Monday, Aug. 8, 2005 | 9:01 a.m.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Stewart knew it would be an emotional moment when he finally won a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He just didn't know how emotional.
Stewart, an Indiana native, took the lead from Kasey Kahne with 11 laps remaining Sunday and held on to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard before a crowd estimated at 280,000.
Leading the final 11 laps, Stewart said, wasn't the emotional part. Nor was taking the checkered flags on perhaps the most famous racetrack on the planet. What finally got to Stewart was looking into his father's face after he pulled in front for the final time.
Stewart owns a luxury suite just outside Turn 2 at the Speedway and he said he could see his father, Nelson Stewart, standing at the railing every time he entered the corner for the last 50 laps of the race.
"When I got the lead, it wasn't that emotional of a thing, but when I saw (my father) on that railing -- and it's unbelievable that you can run as fast as you can in a racecar and see things and pick up emotion -- and to see the emotion on his face and to see how excited he was with his hands and fists in the air, that's when I got tears in my eye," Stewart said.
"Then I thought, hey, I've been in this position before and two laps later, the tears went away and it was back to business. But every year that I've got the lead (in this race), I've got to see him do that and I thought, 'man, I just want to finish it off one time.' "
Stewart finished it off this time, his seventh NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He also has made five Indianapolis 500 starts at the track on which he dreamed about racing since he was 5 years old and living in nearby Columbus, Ind.
"You dream about something for so long that you become consumed by it," Stewart said. "Parts of my life, I worked in this area (and) I drove a tow truck for a guy that I raced sprint cars against. I would drive down 16th Street and wonder what it would be like to be 300 feet to the left and running 200 miles an hour, and I got a chance to do that and, finally today, got to feel what it feels like ... coming down that front straightaway and seeing those checkered flags."
Kahne held the lead on lap 145 when the 10th and final caution flag came out after Jimmie Johnson blew a tire and hit the wall in Turn 4. That set up a bizarre discussion between Stewart and his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, as they debated whether to stop for tires.
"You're going to have to call it, Bud -- I'm too ... nervous to call it," Stewart said over his radio.
After debating the issue while Stewart made another caution lap around the 2.5-mile track, Zipadelli finally told his driver to stay out. Kahne also stayed out and Stewart was able to slip underneath Kahne in Turn 2 on the restart for the winning pass.
Kahne, who counts Stewart as both a friend and a mentor, said he understood what the victory meant to Stewart.
"It's great for Tony," Kahne said. "I've heard that he would give up his Nextel Cup (championship) for a win at the Brickyard. I mean, this is a place that he really wants to win and he's wanted to win for a long time.
"If you've got to run second, it's good to run second to Tony for his first win here. I would have loved to win the race, but we just didn't have it there at the end ... he was really good at the end."
Stewart, who beat Kahne to the finish line by about 6 car-lengths, celebrated his victory by stopping at his Turn-2 suite before climbing the catch fence at the start/finish line -- something he has done after each of his four victories in the past six races.
Second-year driver Brian Vickers followed Stewart and Kahne to the finish line and Jeremy Mayfield and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five. Las Vegas native Kyle Busch finished 10th and older brother Kurt took 18th.
The victory allowed Stewart to assume the points lead in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, the first time he has been atop the standings since he won the championship in November 2002.
More than two hours after realizing his boyhood dream, Stewart was just getting revved up for what had the makings of an all-night celebration with his friends and family.
"This is one of those days that I don't want to end; I don't want to see the sun set," Stewart said. "If I could make this day longer, I'd do it in a heartbeat because this is definitely the greatest day of my life, up to this point, professionally (and) personally.
"Since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to compete at the Brickyard and then when I realized that, we ran so well ... I knew I could win at the Brickyard one day and finally today was that day."
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