Mammoth Blog

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Mimicking Hendrick Motorsports' teamwork strategy, Tony Stewart and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch finished 1-2 Saturday in the season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Sunday's Daytona 500 is sure to feature even more teamwork.

"We worked with each other the whole race. That's something that, you know, we've learned that from the Hendrick guys," Stewart said. "And it just shows if you get two of these guys to work with each other, Kyle and I can. I think Kyle and I could have stayed up front all day no matter how many guys challenged."

Next up: Sunday's Daytona 500, a race expected to be a showdown between the powerful Hendrick Chevrolets and Gibbs Racing, which switched from the GM brand to Toyotas over the winter. Toyota took the top two spots Saturday, a day after getting the top four spots in the truck race.

Sunday, it will be Stewart, Busch and Denny Hamlin against Hendrick's all-star cast of Dale Earnhardt Jr., two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears.

Earnhardt, who finished third Saturday, Johnson and Gordon are all former Daytona 500 winners. Gibbs' drivers still are looking for that first win in NASCAR's biggest event.

They put on a good show Saturday. Between them, Stewart and Busch led 93 of the 120 laps.

"This car was just fast," Stewart said. "It just had so much speed."

The field got strung out early in the race, but the last 20 laps were a wild, two- and three-wide melee that included a nine-car crash on lap 111 that took out Cup stars Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick.

Brian Vickers, in another Toyota, took the lead from the two Gibbs cars with five laps to go, but Stewart shuffled back into the top spot on the next lap, with Earnhardt shooting out of the pack in close pursuit.

"It was fun," Earnhardt said. "We did what we had to do. We got a great finish. Those two guys -- they were tight all weekend, really fast, and worked great together in the draft as teammates."

Busch moved back to second on lap 119, with a push from Martin Truex Jr., and Stewart, with his flank well protected, raced on to a three car-length victory.

Busch dismissed a report that Truex had complained that he was blocked.

"What else you going to do, man? Shoot, he's pushing me through the tri-oval wanting to spin me out," Busch said. "So I'm sorry I saved it and kept it in front of him. Grow up, bud. What do you want me to do, pull over?"

Busch, who also finished second in the trucks race, is hoping to improve his finish Sunday.

"If I win tomorrow, I'm going to be the happiest man alive, that's for sure," Busch said. "That's what I've been saving my wind for this week."

Said Earnhardt: "Good luck." source