Stewart competed for a decade and won 33 races and two championships at Joe Gibbs Racing, but Sunday's victory had special significance.
“I've always had a great group of people to work with at Gibbs, but it's just a little different when it's your own, you know, when you're the one that's got to be accountable for [it],” Stewart admitted.
Edwards, who won at Pocono last August by conserving fuel, lost the race off pit-road to Stewart on the final stop for both cars, under a caution for debris on lap 159 that was extended to seven laps when a light rain shower crossed the track. Stewart benefited from having pit stall #1, closest to the exit from pit road, a legacy of his pole position, which he had earned on a rainy Friday courtesy of his standing in the owner points.
“I didn't think Tony could save that much fuel, but he did a really good job,” said Edwards, who led a race-high 103 of 200 laps, “Our car was getting great fuel mileage all day, and [I'm] just really proud of my guys. We were great on pit-road.
“Tony beat us off of pit-road on that last stop by about three-quarters of a car length or something, and that's primarily because of his pit stall."
Edwards gained five positions in the standings to sixth, 281 point behind Stewart.
Dale Earnhardt Jr ran 27th in his second race with crew chief Lance McGrew, and fell two spots to 20th in the Cup standings. A water pump failure dropped Kurt Busch to 37th at the finish, 18 laps down, and cost him a single position in the standings, while Johnson ran out of fuel on the final lap and coasted home in seventh place to remain third in points.
Denny Hamlin's Toyota stopped running on the first lap because of a fuel system issue and did so again on lap 13 to cause the first two cautions of the race. Hamlin lost 22 laps in all during repairs and finished 38th, dropping five positions to twelfth in the standings as a result.
by Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
