Stewart finally scores a win after 27 consecutive defeats

His win at Pocono Raceway ended the longest drought of his career.
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- Tony Stewart's playful nature often is overshadowed by his famous temper.
But with nothing to be angry about after he won Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Stewart the imp emerged. He hit the pace car as he was coming to the checkered flag with the field under caution.
"I hadn't done that all day, and from the time I led my first Winston Cup race under caution I've always made a point to touch the pace car," he explained.
Stewart said pace car driver Buster Auton never gets spun out because he knows what's coming.
"As much as we're all around each other, it's like a giant family," Stewart said of the NASCAR nation. "So I always go up and give him a little nudge, and he'll wave in the window."
Told him to stop
In the tradition of stock car racing, Stewart tries to get Auton's car to wiggle. Auton might not mind, but Stewart's team told him to stop.
"The guys called me on the radio and said, 'Be easy on the car,' so I got busted," Stewart said. "I was having fun."
That was a major turnaround from the last two races, when Stewart was leading and in control. But he lost both times.
"In the back of my mind I thought something was going to happen, and maybe that made me a little calmer and a little more focused," he said.
The Winston Cup champion ended the longest drought in his career at 27 consecutive defeats.
"It's been a long time coming," Stewart said. "We've had better cars than we've ever had."
Strong throughout
He ran strong throughout the race, and took the lead on the 156th lap, one lap after coming to pit road in third position. He left with the lead after his crew outworked those of leader Sterling Marlin and Matt Kenseth.
"I felt like the crew won the race today, not me," Stewart said.
He took the lead for the final time with 11 laps left when Todd Bodine and Jeremy Mayfield pitted, but got a bad break when Kurt Busch blew a tire to bring out a caution flag with eight to go.
But Stewart's Chevrolet led Mark Martin's Ford when the green flag waved for the final three laps and beat him back to the line by five car lengths after Terry Labonte spun out Jeff Green to end the $4.2 million race under caution.