Sprint Unlimited 2013 results: Tony Stewart has eventful night, finishes fourth

Tony Stewart by no means had a quiet night at Daytona International Speedway en route to a fourth-place finish in the Sprint Unlimited.

Not only was Stewart dominant throughout the race, frequently running at or near the front of the field - he won the first segment - but he played a prominent role in the evening’s most dramatic moment.

Running second 15 laps into the 75-lap event, Stewart was on the high-side and attempted to dart low in front of the fast approaching Ford of Marcos Ambrose.

The daring move, however, resulted in contact between the two drivers and caused the pack behind them to check up. The result was a multi-car incident that in its wake ended the nights of Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, among others.

Stewart accepted blame for causing the accident.

“I got a big run on the 20 (Kenseth) and I went to the bottom,” Stewart said in an interview with Fox. “I thought I was clear. The spotter did not clear me, so I went on my own and I thought I had enough of a run to be clear of the third-place guy and I’m pretty sure I clipped whoever was in third.

“I made a move for the lead and probably was anxious too early. But I was kind of stagnant where I was at and I was having fun moving forward and felt racy.”

While others weren’t lucky enough to escape the melee unscathed, Stewart was more fortunate and continued to be a consistent presence near the lead. And it appeared in the closing laps as he ran second behind Kevin Harvick that Stewart would be able to score his fourth Unlimited victory.

However, Stewart was never able to work his way around Harvick’s Chevrolet, and in the ensuing dash to the checkered flag he slid back to fourth in the final rundown.