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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -Tony Stewart's freaky season of bad luck took another turn when the two-time NASCAR champion fell ill during Saturday night's race at Daytona International Raceway.
Stewart started the Coke Zero 400 and ran as high as third, but gave way to J.J. Yeley on lap 72. Stewart got out of his No. 20 Toyota, sat down in his pit stall, wiped beads of sweat off his face with a towel and started drinking water. He then went to the infield care center, where he given intravenous fluids and eventually released.
Stewart had been feeling ill all weekend, suffering from weakness, an upset stomach and headaches. He tried to suck it up, but just couldn't get through the race in Florida's heat and humidity.
Yeley stepped in and finished 20th after getting caught up in two late accidents.
"We just got shuffled at the end," crew chief Greg Zipadelli said. "It's kind of been like our year. I don't know what to say. I know we had a lot better race car than what we finished tonight. We just don't seem to do anything right to turn it around."
Yeley, who spent three seasons as Stewart's teammate at JGR, failed to qualify for Saturday's race. He now drives for Hall of Fame Racing, an affiliate of JGR, and agreed to sub for his former teammate.
Still, it added to a growing list of bizarre occurrences that have plagued Stewart all season.
He had his heart broken on the last lap of the Daytona 500, when a victory in NASCAR's biggest race was snatched away from him by winner Ryan Newman. It was an agonizing defeat, but he didn't let it linger. He had no hard feelings when he returned to Daytona this week.
"My buddy that came with me from home, we were talking about how many wins we actually have here," Stewart said. "We've got a lot of wins and this is a race that has been really good for us. I'm looking forward to it actually."
Stewart had good reason to be excited for Saturday night. He won this 400-mile race in 2005 and 2006. The first year he led all but nine of the 160 laps, and led half of the race the next season. He might have made it three straight, too, but wrecked with teammate Denny Hamlin while they were running first and second in last year's race.
All said, he has won 12 races here and had a dominant car in February when he won the Nationwide Series race, finished second in two exhibitions, then was leading the 500 with a half-lap to go when Newman snatched the win away from him.
In hindsight, it was a sign of things to come. He has had strong cars all year, only to lose his shot at a win in freak fashions. Accidents, broken parts, blown tires and even the weather have plagued Stewart and stretched his winless streak to a career-worst 31 races.
Stewart has not been to Victory Lane since winning on the road course at Watkins Glen last August.
