Tony Stewart led 108 of 267 laps to win Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway to finally break into the 2007 victory column in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet.
Eight days after he and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin took each other out of the Pepsi 400 at
Daytona Stewart not only put the harsh words he said about his sophomore teammate behind him he also managed to seal the deal for the first time this year after a series of near misses had left the double Cup Series Champ growing increasingly frustrated.
After qualifying only 19th fastest Stewart didn't take the lead until lap 110 of 267 around the 1.5-mile Chicagoland oval during a round of green flag pitstops but once his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew had put him at the head of the pack under the second caution period of the race on lap 155 following a lightning fast yellow flag stop he never looked back.
After leading the field to the green flag restart on lap 168 Stewart briefly traded the lead with Jimmie Johnson who had earlier led nearly 90 laps but ‘Smoke' was comfortably in front when Johnson blew a tyre and crashed hard in turn three on lap 222.
After Johnson's demise it was Roush-Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth who emerged as Stewart's biggest threat over the final 40 laps but even though the driver who was controversially spun out of the lead of last year's Chicagoland race managed to pass Stewart on lap 230 his time in front was brief as Stewart retook the lead one lap later.
Two caution periods in the final 20 laps didn't help Stewart's cause but, unlike previous occasions this year, he chose not to pit in order to maintain track position and was able to pull away from Kenseth on the final restart of the day on lap 255 to win by more than one second.
![Tony Stewart - Home Depot Chevrolet [pic credit: GM media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/289125.jpg)
