Stewart claims first Daytona win

Stewart parks up to scale the fence

Tony Stewart finally raced to victory at Nascar's best-known circuit in the rain-delayed Pepsi 400 at Daytona.

Stewart started from pole but needed a dramatic four-wide pass to hit the front, then pulled away on a restart with nine laps left to seal the win.

It was the Chevrolet driver's first Nextel Cup victory in 14 attempts at the International Speedway in Florida.

He was followed home by Jamie McMurray, driving a Dodge, in second and Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevrolet) in third.

Stewart celebrated by climbing the fence into the flag stand to claim the checkered flag.

"I'm too damn fat to be climbing fences, but I had to do it once," he said. "I finally got me a Daytona trophy."

It was his second consecutive victory and showed that the 2002 series champion will be a contender again this year.

He started from the pole, led a race-record 151 of 160 laps, and moved to third in the standings.

Stewart was running away with the race until a late round of pit stops shuffled him back to fifth with 17 laps to go.

It took him just minutes to regain the lead and he did it with the most daring of moves.

He tucked in next to the wall and slid on the outside past Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson, who were all lined up door-to-door across the track.

Stewart's pass would have been enough to seal the victory, if not for one last caution.

The race restarted with nine laps to go, and Stewart was never challenged as he pulled away.

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Daytona Pepsi 400 results:
1. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 160 laps
2. Jamie McMurray, Dodge
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet
4. Rusty Wallace, Dodge
5. Dale Jarrett, Ford
6. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
7. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
8. Mike Wallace, Chevrolet
9. Matt Kenseth, Ford
10. Ken Schrader, Dodge