The Reason Stewart Started Last
Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart, who went to the rear of the field before the green flag dropped, qualified his No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet in third, but due to a miscommunication amongst the team, the tires with which Stewart posted that third-place qualifying time, were taken to Goodyear and destroyed. Those tires needed to be on the car when Stewart began Saturday night's 312-lap affair, as NASCAR mandates that the top-10 qualifiers start the race on the tires with which they qualified. Since those tires weren't available to Stewart, NASCAR had no choice but to send Stewart to last-place in the 43-car field. Why were the tires destroyed? Due to the new-for-2006 tire leasing policy implemented by NASCAR and Goodyear, used tires from practice must be turned back into Goodyear. Those tires are then destroyed and later recycled so that teams can't stockpile used tires for future testing purposes. Stewart's qualifying tires were confused for a set of Stewart's practice tires, hence the reason his qualifying tires were unavailable and the subsequent penalty by NASCAR. "It was a fair judgment because we didn't start on the stuff that we qualified," said Stewart. "So we just didn't think about it much. We had to start 43rd and just be patient." ...Daily Headlines
I must say that Tony was most gracious in his post race comments, and to come from last to wind up second shows what a true racer he is. Congratulations Tony!
Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart, who went to the rear of the field before the green flag dropped, qualified his No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet in third, but due to a miscommunication amongst the team, the tires with which Stewart posted that third-place qualifying time, were taken to Goodyear and destroyed. Those tires needed to be on the car when Stewart began Saturday night's 312-lap affair, as NASCAR mandates that the top-10 qualifiers start the race on the tires with which they qualified. Since those tires weren't available to Stewart, NASCAR had no choice but to send Stewart to last-place in the 43-car field. Why were the tires destroyed? Due to the new-for-2006 tire leasing policy implemented by NASCAR and Goodyear, used tires from practice must be turned back into Goodyear. Those tires are then destroyed and later recycled so that teams can't stockpile used tires for future testing purposes. Stewart's qualifying tires were confused for a set of Stewart's practice tires, hence the reason his qualifying tires were unavailable and the subsequent penalty by NASCAR. "It was a fair judgment because we didn't start on the stuff that we qualified," said Stewart. "So we just didn't think about it much. We had to start 43rd and just be patient." ...Daily Headlines
I must say that Tony was most gracious in his post race comments, and to come from last to wind up second shows what a true racer he is. Congratulations Tony!
