Tony Stewart wins the 300, setting his sights on what would be his first 500 win....and Danica?

  Think Danica Patrick has had to work around some media during Daytona SpeedWeeks? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

(Updated)

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
   Danica Patrick finally got that first NASCAR race under her belt, and now she knows what it feels like when you're running 180 mph and sudden all you see is smoke.
   Tony Stewart had fairly smoothly sailing down the stretch of Saturday's Nationwide 300, after a late wreck took out Dale Earnhardt Jr. and other top rivals. All Stewart had to do was keep newcomer Jason Allgaier, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick at bay for his fifth Daytona win in six years.
   "I'd trade a couple of these Saturdays for a good Sunday here," said Stewart, who has won 15 races at Daytona now, including three straight Saturday 300s, but never the 500 itself.
   Edwards finished second.
   "Got to go check the books after this one," Earnhardt said with a grimace after his wild flipping frontstretch crash. He was one of 10 men in that accident.
    Earnhardt not only lost his car but Patrick's car too. On lap 67 of the 120-lapper Patrick, trapped back in traffic, got caught up in a crash when several cars collided ahead of her and blocked the track.
   "What really bothers me is I missed 40 laps of racing I'd liked to have had," Patrick said.
   Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski tangled on the last lap, while battling up front. Busch was making a three-wide move to the inside but got tagged from the side, then Keselowski tagged him from the rear.
  
  Timothy Peters outdueled Todd Bodine down the backstretch of the last lap to win Saturday night's Truck 250. Bodine was leading "and I moved up to block him, and he just did a great cross-over move to get under me," Bodine said. "He's a good kid, and if I had to lose to somebody he's a good one."
  

   

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  Tony Stewart takes Kevin Harvick's car to another Daytona victory, in Saturday's Nationwide 300 (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)