What a crappy way to start the season

2005 Daytona 500 Results

Aaargh! All that leading Tony Stewart did and stooopid Jeff Gordon comes in at the end to win it? What the hell was Jeffie doing all day? A whole lotta nothin', that's what.

(sigh)

If Tony wins while in Vegas, I'll be happy. That might be the only thing that'll pull me out of the funk.

ESPN's got some other decent articles on Tony, mostly commenting on the "kinder, gentler" Tony Stewart. Some excerpts:

All of the ingredients were there for a Tony Stewart blowup at the Daytona 500: One part most laps led, two parts getting shuffled back at the end to lose the race, and add a pinch of getting nudged by Jimmie Johnson into another car with two laps to go and just about everyone thought a knuckle sandwich was grilling inside that No. 20 Chevrolet of Stewart's.

After exiting his car, Stewart was even confronted by Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus. But instead of yelling or shoving, Stewart walked away. He met NASCAR officials and Johnson in the Cup Series trailer for a post-race pow-wow and emerged in good spirits. Asked what transpired inside, he responded: "We were trading cooking secrets."

It was a somewhat surprising response from Stewart. And not just because of the altercation with Johnson. That entanglement actually gave Stewart a chance to show how talented a driver he is when he saved his car from spinning while running three wide. And though he did bump Johnson at the end of the race, the two are friends and called it a done deal.

Stewart wasn't even upset that it was Dale Earnhardt Jr., his long-time drafting partner at Daytona and the guy he helped push to victory last year, that snatched Stewart's lead late in the race and set him up for the free fall that sent him to a seventh-place finish after leading 107 of 203 laps.

"I left the door open just a little bit and he hit it," said Stewart, more in admiration for the move than resentment. (**for the record, I knew Tony would react this way -- it's DAYTONA -- and Tony understands if you've got a chance to win it, all the favors and gentleman's agreements in the world go right out the window)