Champ Stewart outlasts rain, Edwards

Backs up tough talk to win fifth Chase race, and his third Sprint Cup title.

Terry Renna/AP photo Tony Stewart celebrates after winning his third NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Stewart also won titles in 2002 and 2005.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Raiders fall in tourney opener
5/25/12
Rough 1st inning sets up Tipp exit
5/25/12
Mesoraco's slam sends Reds over Braves
5/25/12
Local Scoreboard for May 25
5/24/12
Ohio State AD says 12 violations minor
5/24/12
> More sports headlines

By Jenna Fryer, Associated Press 11:50 PM Sunday, November 20, 2011

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Tony Stewart insisted he wasn’t a title contender when NASCAR’s championship race began.

When it became clear he was a threat, he kicked it into another gear and vowed to go for broke in his pursuit of Carl Edwards.

Stewart used a powerful and relentless drive — some might suggest the best in NASCAR history — on Sunday in the season finale to seize his third NASCAR championship. He overcame a hole in the grill of his Chevrolet, a rain delay, used debatable fuel strategy and made 118 passes on the track to win at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“That shows how bad I wanted to win this thing,” Stewart said. “I couldn’t leave anything on the table.”

Edwards, who started the race with a three-point lead in the standings, did everything he could from the minute he arrived in Florida. His Roush-Fenway Racing team put his Ford on the pole, he led a race-high 119 of the 267 laps and still finished a helpless second.

The two actually ended up tied in the standings — a NASCAR first — but Stewart won the title based on his five wins, all in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup — to Edwards’ one.

Stewart became the first owner/driver to win the championship since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992.

“Are you kidding me?” Stewart asked in Victory Lane in a pouring rain. “We said all week we’d just go out and win the race and didn’t have to worry about what (Edwards) did. If this doesn’t go down as one of the greatest championship battles in history, I don’t know what will.”

Edwards, who had a 4.9 average finish over the 10 Chase races, held his head high.

“This night is about Tony Stewart. Those guys rose to the occasion, and they beat us fair and square,” Edwards said. “That is all I had. We came here and sat on the pole, led the most laps and Tony still managed.”

Edwards, despite being the most consistent driver this season and points leader for 21 weeks, has been on the ropes the last month as Stewart turned up his energy, effort and trash-talking.

Stewart arrived in Miami insistent he’d race with nothing to lose. He was moving through the field from his 15th starting spot when caution came out 14 laps into the race. His Stewart-Haas Racing crew discovered a hole in his grill, and the repairs dropped him to 40th in the field.

Stewart then blew by car after car and was up to 23rd in a matter of minutes. Another caution sent him into the pits for more repairs, and he restarted in 32nd.

His yapping then resumed, as he scoffed on his radio how embarrassed Edwards and the No. 99 team would be when Stewart drove from the back of the field — twice! — to beat them.

Share this article