Stewart savors 2nd Chili Bowl crown

Tony Stewart grabbed the lead early and drove to victory in the O'Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals main event Saturday night at the Tulsa Expo Raceway. The triumph gave Stewart his second Golden Driller trophy in the prestigious sprint-car race. Stewart, who also won the event in 2002, used the inside line to his advantage on the quarter-mile dirt track inside the Tulsa Expo Center.

"I hate running the bottom, but it sure pays good," said Stewart, who started fifth in the 50-lap feature. "I guess it was just luck that we started on the inside and the car was really good down there. It was just a matter of staying there."

J.J. Yeley, Stewart's NASCAR Nextel Cup teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, finished a distant second. Gibbs has been critical of Stewart's extracurricular racing in the past, but Stewart seemed assured that Gibbs would approve of the team effort with Yeley.

"I think he's going to be pretty proud of us," Stewart said.

Justin Allgaier finished third. Shane Cottle, who led before giving way to Stewart, took fourth with Donnie Ray Crawford fifth in the 25-car field. USAToday