Within his grasp
As Tony Stewart sat in front of a TV watching the Indianapolis Colts celebrate their Super Bowl victory, he thought about the burden lifted from quarterback Peyton Manning.
“I sent him a text message right after the game was over,” Stewart recalled. “I said, ‘You got yours, finally. Now it’s time for me to go get my Super Bowl.’ “
That’s Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The two-time NASCAR champion is 0-8 in the race that every NASCAR driver wants, and one that has been tough – or impossible – for some of the sport’s biggest names to win.
It took the late Dale Earnhardt 20 tries, while Darrell Waltrip finally got to Victory Circle in his 17th attempt. Rusty Wallace never won it, and Mark Martin will get his 22nd try Sunday.
Stewart already has 10 victories on Daytona International Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval, including the non-points Budweiser Shootout last Saturday and his 150-mile qualifying race Thursday.
This week’s victories – and the ease with which he got them – have made Stewart the heavy favorite to win. Three-time 500 winner Jeff Gordon, who won Thursday’s other qualifying race, agreed.
“He looks like he’s just been hooked up,” Gordon said. “The thing is, you need a great car, a little luck and a lot of confidence to win this race. It looks like Tony has all of that right now.”
Busch Series
Aric Almirola outran Jason Leffler on Friday to grab his second NASCAR Busch Series pole in his 10th attempt – and this time he’ll race, too, in today’s Orbitz 300.
The 22-year-old Hispanic driver won his first pole last June in Milwaukee, sitting in for Nextel Cup star Denny Hamlin, who was qualifying the same day in Sonoma, Calif.
Hamlin flew back in time to run the Wisconsin race, and Almirola, a graduate of the diversity program started in 2003 by Joe Gibbs Racing and late football star Reggie White, had to watch from pit road.
Craftsman Trucks
Jack Sprague used a dramatic move on the final lap to give Toyota its first win at Daytona International Speedway.
Sprague and fellow Toyota driver Johnny Benson teamed up to close the gap on Travis Kvapil coming off the final turn, then Sprague shot to the outside while Benson dropped low to make it a three-truck race to the line.
Sprague won by a few feet, claiming the season-opening Craftsman Truck series race. Toyota made its NASCAR debut in the truck series in 2004.