WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Tony Stewart’s dream season continued unabated in Monday’s rain-delayed Heluva Good! at the Glen.

After a major adjustment early in the race got Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet handling the way the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader wanted, Stewart held off Marcos Ambrose during a 17-lap run to the finish and crossed the finish line 2.969 seconds ahead of the Australian road-course ace.

The victory was Stewart’s fifth at Watkins Glen International, his third of the season and the 36th of his Cup career. Stewart opened his lead in the series standings to 260 points over polesitter Jimmie Johnson, who finished 12th after spinning off the course in Turn 1 late in the race.

The second-place finish was Ambrose’s series-best to date, improving by one position over his results at the Glen last year and at Infineon Raceway in June. Carl Edwards came home third after a strategic run from the 33rd starting position.

Kyle Busch ran fourth, and though he remained 13th in the standings, he trimmed his deficit in points to 12th position – now occupied by Monday’s 14th-place finisher Matt Kenseth – from 101 to 58 points with four races remaining.