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He and his crew hung on the fence in front of the main grandstand for a while, then got on their knees and turned their hats backward for the Indy tradition of kissing the yard of red bricks that harken back to the days when the entire track was brick and now mark the finish line.
Kahne, who got his first Nextel Cup victory earlier this season at Richmond, was disappointed for himself but happy for Stewart.
“We had an awesome car,” he said. “I just gave up a little bit through the restart. I couldn’t do anything with it.
“It was a big win for Tony. He wanted to win this real bad.”
Vickers finished third, followed by Jeremy Mayfield, Matt Kenseth, Casey Mears, Mark Martin and four-time Brickyard winner Jeff Gordon.
As great a day as it was for Stewart, it was a disastrous race for Johnson, who started 42nd after his car failed inspection on Saturday.
He was able to drive into the top 20 early in the race but spun out and wound up being sent to the rear of the lead lap cars after making two pit stops for repairs when NASCAR had pit road closed.
Johnson was dazed after slamming hard into the wall late in the race. Calling it the “hardest hit I’ve taken,” he had to be helped out of his car in the pits when the engine caught fire.
Asked if he realized the car was on fire, Johnson said, “No, I don’t really remember coming from turn four to the pits. I just remember kind of waking up on pit road and the guys pulling me out of the car. So, it’s all good.”
Johnson, who fell to second place in the standings, 75 points behind Stewart, was examined at Methodist Hospital and released.
Another significant yellow flag came on lap 63 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was hit from behind and turned sideways into the inside wall by Mike Skinner before sliding back up the track and making contact with teammate Martin Truex Jr., Scott Wimmer and Robby Gordon.
The crash ended the day for Earnhardt, who was struggling with an ill-handling car and was running far back in the field. It also all but eliminated the fan favorite from contention for a spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship that will include the top 10 drivers in the standings and any others within 400 points of the leader after the race Sept. 10 at Richmond.
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