Regan Smith crossed the finish line first, but Tony Stewart won the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega after NASCAR called Smith's pass under the yellow line illegal.
As a guy who only follows NASCAR for the sake of following sports, I have come to root for Stewart (who, for all intents and purposes, has had a lousy year) since my hero, Dale Earnhardt passed away in 2001.
In 20 starts, Stewart had never won at Talladega, and I'm pretty sure he lost this one as well. Yeah, Smith's pass may have been below the line, but it looked like Stewart forced him down there as you can see from the video I linked in this post.
I always thought that if you cross the finish line first in a race that you've won. Still, this isn't the first time this has happened as Ricky Rudd had a win stolen at Sears Point in 1991.
Regardless, controversy gets people talking. So, this really isn't a bad deal for NASCAR. I'm just not quite sure you can call Tony Stewart's 33rd career win (and likely only win of 2008) a true victory.
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