In racing, ideally, the fastest driver wins. In practice, that doesn’t always work. Drivers get caught up in other drivers’ wrecks, drivers get sidelined by mechanical failure—only in a perfect world does the championship come down to the two fastest drivers racing one another in the last race of the season with everything on the line.
NASCAR’s 2011 Sprint Cup season achieved the ideal.
Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards came to Homestead-Miami Speedway knowing that whoever won the race would win the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. If Stewart won, he‘d tie Edwards in points and win his third championship by having won more races. If Edwards won, he’d win his first title by a few points.
With 33 laps left in the season, the two contenders were alone ahead of the field, racing for everything. After ten months of racing, the championship came down to Tony Stewart leading Carl Edwards by a second, with both drivers giving their all. In the end, the fastest won.
“If this doesn’t go down as one of the greatest championship battles in history I don’t know what will,” Stewart told ESPN. “We said all week we'd just go out and win the race and we didn’t have to worry about what [Carl Edwards] did and that’s what we did.”
“One thing I learned about this team, there’s no quit here. Everybody on this team has just dug deep and never given up. This is an awesome night.”
Carl Edwards, who did everything right all year long but just couldn’t win, had nothing but respect for Stewart.
“Those guys rose to the occasion. They beat us fair and square. That was all I had at the end,” Edwards told ESPN. “My guys did a really good job we came here and set the pole, led the most laps. Tony and Darian did a good job with their strategy, came out in front of us, and that was it.
“That was all I had at the end. That’s as hard as I can drive. I wish so bad we had that trophy but it just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”
Stewart won his first two titles driving for other owners; this is his first as a co-owner, and the first in the No. 14 Chevy.
Stewart’s car number used to belong to his hero, racing legend A.J. Foyt. Stewart told ESPN, “I guarantee you I will talk to him tonight and he will still tell me what I did wrong today, but I’m so proud. A.J.’s always been one of my heroes and he’s been very supportive of this. When I asked him if it would be all right if I took his number he was gave me his blessing. That meant the world to me.”
Stewart Beats Bad Breaks With Will to Win
Tony Stewart and the Stewart-Haas No. 14 Office Depot Chevy team had a tough season, not winning any races. When it came to the Chase, Stewart and his team turned it all around, winning five out of ten races and the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Stewart’s third.
The NASCAR Ford 400 mirrored the Chase: Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford, who had been consistently excellent throughout the season and throughout the Chase, was fast all day. He started from the pole, led the most laps, his pit stops were flawless, his strategy perfect.
Stewart had everything go wrong...
Stewart had everything go wrong. When rain stopped the race after 13 laps, Stewart ran over some debris which punched a fist-sized hole in the front of his car. By the time his crew repaired it, Stewart had dropped from eighth place to 40th.
Carl Edwards had the lead, Tony Stewart had a huge deficit—Stewart had no deficit of confidence. He told his crew that everyone else was going to feel bad after he came from the back of the pack to win the race.
By the time rain stopped the race again on lap 110, Stewart had worked his way back to fifth. After the race restarted, he needed only 20 laps to take the lead.
A sticking lug nut cost him eight places during a yellow-flag pit stop on lap 133; Stewart set out through the field again, reaching second by lap 152. Another sticking lug nut dropped him back again, and forced him to take only two tires when he needed four. On lap 161 Stewart restarted 13th. In 18 laps he was back up front.
At no point did Stewart lose his temper, or even a bit of confidence—he knew he was going to win, and kept reassuring his crew that no matter what happened he was going to drive to the front and take the title.
Instead, Stewart did what he had been doing—making three- and four-wide passes on the restarts, driving his car as hard as it would go, and willing his machine past the opposition. Stewart made 76 passes in the course of the race. Every time he fell back, he drove his way back to the front.
Strategy to Match the Speed
By lap 179 the 14 car was back at the front, hounding race leader Carl Edwards. When Edwards pitted, Stewart stayed out, stretching his fuel; he crew chief Darian Grubb gambled on finishing the race with only one more stop. Edwards would need another.
The strategy would only work if the race went green to the end. Another accident (there had already been half a dozen) or more rain could ruin the bet. If the gamble paid off, Stewart should win.
Stewart stayed out, losing 1.5 seconds per lap to Edwards, who was on fresh tires after his stop. The Office Depot driver pushed his car to the extreme limit, almost running dry as he finally pulled onto pit lane on lap 212.
One lap later, just as Carl Edwards retook the lead, the rain returned, again halting the race. Edwards had to pit; he needed to take on enough fuel to finish the race, even though it meant giving up the lead. His crew chief, Bob Osborne, gave Edwards two tires only, to get him back on track as fast as possible.
When the race restarted on lap 2 31 of 267, Stewart was third, Edwards, fifth. Neither driver wasted any time getting to the front; Stewart retook the lead on lap 233, Edwards tucked in behind him in second a lap later.
The rest of the race was a test of driver skill, with no holding back. For both drivers it was checker or wrecker; finishing second meant losing not just the race, but the title. Tony Stewart forced his car through the corners, sawing wildly at the wheel, while Carl Edwards pushed to within millimeters of the wall lap after lap.
For 33 laps the pair probed the performance limits of their cars and each other. In the end, Stewart was the faster, crossing the finish line 1.3 second ahead.
Stewart is only the ninth driver in seven decades of NASCAR racing to win three or more titles; no other driver has ever dominated the Chase the way Stewart did. Stewart-Haas went winless throughout the regular season and ended up the winningest driver of the year.
NASCAR reconfigured the points per race for 2011, trying to keep the Chase close while still rewarding winning more than consistency. Surely even at their most optimistic NSACARs officials didn’t imaginer an outcome like this. Carl Edwards was consistently good all season long; Tony Stewart won a lot during the Chase. In the end, the points were tied, and Tony Stewart triumphed because he won more races—and it was his win in the season finale which sealed the deal.
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