All it took was his first Darlington Raceway victory to bring out Tony Stewart’s softer side.

Only two months ago, Stewart angrily blasted Goodyear after the Atlanta race, saying the company had given him “the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career.”

But it was a joyful, smiling Stewart who praised Goodyear for its research and hard work in delivering tires that helped the Joe Gibbs Racing star to his first win Friday night on NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway.

“I really want to give Goodyear a pat on the back,” he said. The company made two trips since March to test tires on Darlington’s slick, new surface, repaved at a cost of $7 million for the first time since 1995.

The results were absolutely perfect for Stewart.

“I’m the first one to tell them when they screw up and I want to be the first one to tell them when they do a good job, too,” Stewart said.

The two-time Sprint Cup champ had never won here in 19 previous starts, four of them Nationwide events, dating to 1996.

Stewart entered the season wanting to conquer the four tracks he hadn’t — California Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and here.

He’d previously won in California and Talladega. The Darlington victory, though, may have meant the most to Stewart.

“This is one of those tracks where history goes as deep as NASCAR, and it’s a great honor,” he said.

Stewart led 90 of 147 laps for his fourth Nationwide victory this year and JGR’s sixth straight. It was the sixth win for his No. 20 Toyota — JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch have also won in the machine — and the eighth for Gibbs’ racers.

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UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

FIN, ST, CAR, DRIVER, MAKE, SPONSOR, PTS/BNS, LAPS, STATUS

1 3 20 Tony Stewart Toyota Old Spice 195/10 149 Running
2 2 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet BB&T 175/5 149 Running
3 21 99 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 165/0 149 Running
4 15 103 Todd Bodine Toyota Germain Toyota 160/0 149 Running
5 25 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 155/0 149 Running
6 4 64 David Stremme Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 150/0 149 Running
7 29 111 Jason Keller Chevrolet America’s Incredible Pizza Company 146/0 149 Running
8 16 9 Chase Miller * Dodge Motorola / Verizon 142/0 149 Running
9 19 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 138/0 149 Running
10 20 59 Marcos Ambrose Ford Kingsford Hickory Charcoal 139/5 149 Running
11 12 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Penske Truck Rental 130/0 149 Running
12 22 27 Brad Coleman Ford Huggies Pull-Ups / Rite Aid 127/0 147 Running
13 17 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Camping World/ RVs.com 124/0 147 Running
14 7 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 121/0 147 Running
15 13 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet U.S. Navy 118/0 146 Running
16 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Victory In Jesus 115/0 146 Running
17 27 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 112/0 146 Running
18 11 40 Bryan Clauson * Dodge Fastenal 109/0 146 Running
19 23 30 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet SpeedRacerTheMovie.com 106/0 145 Running
20 33 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge MC2 Energy Drink 103/0 145 Running
21 6 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 105/5 145 Running
22 39 52 Brad Teague Chevrolet Truck Service 97/0 145 Running
23 14 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 94/0 144 Accident
24 10 47 Kelly Bires Ford Clorox 96/5 144 Accident
25 24 7 Mike Wallace Toyota GEICO 88/0 144 Accident
26 36 161 Kevin Lepage Ford Specialty Racing 85/0 141 Running
27 9 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 87/5 137 Accident
28 8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford CitiFinancial 84/5 126 Accident
29 37 01 Kertus Davis Chevrolet RaceGirl 76/0 124 Accident
30 18 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Ford Curly’s 73/0 102 Engine
31 5 32 Kyle Busch Toyota Beringer Vineyards 75/5 101 Accident
32 30 4 Derrike Cope Chevrolet JVC 67/0 84 Accident
33 42 24 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty 64/0 63 Brakes
34 26 37 Burney Lamar Ford Greg Biffle Foundation 61/0 62 Brakes
35 38 0 Danny Efland Chevrolet Lori Morgan 58/0 36 Brakes
36 34 331 Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet GrandStay.net 55/0 30 Handling
37 43 84 Mike Harmon Chevrolet Lowcountry Coaches / Cracker Barrel 52/0 25 Overheating
38 32 90 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 49/0 16 Vibration
39 41 102 Andy Ponstein Chevrolet Stott Classic Racing.com 46/0 13 Transmission
40 35 246 Carl Long Dodge Southeastern Outdoor Products / Red Line Oil 43/0 9 Handling
41 31 91 Terry Cook Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 40/0 7 Vibration
42 40 22 Ruben Pardo Dodge Supercuts 37/0 4 Handling
43 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Water Smart 34/0 3 Accident
* Denotes Rookie