MAN ON FIRE; Tony Stewart bags his second Brickyard 400.(Competitions of automobile racing)

Byline: AL PEARCE

With six laps left in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard-a race he covets almost as much as he covets his next breath-Tony Stewart took both hands off the steering wheel, lifted his helmet visor and steered with his knees while gulping from his water bottle. All this, mind you, at perhaps 200 mph along the Indianapolis Motor Speedway backstretch.

More than anything else, that single gesture reflected Stewart's utter confidence in himself, his No. 20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and perhaps more importantly, his place in NASCAR lore. A few laps later, it was done, his second win in stock-car racing's second-biggest event and perhaps a springboard to his third Nextel Cup for Joe Gibbs Racing.

"The first one here [in 2005] was great, but there was so much going on around it, being the first one,'' Stewart said after winning, kissing the bricks, climbing the fence and sitting for a press conference that oft-times resembled a comedy routine. "Neither of the wins outweighs the other, but I'll remember a lot more of this one. Right now, though, it's still like a dream. [The first] one was almost like a life-and-death situation for me. I'm more at peace now, which is why I'll enjoy this one more than my first one.''

As much as anyone could, the native of nearby Columbus, Indiana, dominated the 160-lap race at his all-time favorite venue. He came from 14th on the grid to lead seven times for 65 laps, almost twice as many as anyone else. Never outside the top-10 after the early laps, he closed with a flourish, leading laps 111-126 and laps 129-140 before taking the point for good from Kevin Harvick on 151. He won by almost three seconds over Juan Pablo Montoya, with top-five finishers Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and pole winner Reed Sorenson offering no real challenge.

Harvick was Stewart's only late-race threat until he faded from second to seventh in the final four laps. Just before that, he and Stewart raced hard for the lead, providing the day's most compelling moments. Stewart passed with some contact entering turn one on lap 150, Harvick swung under and passed back entering turn two, then Stewart passed for good on the backstretch and drove away. There was minor contact throughout, fully understandable-although Harvick carped about it-given the stakes.

"We had the fastest car,'' Stewart said. "Once we got to the front, we were never passed other than by Harvick [on a restart at lap 141]. We knew if we could get a long-enough run, he'd come back to us . . . and he did. I was a little worried because it was taking a little longer than I'd hoped it would. But I figured we'd be all right if I could get two clean corners after passing him.''