Photos for Headline Surfer / Tony Stewart celebrates with his crew in victory lane after winning the Drive4COPD 300 Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. At left, Stewart crosses the finish line just ahead of Clint Boyer to win the Drive4COPD 300 on a sunny Saturday afternoon before 110,000 screaming race fans at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Below, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart fight for the lead during the Drive4COPD at Daytona. Hooking up in pairs is likely how things will be for the drivers in Sunday's Daytona 500.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A flat tire in the closing laps might have deterred almost any other driver but Tony Stewart, who made a late charge with the aid of outside pole-sitter Landon Cassill to steal the win from the tandem of Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt, Jr, .007 seconds in today's DRIVE4COPD 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Stewart, who led five times for 13 laps, has dominated the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series event - winning four straight and six of the last seven. He is now just one shy of Dale Earnhardt's record seven wins and is tied with Bobby Allison for the second-most wins all-time at the "World Center of Racing" with 16.
The late Dale Earnhardt tops the list with 34.
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"This is momentum and a great way to lead into tomorrow," said Stewart, who was 11th with six laps to go. "There's nothing better than going back to the motorhome tonight knowing you just won the race and have a shot of doing it tomorrow."
Stewart's surge at the finish line gave the No. 4 Kevin Harvick, Inc. Chevrolet the closest series finish at DIS and the third-closest finish in series history.
"Tony just used me when he needed to and that's awesome," said Cassill, who is the series' points leader, but doesn't have a ride in next week's race. "He taught me something. We swapped with two (laps) to go and he knew where to take the car and I don't know if I could have done that like he did. I'm just happy to be pushing him through it and maybe next time I'll be the one leading him through."
Bowyer finished second with Cassill, Earnhardt, Jr., and Reed Sorenson rounding out the top five, respectively. Defending series champion Brad Keselowski kept his No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge near the front for most of the race until he was caught up in an incident on lap 106, breaking his record 102-straight races without a DNF.
Eight drivers swapped the lead a race-record tying 35 times and 12 drivers of the 43-car field completed all 120 laps around the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Danica Patrick led a lap in the No. 7 Chevrolet, making her the first woman to lead a NASCAR-sanctioned event at Daytona International Speedway.