Speedy pit stop sparks Stewart

LOUDON, N.H. – Joe Gibbs Racing has NASCAR’s Nationwide Series figured out.

Drivers from the Gibbs Racing stable finished 1-2-3 Saturday in the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart took just two tires on the last pit stop on lap 129 and passed Carl Edwards for the lead on lap 137. He held off Sprint Cup teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch to claim the victory.

It was the 11th win by Gibbs drivers in the series this season and fifth for Stewart in only seven tries.

“[Crew chief Dave Rogers] put us in position on that last pit stop,” said Stewart. “We were a top-five car all day, but we’d get tight and the guys behind us would pass us.

“That last stop was what won us the race and that was Dave’s call.”

Kevin Harvick finished fourth followed by Carl Edwards, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Mike Bliss, Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski.

Stewart led a race-high 75 laps and became the 22nd different winner in 22 races at New Hampshire.

Hamlin was piloting the unsponsored No. 32 Toyota for Braun Racing while Busch was in the JGR-prepared No. 18 Toyota.

The No. 20 team has eight wins by four different drivers. Stewart won all five of his races in the No. 20 with Kyle Busch, Hamlin and rookie Joey Logano each winning once.

Rogers has been the man on the box for each of those wins.

“It was a pretty good day for me,” said Rogers, who grew up in Marshfield, Vt., and considers NHMS his “home track.”

He added, “It was a parking lot [on pit road during the last stop] and I knew if we got back in traffic, we would never make it to the front. This is a track position race.”

Busch was disappointed with the outcome.

“We got beat out by track position,” said Busch, who led 63 laps. “I didn’t know it was going to become a track position race. If I had known that, we would’ve just taken two tires or just gassed it [during the last stop].”

Hamlin thought track position was the key to winning at New Hampshire.

“We couldn’t pass,” said Hamlin. “[I kept] gaining on drivers, catching them and then falling back.”

Defending winner Harvick was happy with finishing fourth.

“Fourth is good,” said Harvick. “I don’t think we had anything for the first three.”

Edwards left the pits with the lead after the last stop but didn’t take fresh tires.

“We just got fuel only and so it kind of set us up at a little bit of a disadvantage,” said Edwards. “If we had to do it over again, we’d take two tires and we’d be real good.”

Reutimann was one of the few drivers who could pass the JGR trio on the track.

“We took four [tires during the last stop] and a lot of guys took two,” said Reutimann, who led 20 laps. “Coming up through there, we smashed the right front fender in. These things are so sensitive; it made us really, really tight.

“I felt like we had a shot to win.”

Bowyer holds a 182-point lead over Reutimann for the drivers’ championship. Keselowski fell two spots to fourth but is only 15 points behind Reutimann.

The No. 20 Gibbs team has a 173-point lead over Bowyer’s No. 2 team for the owners’ championship.

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