Tony Stewart was left to reflect on the one that got away after losing out on victory on the final lap of the
Daytona 500.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver took the lead of the race with just two laps remaining at the wheel of the #20 Home Depot Toyota but a run on the outside going into turn three from Penske team-mates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch proved to be too strong.
Even with JGR team-mate Kyle Busch pushing him toward the finish line, Stewart could not hold off the run and the subsequent 1-2 punch the Penske duo got from running the high line. Their momentum carried them through turns three and four better than the low line run by Stewart and Kyle, and it was just enough to thwart the efforts of the JGR duo.
Newman crossed the stripe 0.092 of a second ahead of his team-mate, while Stewart and Kyle stuck together to take third and fourth.
"It's pretty tough to say that I'm happy to go from first to third on the last lap of the Daytona 500," Stewart, whose best Daytona 500 finish remains second in 2004, said. "I just made the wrong decision on the backstretch and tried to get down in front of Kyle. I thought we could get a push down there, but the #2 [Kurt Busch] got glued to the #12 [Ryan Newman].
"I don't know if I could've stopped them anyway, and if I would've changed lanes, I think I would've ended up like a bunch of other guys – wrecked. In all reality and in hindsight, I'm probably going to be a lot happier about it tomorrow. It's hard to explain. It's probably one of the most disappointing moments of my racing career."
Stewart's impending disappointment began when the caution flag waved on lap 195 for debris. On the ensuing restart, Stewart was slotted third with Jeff Burton first and Kyle in second. Kyle and Stewart split Burton's #31 car, with Kyle going low and Stewart going high. Running the high line propelled Stewart into the lead ahead of Newman, Kyle and Kurt heading into the final lap.
![Tony Stewart - Home Depot Chevrolet [pic credit: image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/297699.jpg)
