INDIANAPOLIS – Thoughts, questions and observations following Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

• Tony Stewart finally won at Indy. One word describes it – emotional. Stewart called it "the greatest day of my life." We lost track of how many times he referred to "tears flowing." His crew chief Greg Zipadelli nearly was overcome with emotion while he was being interviewed right after the checkers flew.

• Hearing thousands of fans chant "Tony, Tony, Tony" after the race reminded us of just how much this Indiana native is loved by his fans. We got to watch him climb the fence one more time, though we're not sure who did it better, Stewart or Helio Castroneves.

• For all of you trivia buffs, the last Indiana native to win a race at Indy had been the late Wilbur Shaw, who won the Indy 500 in 1940. Shaw was born in nearby Shelbyville, just 20 miles from Stewart's hometown of Rushville.

• Sorry, Jeff Gordon, but Stewart was the first real Indiana driver to win the Brickyard 400.

• Stewart takes over the points lead for the first time since Homestead in November 2002 when he won his championship.

• "Watch the 9 car today" was the mantra on everyone's lips before the race. Second-place finisher Kasey Kahne lived up to the hype – except he had to deal with Stewart. The two of them put on a great driving display at the end of the race. We still think Stewart let Kahne win his first race at Richmond earlier this year.

• Jimmie Johnson had a tough day. After starting at the tail end of the field, he fought his way into the top 10 on lap 121 and stayed there until he took a hard lick into the Turn 4 wall on lap 145. The hit caused a fire under the hood of his car, but he was able to bring it into his pit box.

  "That's the hardest hit I've ever taken," said a dazed and confused Johnson. "I don't remember coming into the pits from Turn 4."

• Pole winner Elliott Sadler's crew did the best job on pit road, giving him 13-second stops all day – awesome stuff. Sadler's day ended when he felt he had a tire going down on lap 150 and brought his car onto pit road. There was nothing wrong with his tires.

• No surprise here – another race, another tire situation. This time, it was nine tire failures. We're not blaming Goodyear, though.

• We're still thinking about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s rainy day press conference on Friday. Junior was about as relaxed as we've ever seen him, as he opened up on a number of topics. It was like hanging out with a good friend. All that was missing was the chips, some pretzels and a couple of cold ones.

• It was a less-than-memorable weekend for Rusty Wallace, but he did manage to maintain his position in the points – fourth. Mark Martin (my pick for the win – sorry, Tony) finished seventh with a very Martin-like performance – steady, smart and predictable. Martin moved up to sixth in the points.

• If there are any doubts that Gordon still can make it into the Chase, his team's performance Sunday should erase them. After a strong start, Gordon fell back into the pack and by midrace, he was racing hard just to stay in the top 25. But by the end, he was back in the top 10. Don't count these guys out until the checkered flag flies at Richmond in September.

• As for the other marquee player – the guy in the red beer car – you can stick a fork in him.

• The local television stations talked all morning about how bad the traffic was getting into the Speedway on Sunday. "Worst ever," they said. We agree. It was miserable!

• We really enjoyed the late-race shootout by the top three in points in Saturday night's Busch race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. With just a dozen races left on the schedule, it will be entertaining to watch Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer and Reed Sorenson duke it out for the title.

• Yes, you read it right. This was Kyle Petty's first top-15 finish (13th) since Bristol in April. This was teammate Jeff Green's fourth top-15 finish this season. We're not ready to declare that Petty Enterprises is back yet, though.

• Note to Gordon and Mike Bliss: OK, boys – knock it off. Your little bit of fun and games on lap 121, which turned Gordon nearly sideways, could have been big trouble. If it had been anyone else but Gordon, he would have wrecked and taken a few more guys with him.

• Remember Greg Biffle? He was the hottest thing since sliced bread back in May and June. Cooled off, we'd say.

• Only two Fords (both Roush's, of course) finished in the top 10. It was Dodge's day to shine, with four cars in the top 10 including a runner-up finish. And while you weren't paying attention, Casey Mears finished sixth.

• We ran into former NFL player Tim Brown while walking the grid before the race. Brown, who retired this year, is planning a joint team venture with Roush Racing beginning next year. When we asked the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner how standing on the grid at Indy before the race compared to standing on the 50-yard line before the start of the Super Bowl, he said, "No question. This is bigger and better!"

• FYI – Boris Said lost his power steering early in the race but still managed to finish on the lead lap. And will someone please blow away the dark cloud that continues to float above teammate Joe Nemechek this season?

• The magic number is now five.

• Hard Luck of the Race Award goes to Earnhardt Jr. – do we need to explain why?

• Next week features the second and final road course race of the season for both the Busch cars and the Nextel Cup cars as the series hit Watkins Glen. And on Friday, there'll be some sports car racing with the Grand Am Series.

Veteran motorsports writer Bob Margolis is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR reporter. Send Bob a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Monday, Aug 8, 2005 1:29 am, EDT

Email to a Friend | View Popular