yeah congrats to the 20 
just when i thought the 24 was gonna turn the corner, he gets caught up in someone else's mess. that is racin though!
Stewart wins second consecutive Pepsi 400
By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
July 3, 2006
10:21 AM EDT (14:21 GMT)
Official Results
Pepsi 400
Pos. Driver Make
1. T. Stewart Chevrolet
2. Ky. Busch Chevrolet
3. Ku. Busch Dodge
4. B. Said Ford
5. E. Sadler Ford
6. M. Kenseth Ford
7. C. Mears Dodge
8. J. McMurray Ford
9. K. Harvick Chevrolet
10. C. Bowyer Chevrolet
Stewart was back to his on-track dominance and off-track hijinks, winning at Daytona International Speedway by charging to the lead with two laps to go Saturday night. He then celebrated with his trademark climbing of the fence, but made the mistake of jumping into the crowd -- where he found himself overwhelmed by rowdy fans.
He had to be rescued by his crew and several NASCAR officials, who cleared a path through the mob for the beloved NASCAR champion.
"I made the mistake of going down the ladder," he said. "I thought there was a gate there. I didn't find the gate and was in the mosh pit for a while."
But Stewart, who started climbing fences with this race last year, wasn't going to disappoint the expectant crowd.
"There was no way I was going to let those race fans down," he said. "It started here ... I was either going to get all the way up or I was going to fall off and fall on my butt. But I wasn't going to stop.
"It was every bit as big, if not bigger, than it was last year."
But the race was nothing like last year, when he rolled to a dominating victory in which he led all but nine laps. Instead, he had to earn it after two late cautions nearly yanked the win away from him.
Stewart, who led 85 of the 160 laps, was out front when Jimmie Johnson bumped into Bobby Labonte with 14 laps to go to bring out just the fourth caution in what had been an unusually calm race. It set up one final round of pit stops, and Stewart dropped all the way back to 10th on the restart.
Boris Said, the surprising pole-sitter, didn't pit and inherited the lead. But he kept a nervous eye on his rearview mirror, all too aware of Stewart's bright orange No. 20 Chevrolet closing in on his bumper.
Stewart jumped all the way to second in one sweeping move on the low side of the track, and was preparing to pass Said when a wreck behind him brought out the fifth caution. It gave him time to figure his strategy, which was to sit back and let Said jump out to a huge lead on the restart with three laps to go.
It left Said without any drafting help, and Stewart used a full steam of drafting help to pass him on the outside with two to go.
"I felt like we had a better shot of getting around Boris than we would anybody else," Stewart said. "Not because Boris isn't a great driver, but he hasn't had a lot of experience on restrictor-plate racing and knowing what to do and what to watch for.
"I knew some things I could do that he wouldn't be looking for."
He was back out front when the race was stopped on the final lap for a debris caution, earning his second win of the season and ending a slump that began six races ago when he broke his shoulder blade in an accident at Lowe's.
Stewart had finishes of 42nd, 25th, third, 41st and 28th since the accident, and dropped from fourth to seventh in the standings. The victory pushed him back up to fifth.
"This team needed this," he said in Victory Lane. "We've had two really rough weeks the last couple of weeks."
Stewart celebrated with his climb to the top of the flagstand, then took it a step further by going over into the crowd.
"I don't know why I do half the stupid stuff I do," he said. "I really felt good at the end of the race until I got stupid and went up the flagstand."
Kyle Busch finished second, his older brother, Kurt, was third and the two were disappointed not to get a chance to team together to chase Stewart down on the final lap.
"I would have done anything Kyle needed me to do for him to go to Victory Lane," Kurt said.
"What a brother," Kyle replied.
"It takes two to pass Tony," Kurt added.
Said, running in just his second race of the year, wound up an impressive fourth and was thrilled with the outcome.
"I just feel like Rocky Balboa in the 15th round, and I just won," he said.
Matt Kenseth finished fifth and was followed by Elliott Sadler, Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer.
Johnson, the points leader, was running in fourth when he wrecked with Labonte. It cost him a shot at his third restrictor-plate victory of the season, and he wound up 32nd. His lead was sliced to 13 points on Kenseth.
Jeff Gordon, who was trying to tie the late Dale Earnhardt with 11 plate victories, was among the contenders all night until he was caught in the final accident. The five-car wreck occurred when rookie J.J. Yeley and Greg Biffle made contact, and Gordon was caught in the carnage.
He finished 40th and dropped all the way to 12th in the standings.
"There were so many guys out there, and I want to bad mouth every one of them," Gordon said. "But I'm not going to. If I don't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all."
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