That was one of the closest races for the Chili Bowl I have ever seen. Stewart drove excellent and paced his car and tires for a charge at the end to get around Kevin Doty and a hard charging Cory Kruseman. What a race. You could have thrown a blanket over the three cars at the line.
I felt bad for Tracy hines. He had the pole and the car to beat. He flat left everyone behind on the start and had a straight away lead after three laps on Doty, Stewart and Kruseman only to have a fuel pump failure drop him out.
Some quotes from the 2002 Chili Bowl Winner:
Quote:
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“I miss racing with these guys ‘cause it’s fun. This style of racing is fun because you come here and unload your car and you race. You go out have dinner together and drag down the road to the next place and do it all over again next week. There is no politics. You didn’t once hear anybody (Saturday) complaining about his body style had more downforce and less drag than anybody else. That’s why it’s fun. You don’t hear anybody complain about anything, you just go race.”
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Chili Bowl Results follow:
1. No. 67S, Tony Stewart, Rushville, IN
2. No. 12, Kevin Doty, Burlington, IA
3. No. 47, Cory Kruseman, Ventura, CA
4. No. 7C, Critter Malone, Speedway, IN
5. No. 3, Dave Darland, Galesburg, IL
6. No. 51, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA
7. No. 71, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO
8. No. 01, Greg Lueckert, Kansas City, MO
9. No. 66L, Tony Elliot, Kokomo, IN
10. No. 16F, Chad Farmer, Colorado Springs, CO
11. No. 76, J.J. Yeley, Glendale, AZ
12. No. 2R, Davey Ray, Davenport, IA
13. No. 88, Dan Boorse, Milwaukee, WI
14. No. 29L, Jason Leffler, Long Beach, CA
15. No. 67, Richard Griffin, Silver City, NM
16. No. 55, Steve Knepper, Belleville, IL
17. No. 71S, Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix, AZ
18. No. 54, Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH
19. No. 78, Troy Rutherford, Ojai, CA
20. No. 69, A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL
21. No. 3P, Andy Pierce, Plainfield, IN
22. No. 11, Tracy Hines, Greenfield, IN
23. No. 66, Jerry Coons, Jr., Tucson, AZ
24. No. 85X, Shane Hollingsworth, Indianapolis, IN
Tony was great all weekend. I met him while wathcing the races at the top of the SRO grandstands and he was nothing more than another fan eager to catch all the races and enjoy the camraderie of the fans. I asked him how much he was looking forward to this season with so much going on and so many races and he was just ready for it all to start. If you count the rumble at the Expo in Ft. Wayne, Indiana Stewart will be racing at more events than anyone other top racer in the US. He is scheduled to race at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the full Winston Cup circuit, and the UDTRA Late Model classic in Wisconsin on July 3rd. If you get a chance to see him in person do so. He is not the impatient and often sarcastic guy he shows to the popular press.
He could have been just another fan at the races. He looked a little smug in some of the photos though. 
Maybe enjoying his celebrity status?
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