Stewart-Haas Racing Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Race Report

Long Pond, PA – Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent by finishing second in Sunday’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.

It was Stewart’s 18th top-10 finish in 24 career Sprint Cup starts at Pocono and his 11th top-10 of 2010. It was also the fourth time in the last five Sprint Cup races at Pocono that Stewart has finished third or better – a stat that includes his first point-paying win as a driver/owner with SHR on June 7, 2009.

Stewart now has three second-place finishes so far this season, with the other two coming at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on March 21 and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on June 27. He remains winless this season, with his last victory coming 29 races ago at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City on Oct. 4, 2009.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala for SHR, used late-race pit strategy to finish 12th. On the final pit stop of the day, he and crew chief Tony Gibson opted to make a fuel-only stop, which vaulted them from 24th to eighth. And even with tires that were well worn compared to the drivers around Newman that either took two or four tires, the U.S. Army pilot was able to take advantage of his newfound track position and post a solid result.

Greg Biffle won the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 to score his 15th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his first at Pocono.

Stewart finished 3.598 seconds behind Biffle, while Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr., and Jimmie Johnson comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 31 laps, with 12 drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race, which was delayed nearly an hour due to rain.

With round 21 of 36 complete, Stewart is eighth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He gained one spot and now has 2,719 points, 361 markers behind series leader Harvick and 189 points ahead of 13th-place Martin, the first driver on the outside looking in at the 12-driver Chase for the Championship, which will be decided in the next five races. Newman held his 15th position in the standings. He has 2,426 points and is 138 points back of 12th-place Clint Bowyer, who holds the final spot in the Chase.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Aug. 8 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen at the Watkins Glen (N.Y) International road course, where Stewart is a five-time victor and the defending race winner. The race begins at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at noon.