Stewart claims a career first in Alabama

 Tony Stewart held off a challenge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Saturday to claim victory at Talladega Superspeedway, his third first-place finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

In second place was David Stremme, by a .302--second margin.

“Boys, we won at Talladega!” Stewart shouted moments after crossing the finish line in Aaron’s 312. The victory was his career first at Talladega.

“This is not like winning a regular Nationwide race,” Stewart said. “To me, this is the biggest one I’ve had. To finally win at Talladega, it’s more than I can put in words.”

Bobby Hamilton Jr. ran third, Jason Leffler fourth and Mark Green fifth, as Earnhardt dropped to sixth after Stewart held off his last-ditch run on the final lap.

The entire race changed dramatically 12 laps past the halfway point when Kevin Lepage pulled into the front of the pack from pit road, triggering a pileup of 15 cars. Injured in the wreck was Dario Franchitti, who suffered a fractured left ankle and minor contusions and was not able to race in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499.

Lepage apologized for making “a huge driver error” by blending into the track in the wrong area.

“This caused a multi-car accident and changed the outcome of the race for many teams,” he said in a statement. “In over 25 years of racing, this was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made behind the wheel of a stock car. I promise that it will not happen again.”

Hear what else Stewart has to say in the post-race interview.