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Reigning NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart entered Race Two of the Crown Royal International Race of Champions (IROC) Friday night winless in three series - Nextel Cup, Busch and IRL IndyCar - in 13 starts at Texas Motor Speedway.

After missing a mandatory practice earlier in the week, Stewart and Truex, Jr. were forced to start at the rear of the field, as dictated by Crown Royal IROC series rules. However, Stewart and Truex, Jr., both climbed through the field and both led the race. Stewart, the Indiana native passed NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex, Jr. on the outside with five laps remaining with drafting help from Ryan Newman to clinch his third-career IROC race.

Nextel Cup driver Ryan Newman finished second, Truex, Jr. was third, followed by five-time IROC Series winner Mark Martin and 2004 series titlist Matt Kenseth, who rounded out the top five.

Stewart, whose previous IROC victories came at Daytona in 2002 and Michigan in 2001, was elated with the victory. "This was a good start to the weekend," said Stewart, who climbed the fence in celebration. "What were there, 60- 70,000 fans out there? They were all chanting for me to climb the fence. I did it; you have to give them what they want."

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About starting last Stewart said, "We had scheduling conflicts that prevented us from getting any practice, but I had complete confidence in the Crown Royal IROC crew, they do an excellent job at preparing the IROC cars, and the car performed exactly the way they told me it would."

Grand American Road racer Max Angelelli turned in a strong showing in his IROC debut, climbing as high as second before settling for sixth.

"I was real happy," said the Italian, who is splitting driving duties (two races each) with South African Wayne Taylor and matched his result at the season-opening race at Daytona. "It was a bit intimidating to be all together with these big names."

There was plenty of side-by-side racing and three-wide action throughout the entire race, which marked the third consecutive year the Crown Royal IROC Series has raced at Texas Motor Speedway. "It was the best Crown Royal IROC race I've been a part of," said Newman. "It was a lot fun. It was pretty constructive racing. A lot of banging and bumping."

Rounding out the bottom-half of the top 10 included: IRL IndyCar driver Scott Sharp (seventh), ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Frank Kimmel (eighth), NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Ted Musgrave (ninth) and road racing specialist Max Papis, whose day ended when he slide up high into Sharp with eight laps to go.

World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser (11th) got tagged by Papis in the incident with Sharp and flipped over for the second consecutive race (Daytona), but returned right-side up; Kinser was uninjured. IRL IndyCar Series winner Sam Hornish, Jr.'s night ended when his transmission broke on the mandatory restart on lap 47, and finished last.

Texas was the second of four events in the Crown Royal IROC Series, whose overall series' champion wins $1 million. Kenseth captured the first leg with his victory at Daytona in February and remains the points leader (43 points) when the series returns there on June 29 with its first road-course race in 14 years. The finale is scheduled for Atlanta on October 28.

Stewart (34), Newman (25), Truex, Jr. (24) and Kimmel (23) comprise the top-five points leaders.

Crown Royal IROC Series Race 2
Texas Motor Speedway - April 7th, 2006

Pos Car# Driver Lap  
1 20 Tony Stewart - NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series 67  
2 12 Ryan Newman - NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series  67  
3 8 Martin Truex Jr. - NASCAR Busch Series 67  
4 6 Mark Martin - NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series     67  
5 17 Matt Kenseth - NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series 67  
6 10 Max Angelelli - Grand American Road Racing 67  
7 08 Scott Sharp - IRL IndyCar™ Series 67  
8 46 Frank Kimmel - ARCA RE/MAX Series  67  
9 1 Ted Musgrave - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series  67  
10 16 Max Papis - Grand American Road Racing  59  
11 11 Steve Kinser - World of Outlaws 59  
12 06 Sam Hornish Jr. - IRL IndyCar™ Series 

As he comes off of his second place finish in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion, Ted Musgrave heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the second round of racing in the Crown Royal IROC racing series. This marks the 30th Anniversary of the Crown Royal International Race of Champions racing series. This weekend's race in Texas will be Musgrave's second IROC Series career start.

"At Texas , I think you are going to see one heck of a race between all of the guys that are out there," said Musgrave. "I enjoy racing at Texas a lot more than Daytona. Daytona is just single file racing and blocking. I have had success in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and Nextel Cup Series in Texas and hopefully I can have the same success in the Crown Royal IROC Series. Texas is my kind of track."

Musgrave is no stranger to Texas Motor Speedway. With 10 starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he has completed 1,563 out of 1,566 laps, leading 190 of them. Ted has earned three top-five finishes and six top-10's. In 2004 Musgrave earned his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole at Texas Motor Speedway and had a career best finish of second that same year. Ted is focused and determined to earn one of the famous black Stetson's at this weekend's Lone Star state race.

For the third-consecutive year "The Great American Speedway" will host the second race of the Crown Royal IROC Series season. The race will take place on Friday, April 7, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. (EDT) and be broadcast live on SPEED Channel.