain on Stewart's Michigan parade
Leads most laps, but rain thwarts shot at first Busch Series win

BROOKLYN, Mich., (Aug. 16, 2003) - Tony Stewart was on track to score his
first NASCAR Busch Series victory before rain washed away a dominant
performance in Saturday's Cabela's 250 at Michigan International
Speedway.

Stewart started the 125-lap race from fourth in the 43-car field, and by
the time lap one was complete, his #8 Three Doors Down/Chance 2 Chevrolet
was first.  In his dust was pole-sitter Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann and
Casey Mears, who started first, second and third, respectively. 

Stewart paced the field for 46 laps before yielding the lead to come to
pit road for scheduled service during the race's second caution period on
lap 48.  A slight air pressure adjustment along with four fresh tires and
a full tank of fuel took 18.1 seconds, about two seconds longer than many
of his competitors.  As a result, Stewart emerged from the pits in
fourth.

When the green flag dropped on lap 50, Matt Kenseth led while Scott Riggs
and Kevin Harvick sat between Stewart and the lead.  Thirteen laps later
that was no longer the case, as Stewart reasserted his place at the
point.  The #8 machine showed its strength, opening up a lead of over 10
seconds ahead of Stewart's nearest pursuer - Harvick.

But with the race being dictated by fuel mileage, Stewart was forced to
pit while under green on lap 100.  This time, only right side tires were
taken as just enough fuel was added to make it to the finish.  Stewart
emerged from pit road in 16th, but his quick car allowed him to knife
through the field with relative ease.  After three runner-up Busch Series
finishes in 36 career starts, win number one was on the horizon. 

However, that horizon became very cloudy when rain drops started pelting
the two-mile oval on lap 108.  NASCAR was forced to red flag the race on
lap 110, where Stewart had climbed to 11th.  As soon as the rain came, it
abated, giving hope to Stewart and his Kevin Manion-led crew that track
officials would be able to dry the race track and allow the Chance 2 team
a shot at the win.

Thirty minutes passed and a solid groove of dryness was apparent around
the race track.  Unfortunately, that's as dry as the track would get, for
more rain moved in.  Harvick, who gambled that he could go the race
distance by pitting during the race's third caution on lap 65, held the
lead when the rains came.  When NASCAR called the race official - 15 laps
short of its scheduled distance - Harvick had his 11th career Busch
Series victory, while all Stewart had was an 11th place finish.

"We didn't need the rain, by any means," said a disappointed Stewart, who
wound up leading twice for 86 laps - the most of any driver.  "But I
think everyone knew who had the fastest car, regardless of the outcome." 

"The car was awesome.  We really worked hard yesterday during practice. 
Bono (Kevin Manion, crew chief) and his guys on this Chance 2 crew did a
great job.  We never really made any long runs.  We knew we only had 45
minutes for happy hour, so we'd go out and run three or four laps and
then come in to change something, trying to get the balance right on the
car.  Bono made the changes he wanted to make, and today we were perfect
right from the get-go.  The car was bad to the bone.  I'm not having much
fun sitting on a wet pit wall, but I had a lot of fun out there on the
race track."

Following the race, Stewart donated his share of the purse to the Dale
Earnhardt Foundation, along with his race worn firesuit and helmet.



---
http://www.motorsport.com -- your source for motorsport news on the Internet
--- Synchronet 3.10L-Win32 NewsLink 1.43
--- SBBSecho 2.00-Win32