Compliments of NASCAR,

DARLINGTON, S.C. -May 9, 2008- In a war of attrition, Tony Stewart beat Nationwide Series points leader Clint Bowyer to the finish line by .815 seconds to win the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Friday night at Darlington Raceway.

In a two-lap, green-white-checkered-flag dash to the finish, Stewart pulled away from Bowyer, who had inherited second position after a six-car wreck wiped out half the top 10 with three laps left in the regulation distance of 147 laps.

David Reutimann edged Todd Bodine for fourth, and Steve Wallace beat teammate David Stremme for fifth.

"It's this team behind us and this team at Joe Gibbs Racing," Stewart said. "We just took it easy in the beginning and tried to bide our time and take care of the car and take care of the tires and have something for them when we came to the end."

After Mark Martin stalled in the second position on a restart with three laps remaining, triggering a six-car wreck, NASCAR stopped the race for cleanup before Stewart led the field to the green-white-checkered on Lap 148.

With 46 laps left in the race, Matt Kenseth led Stewart by more than two seconds, but Kenseth came to the pits on Lap 121, complaining that his wheels were chattering. The crew changed four tires and sent Kenseth back on the track, but Kenseth wrecked in Turn 4 on Lap 128 trying to catch the first car one lap down.

"They told me the lucky dog was in Turn 1, and I was in Turn 4," Kenseth said. "I was driving way over my head trying to catch him."

Stewart led the field to the restart with 13 laps left and stretched his advantage over Martin to more than one second, but David Ragan spun and pounded the Turn 2 wall on Lap 138 to bring out the seventh caution of the race and set up the restart on Lap 145. That's when Martin's engine sputtered, setting up the green-white-checkered finish.

Pole-sitter Carl Edwards, who entered the race second in the series standings, chose to start on the outside of Bowyer, the second-place qualifier, but may have regretted that decision after scraping the wall while battling with Bowyer on the opening lap.

On Lap 2, Edwards' race ended prematurely when his No. 60 Ford blew the right-front tire and smacked the Turn 3 wall.

"They dropped the green, and I was ready to race," said the defending series champion, who finished 43rd as the first car out. "I got loose and hit the wall. I guess I cut a tire down. ... That was a bad mistake, and I learned my lesson there."

Notes: Part-time Nationwide Series driver Denny Hamlin, who was fastest in the final two practice sessions, slammed into the outside wall during his first qualifying lap Friday and failed to make the race. ... Kyle Busch, who was shuffled back in the running order after a pit stop on Lap 87, lost a chance to take over the points lead from Bowyer when he tangled with Brad Keselowski on Lap 102 and careened into the Turn 1 wall. He finished 31st.

Diamond Hill 200
Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 3 20 Tony Stewart Toyota Old Spice 195/10 149 Running
2 2 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet BB&T 175/5 149 Running
3 21 99 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 165/0 149 Running
4 15 103 Todd Bodine Toyota Germain Toyota 160/0 149 Running
5 25 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 155/0 149 Running
6 4 64 David Stremme Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 150/0 149 Running
7 29 111 Jason Keller Chevrolet America's Incredible Pizza Company 146/0 149 Running
8 16 9 Chase Miller * Dodge Motorola / Verizon 142/0 149 Running
9 19 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 138/0 149 Running
10 20 59 Marcos Ambrose Ford Kingsford Hickory Charcoal 139/5 149 Running
11 12 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Penske Truck Rental 130/0 149 Running
12 22 27 Brad Coleman Ford Huggies Pull-Ups / Rite Aid 127/0 147 Running
13 17 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Camping World
/ RVs.com 124/0 147 Running
14 7 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 121/0 147 Running
15 13 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet U.S. Navy 118/0 146 Running
16 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Victory In Jesus 115/0 146 Running
17 27 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 112/0 146 Running
18 11 40 Bryan Clauson * Dodge Fastenal 109/0 146 Running
19 23 30 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet SpeedRacerThe
Movie.com 106/0 145 Running
20 33 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge MC2 Energy Drink 103/0 145 Running
21 6 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 105/5 145 Running
22 39 52 Brad Teague Chevrolet Truck Service 97/0 145 Running
23 14 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 94/0 144 Accident
24 10 47 Kelly Bires Ford Clorox 96/5 144 Accident
25 24 7 Mike Wallace Toyota GEICO 88/0 144 Accident
26 36 161 Kevin Lepage Ford Specialty Racing 85/0 141 Running
27 9 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 87/5 137 Accident
28 8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford CitiFinancial 84/5 126 Accident
29 37 01 Kertus Davis Chevrolet RaceGirl 76/0 124 Accident
30 18 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Ford Curly's 73/0 102 Engine
31 5 32 Kyle Busch Toyota Beringer Vineyards 75/5 101 Accident
32 30 4 Derrike Cope Chevrolet JVC 67/0 84 Accident
33 42 24 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty 64/0 63 Brakes
34 26 37 Burney Lamar Ford Greg Biffle Foundation 61/0 62 Brakes
35 38 0 Danny Efland Chevrolet Lori Morgan 58/0 36 Brakes
36 34 331 Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet GrandStay.net 55/0 30 Handling
37 43 84 Mike Harmon Chevrolet Lowcountry Coaches / Cracker Barrel 52/0 25 Overheating
38 32 90 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 49/0 16 Vibration
39 41 102 Andy Ponstein Chevrolet Stott Classic
Racing.com 46/0 13 Transmission
40 35 246 Carl Long Dodge Southeastern Outdoor Products / Red Line Oil 43/0 9 Handling
41 31 91 Terry Cook Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 40/0 7 Vibration
42 40 22 Ruben Pardo Dodge Supercuts 37/0 4 Handling
43 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Water Smart 34/0 3 Accident

* Denotes Rookie


Nationwide Series
Standings

Pos. +/- Driver Points Behind

1. -- Clint Bowyer 1740 Leader
2. +1 Kyle Busch 1628 -112
3. -1 Carl Edwards 1590 -150
4. +2 David Reutimann 1572 -168
5. -- Mike Bliss 1545 -195
6. -2 David Ragan 1521 -219
7. -- Brad Keselowski 1500 -240
8. -- Jason Leffler 1476 -264
9. -- Mike Wallace 1391 -349
10. -- David Stremme 1327 -413



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