Stewart-Haas Racing Food City 500 Race Report

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing contingent by finishing second in Sunday’s Food City 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

It was Stewart’s first top-five finish of 2010 and his sixth in 23 career Sprint Cup starts at the .533-mile oval.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished 16th.

Jimmie Johnson won the Food City 500 to score his 50th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Bristol. Johnson is now in a three-way tie for 10th on the all-time Sprint Cup win list with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson.

Stewart finished .894 of a second behind Johnson, while Kurt Busch, who led 10 times for 278 laps, finished third. Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 103 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round five of 36 complete, Stewart is fifth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He gained three positions and now has 685 points, 89 markers behind series leader Kevin Harvick. Newman rose three spots to 26th in the standings. He has 452 points and is 322 points back of Harvick.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the March 28 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.