Stewart Breaks Through With Darlington Win

The two-time Sprint Cup champion had never won here in 19 previous races, four of them Nationwide events, dating to 1996. Yet, Stewart was dominant throughout in gliding to victory in the first race on Darlington's slicker, repaved surface Friday night.

He was about the only one who got away unscathed, with Sprint Cup stars Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin all wrecking.

"We had an awesome race car today," Stewart said. "I'm telling you, this thing was head-and-shoulders better than it was" in practices.

Stewart made it through eight cautions, two off the Nationwide's Darlington record, and a green-white-checkered finish for his fourth series victory this year, and Joe Gibbs Racing's sixth straight victory.

After David Ragan's hard crash on the backstretch, Stewart easily moved forward on the restart three laps from the end. Right behind, though, was chaos as Martin's second-place machine failed to get up to speed.

The stall collected five other cars and brought out the race's second stoppage, as it took more than 15 minutes to clean up.

None of it affected Stewart. He grabbed the lead for good with 27 laps to go when leader Kenseth pitted with a flat.

Stewart broke away from Clint Bowyer to take the checkered flag.

Biffle Wins Sprint Pole

DARLINGTON, S.C. | On a fast new surface, 41 of 44 drivers broke the qualifying record at Darlington Raceway.

But it was Greg Biffle who set the pace, turning a blistering lap of 179.442 mph Friday night to win the pole at Darlington. He shattered the previous record of 173.797 mph set by Ward Burton in 1996.

"Everybody has talked about how the track is really fast, but it's the same old Darlington," Biffle said.

Biffle's lap in a Ford beat Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, who qualified second and third for Saturday night's race in their Chevrolets. Earnhardt ran a lap at 179.357, while Johnson clocked in at 179.206.

It marked a comeback for the two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion, who crashed two cars during Friday's practice sessions.

Track officials repaved the surface over the winter, spending $7 million to smooth out the surface while maintaining the integrity of the quirky, egg-shaped, 1.366-mile superspeedway.

NASCAR Releases Report Of Plane Crash

ORLANDO | NASCAR officials claim an electrical fire caused a fatal plane crash near Orlando last year that killed two aboard the aircraft and three on the ground, but federal investigators do not necessarily agree with that claim.

The NASCAR accident summary is included in Friday's release of reports by the National Transportation Safety Board into the July 10 crash of the NASCAR airplane. It claims the pilots were overcome by fumes and incapacitated.

The NTSB says it is still investigating the crash, with a final report of the cause likely in the summer.

Injuries at Indy Practice

INDIANAPOLIS | Rookie driver Alex Lloyd was hospitalized Friday, complaining of neck pain, after hitting the wall hard during practice for the Indianapolis 500.

Another accident occurred in the pits, where Dale Coyne Racing crewman Charles Buckman was knocked to the ground by Danica Patrick's incoming car. Buckman was taken to the hospital with a concussion and cuts to his face and scalp.