Stewart strong in Shootout.

Tony Stewart drove his #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot Chevrolet to a strong third-place finish in Sunday's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.

The reigning Nextel Cup champion showed the same kind of strength he displayed at Daytona in 2005, when he led 258 of an available 363 laps in Daytona's two Nextel Cup races, the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400, even though he was pipped for second place in the final inches of the 70-lap sprint race by his friend Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"We had a pretty good run," said Stewart, who started third but bounced back and forth between the lead and mid-pack during numerous attempts for the top spot. "We finally got with our teammate and once we got there we just tried to keep the two of us together to do everything we could to stay up front."

Stewart's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate was Denny Hamlin, the rookie driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet. For much of the race Stewart led Hamlin but when the race came down to a two lap green flag sprint, Hamlin was able to nose ahead on the high line and take the win, albeit with the generous help of Stewart, who bump-drafted his rookie teammate around the final lap of the 2.5-mile Superspeedway.

"He's a talented kid," said Stewart of Hamlin. "He ran a real solid race and he showed a lot of patience. He already had my respect as a teammate, but he just furthered it even more with the way he handled himself today.

"He had a great car. When we got behind him, there was absolutely nothing we could do with him once he got in the lead. But still, the best car doesn't always win the race if the guy behind the steering wheel doesn't do a good job. Denny's had the talent all along. He drove a smart race and did an awesome job."

Next up for Stewart and Co. is the Gatorade Duel, Thursday's twin 150-lap races that will set the field for the Daytona 500.