Tony Stewart crashes out at Daytona, but earns championship eligibility

A pre-race plan to avoid the profusion of wrecks that typically mars Daytona International Speedway races didn’t exactly unfold as Tony Stewart intended. Nonetheless, he still accomplished a significant goal with a 26th-place finish Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400.

Stewart’s result moved him to 30th in the standings, the minimum threshold a driver must reach to earn Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff eligibility. The three-time Cup Series champion, who’s already announced his retirement at year’s end, is three points ahead of 31st-ranked Brian Scott with nine regular season races remaining.

Stewart missed the first eight races of the season after breaking his back in a dune buggy accident in January. NASCAR granted Stewart a Chase waiver, but required he win a regular season race and finish 30th or better in the standings. He fulfilled the first condition with a surprising triumph a week ago at Sonoma Raceway -- snapping a three-year winless streak -- and entered Daytona nine points behind the established cutoff.

To meet the points mandate, Stewart entered Daytona wanting to employ a conservative strategy calling for him to ride in the back of the pack early to better avoid the multi-car wrecks that occur frequently at the restrictor-plate track. Then, as the race moved toward its conclusion, Stewart would pick his way up the running order to record a respectable finish.

Initially, the plan seemed to work. Stewart and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick rode at the back, running single-file. That proved beneficial when a 22-car wreck broke out, with Stewart having ample time to avoid the carnage.

Stewart gradually gained positions, finding himself inside the top 10 with less than 20 laps remaining. Shortly thereafter, the promising night took a different turn.

As he was running alongside Casey Mears in Turn 1, Stewart’s No. 14 car got loose. In an attempt to save it, he spun into Mears. Stewart’s Chevrolet sustained significant, unrepairable damage.

“I got loose, hadn’t been loose all day,” Stewart said. “But I got loose there and then overcorrected for it and drove it in the fence. So, definitely my fault.”

Although not an idyllic ending, finishing 26th was still effective enough.

“We knew we might be able to get points here for us, it was more trying to take care of ourselves,” Stewart said. “I probably should have been smart and just sat back a little bit. But we were in position to get a top-five and had to take a chance.”