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02-14-2010, 03:56 PM
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick knew his race cars were good enough to get either he or Tony Stewart into Victory Lane.
Stewart Supremacy
Tony Stewart won the NASCAR Nationwide Series season opener at Daytona for the fifth time in the last six seasons, getting his 15th career win at Daytona, good enough for third-most in track history.
Tony Stewart In NNS Spring Race
at Daytona, Since '05
Start Finish
2010 32nd 1st
2009 5th 1st
2008 1st 1st
2007 38th 8th
2006 16th 1st
2005 14th 1st
Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of contention, their path was wide open.
Stewart held off Carl Edwards, Harvick and Justin Allgaier to win the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway for the fifth time in six years. Kevin Harvick Inc. owned the car he drove to victory Saturday, as well as in 2005 and 2006.
"They have always given us great race car, every time," Stewart said.
It was Stewart's 15th win in a stock car at Daytona, moving him into a tie with Cale Yarborough for third all-time at the storied track. He now trails only Dale Earnhardt (34 wins) and Bobby Allison (16) for most at Daytona.
"I would trade a couple of them just for a win in a Sunday race here," said Stewart, who is 0 for 11 in the Daytona 500. He'll start sixth in Sunday's main event.
Stewart and Harvick clearly had the best cars from the moment they hit the track this week, making Harvick convinced he'd get a KHI win as either a driver or owner by the end of the race.
"Tony and I talked right before the race, and I said I didn't think they could beat both cars, as good as they were in practice," Harvick said. "Best car I've ever had here, and I think we worked a long time, a lot of hours in our speedway program, and it all paid off today."
[+] EnlargeJonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Tony Stewart celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona for the fifth time in six years.
But the effort was overshadowed by Danica Patrick's NASCAR debut and Earnhardt's spectacular crash.
Patrick announced Monday she would run the Nationwide race, basing her decision on a successful stock-car debut three days earlier in the ARCA event. So all eyes were on her from the first practice all the way through her involvement in a race-ending 12-car accident just past the halfway mark.
She was running in the middle of the pack when several cars wrecked in front of her, and Patrick tried to duck low to avoid them. But she couldn't dodge everything, slammed into the outside wall, and then spun through the grass.
"That just proves how hard it is out here, and how much there is to learn and how good all these drivers really are," she said.
Shortly after the media crush surrounding her in the garage began to dissipate, her car owner sent the cameras scurrying back outside with a frightening accident along the superstretch.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick knew his race cars were good enough to get either he or Tony Stewart into Victory Lane.
Stewart Supremacy
Tony Stewart won the NASCAR Nationwide Series season opener at Daytona for the fifth time in the last six seasons, getting his 15th career win at Daytona, good enough for third-most in track history.
Tony Stewart In NNS Spring Race
at Daytona, Since '05
Start Finish
2010 32nd 1st
2009 5th 1st
2008 1st 1st
2007 38th 8th
2006 16th 1st
2005 14th 1st
Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of contention, their path was wide open.
Stewart held off Carl Edwards, Harvick and Justin Allgaier to win the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway for the fifth time in six years. Kevin Harvick Inc. owned the car he drove to victory Saturday, as well as in 2005 and 2006.
"They have always given us great race car, every time," Stewart said.
It was Stewart's 15th win in a stock car at Daytona, moving him into a tie with Cale Yarborough for third all-time at the storied track. He now trails only Dale Earnhardt (34 wins) and Bobby Allison (16) for most at Daytona.
"I would trade a couple of them just for a win in a Sunday race here," said Stewart, who is 0 for 11 in the Daytona 500. He'll start sixth in Sunday's main event.
Stewart and Harvick clearly had the best cars from the moment they hit the track this week, making Harvick convinced he'd get a KHI win as either a driver or owner by the end of the race.
"Tony and I talked right before the race, and I said I didn't think they could beat both cars, as good as they were in practice," Harvick said. "Best car I've ever had here, and I think we worked a long time, a lot of hours in our speedway program, and it all paid off today."
[+] EnlargeJonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Tony Stewart celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona for the fifth time in six years.
But the effort was overshadowed by Danica Patrick's NASCAR debut and Earnhardt's spectacular crash.
Patrick announced Monday she would run the Nationwide race, basing her decision on a successful stock-car debut three days earlier in the ARCA event. So all eyes were on her from the first practice all the way through her involvement in a race-ending 12-car accident just past the halfway mark.
She was running in the middle of the pack when several cars wrecked in front of her, and Patrick tried to duck low to avoid them. But she couldn't dodge everything, slammed into the outside wall, and then spun through the grass.
"That just proves how hard it is out here, and how much there is to learn and how good all these drivers really are," she said.
Shortly after the media crush surrounding her in the garage began to dissipate, her car owner sent the cameras scurrying back outside with a frightening accident along the superstretch.