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NEW YORK - Tony Stewart won the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen, New York, after race leader Jeff Gordon spun out with two laps remaining.
"We just had to keep the pressure on Jeff and hope he made a mistake, and that's what happened," the Chevrolet-driving Stewart told reporters.
The costly error by Gordon came at Turn One where Stewart earlier had spun while leading.
Gordon, NASCAR's points leader, went on to finish ninth.
"It was just stupid," Gordon said. "I knew I had to push. Tony was really good. I wanted it really bad....and I pushed and I pushed too hard."
The victory was the third in four races for Stewart and his sixth on a road course.
"I gave it away and I got it back the same way I lost it," said Stewart, who dropped to as low as 20th place after his spin out midway through the race.
Denny Hamlin finished second, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Canadian Ron Fellows, all driving Chevrolets.
Former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick became entangled in a shoving match after a wreck involving both drivers and several other cars. Harvick finished 36th and Montoya 39th.
"It just seems like he (Montoya) runs over somebody every week," Harvick told reporters.
Montoya, however, said the wreck was not his fault.
"I went for the inside....and he (Martin Truext Jr.) bumped me ....and when he spun me I collected the 29 car (Harvick)," Montoya said.
"I went to Kevin and said,' It was not my fault, I got hit from behind,'" Montoya added. "He just started shouting and grabbing me."
- REUTERS
