Tony Stewart Says 500 Winner Won’t Be A Fluke

Restrictor-plate race winners can be as random as plucking out a little white lotto ball. They can be big names or little names or no-names. It is luck and timing and being in the right place at the right time with the right dude behind you.

At least until this year’s Daytona 500, according to Tony Stewart.

Stewart says current conditions will favor the best-handling cars, which decreases the chances of a fluke winner.

“This is back to Pearson, Allison, Petty days where guys had to get their cars driving good,” he said emphatically. “You can have the fastest car here at Daytona Beach, but if it does not drive good for 500 miles, you will not win the race.

“The guy that wins the race is the guy who’s going to have a good-handling car and can go where he needs to go, and that’s different from what we’ve had here for a long, long time.”

There are fans who like to see the random winners who may not win on intermediate (downforce) tracks or short tracks or any other tracks. But mostly, it turns the racing into a farce when the winner comes down to luck.

“I don’t want fluke winners – I want guys that did a good job,” Stewart said. “The team that did the best job of getting that balance should win the race, which I think is great. I’m excited about that.”

Bump-drafting won’t be everything this year, Stewart said. And that’s fine. Screw it.

“You’ve always had to rely on somebody else to [get to the front],” he said. “It shouldn’t be strictly on just who can push you to the lead – that’s why you’ve got fluke winners, ‘cause somebody pushed them there. Now you’ve got to handle to be up there to begin with.”

A reporter then asked Stewart if he felt better than ever about winning his first Daytona 500 because of all the factors he just mentioned.

“Yes, dear,” Stewart said.

The reporter was male.