STEWART-HAAS RACING KOBALT TOOLS 500 RACE REPORT

Atlanta Kobalt Tools 500.jpg

 

 

Date:               March 7, 2010

Event:             Kobalt Tools 500 (Round 4 of 36)

Series:             NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location:        Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)

Winner:           Kurt Busch of Penske Racing (Dodge) in a green-white-checkered finish

SHR Finish:    Tony Stewart (Started 15th, Finished 13th / Running, completed 341 of 341 laps)

                   Ryan Newman (Started 7th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 341 of 341 laps)

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent by finishing 13th in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished 17th.

Stewart and Newman qualified 15th and seventh, respectively, but both had to start from the rear of the field after making engine changes prior to Sunday's race. NASCAR rules state that if an engine change is made prior to the race, the car for which the change is made must drop to the rear of the field.

Kurt Busch won the Kobalt Tools 500 to score his 21st career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his third at Atlanta.

Matt Kenseth finished .482 of a second behind Busch, while Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five. A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Scott Speed comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 11 caution periods for 53 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 341-lap race, which was extended 16 laps past its scheduled distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

With round four of 36 complete, Stewart is eighth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He gained three positions and now has 510 points, 134 markers behind series leader Harvick. Newman rose three spots to 29th in the standings. He has 337 points and is 307 points back of Harvick.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before heading to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for the March 21 Food City 500. The race begins at 1 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at noon.