HAMPTON, GA. ? Tony Stewart dipped into his past Sunday, and the result was his first career 500-mile victory.

Stewart slid under Ward Burton for the lead with 24 laps to go and held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the MBNA America 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was Stewart’s 13th career victory.

The decisive pass came in Turn 1, when Stewart moved to the inside and slid in front of Burton. It was similar to the “slide-job” passes Stewart used throughout his sprint cars days, although most of those were on dirt. This was on pavement, and at 190 mph.

“I had four or five of those today,” Stewart said of the technique. “You have to know where their weak spot is on the race track.”

Stewart has complained all year about the aerodynamic disadvantages of his Pontiac. He didn’t have any problems Sunday, leading the most laps for the second straight race to get his first victory of the season.

He beat Earnhardt by about five car lengths.

Stewart has finished in the top five in three straight races and climbed back into the points race. He’s now fifth, 101 points behind leader Sterling Marlin, who finished ninth.

Rookie Jimmie Johnson continued his surprising start, finishing third. Matt Kenseth, forced to start at the rear of the field because he changed engines after qualifying, placed fourth. Ricky Craven was fifth.

1. (9) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 325, $174,978, 148.443 mph.

2. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 325, $104,600.

3. (15) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 325, $72,350.

4. (32) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 325, $91,700.

5. (6) Ricky Craven, Ford, 325, $69,950.

6. (38) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 325, $95,625.

7. (28) Ward Burton, Dodge, 325, $90,325.

8. (39) Mark Martin, Ford, 325, $84,833.

9. (12) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 325, $89,117.

10. (2) Ryan Newman, Ford, 325, $78,000.

11. (4) Kurt Busch, Ford, 325, $62,225.

12. (14) Buckshot Jones, Dodge, 325, $58,450.

13. (7) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 325, $77,450.

14. (13) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 325, $76,083.

15. (34) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 325, $44,500.

16. (19) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 325, $96,478.

17. (24) Dave Blaney, Ford, 324, $65,200.

18. (23) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 324, $72,246.

19. (16) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 324, $62,279.

20. (37) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 324, $89,157.

21. (30) Jeff Burton, Ford, 324, $86,507.

22. (11) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 324, $75,010.

23. (40) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 323, $52,835.

24. (25) Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 323, $52,535.

25. (27) Joe Nemechek, Ford, 322, $69,822.

26. (5) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 322, $43,985.

27. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 322, $51,670.

28. (21) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 321, $43,420.

29. (22) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 320, $51,110.

30. (26) Jerry Nadeau, Chevrolet, 320, $51,385.

31. (35) Stacy Compton, Pontiac, 320, $42,810.

32. (41) Casey Atwood, Dodge, 319, $42,235.

33. (29) Rick Mast, Ford, 318, $39,670.

34. (31) Shawna Robinson, Dodge, 310, $39,625.

35. (1) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 288, crash, $72,146.

36. (20) John Andretti, Dodge, 288, crash, $66,638.

37. (18) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 287, $85,298.

38. (42) Brett Bodine, Ford, 276, engine failure, $39,475.

39. (8) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 254, engine failure, $85,218.

40. (17) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 204, engine failure, $47,380.

41. (36) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 187, engine failure, $39,345.

42. (43) Dick Trickle, Chevrolet, 178, crash, $39,305.

43. (33) Hut Stricklin, Dodge, 164, engine failure, $38,605.

Race Statistics

Time of Race: 3 hours, 22 minutes, 18 seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.376.

Caution Flags: 7 for 37 laps.

Lead Changes: 34 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: B. Elliott 0, R.Newman 1-15, K.Busch 16-38, T.Stewart 39-54, K.Busch 55-56, D.Earnhardt Jr. 57-58, D.Blaney 59-60, T.Stewart 61-80, D.Earnhardt Jr. 81, T.Stewart 82, D.Earnhardt Jr 83-96, T.Stewart 97-105, K. Busch 106, T.Stewart 107-109, K.Busch 110, T.Stewart 111-114, K.Busch 115, T.Stewart 116-136, K.Busch 137-139, M.Kenseth 140, K.Petty 141-142, T. Stewart 143-171, D.Earnhardt Jr. 172-187, T.Stewart 188-193, D.Earnhardt Jr. 194-198, T.Stewart 199-202, K.Busch 203-209, M.Kenseth 210-225, T.Stewart 226, M.Kenseth 227-238, K.Busch 239-259, M.Kenseth 260-276, T.Stewart 277-282, W.Burton 283-302, T.Stewart 303-325.

Point Standings: S.Marlin – 645, R.Newman – 571, W.Burton – 565, M.Martin – 557, T.Stewart – 544, M.Kenseth – 540, K.Busch – 535, R.Wallace – 531, J.Burton – 520, J.Johnson – 517.