Tony Stewart not disappointed with eighth place in debut as driver/owner

DAYTONA BEACH — New car, new team, new boss. Same old Tony Stewart. And same Daytona 500 outcome, for now.

Stewart, competing in his first points race for his Stewart-Haas team after 10 seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing, rocketed from the back of the pack (he was moved from his fifth spot on the grid to 38th for switching to a backup No. 14 Chevrolet after an accident in practice) to lead 15 laps early in Sunday's race. Still, he finished eighth. It was just like old times for a driver who has been tantalized by NASCAR's biggest prize, but he was thinking bigger picture.

Crew chief Darian Grubb cued the microphone on his team radio when Stewart took the lead under caution on Lap 58, saying, "Look at this, team. We're leading the Daytona 500."

"To leave here with a third (Budweiser Shootout), second (150-mile qualifying race) and eighth, can't really say that's disappointing," Stewart said.

SHORT STUFF: Joey Logano, 18, became the youngest to start a Daytona 500 and was the first out of it on Sunday.

The replacement for Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota brushed fellow rookie Scott Speed on Lap 79, careened off the tri-oval and hit a SAFER barrier in the infield nose-first, destroying his car.

"I don't think I should say what I'm feeling inside. I'm not very happy at all," Logano said. "I'm not very happy. That's for sure."

STAR-STUDDED: The drivers' meeting was among the most celebrity-speckled in recent memory. Among the luminaries: actors Gene Hackman and Tom Cruise (who sat at the foot of the stage in the packed room next to the grand marshal, Gov. Charlie Crist), Bucs Joey Galloway and Stylez G. White, South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier, Jets coach Rex Ryan, Piero Ferrari, Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, and singer Keith Urban. Actor Nicole Kidman, previously wed to Cruise and now to Urban, did not attend.

White was invited to his first race through his association with David Reutimann's charity gold tournament.

"They told me I'd be a VIP and it was free. I'm all in," White grinned. "And I got to meet the drivers, which I like. All that metal around them, you can't tell what they're like."

White said he had already identified his favorite drivers: Reutimann, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose.

SPARK PLUGS: Tampa native Aric Almirola was involved in two accidents. He was spun on the eighth lap by David Ragan, and by Sam Hornish on the last caution on Lap 146. Almirola finished 30th. … Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig told drivers they worked "tirelessly" and thanked them for "helping fill the place up." Braig has made a point of ingratiating himself to them since Speedway Motorsports Inc. founder Bruton Smith criticized drivers for not doing enough to promote the sport, sparking a rebuke from Dale Earnhardt Jr.