Tony Stewart has won 49 races in his Cup Series career. But the five that he won in the 2011 playoffs stand apart from the rest and are what define him as a driver.
Advertisement
Not only did they lead to his third and final championship, but also inspired NASCAR to completely change the way it played the game. The story of how these victories came to be is a tale of hard work, fortune, and tragedy.
Stewart was a downcast man at the end of that year’s regular season. He had failed to reach victory lane even once and self-admittedly felt that he did not deserve a place in the playoffs.
None including him believed that a turnaround was possible after such a disappointing journey. And yet, a slight glimmer of hope broke through the darkness at Chicago as he reached victory lane in the playoff opener.
Luck. A result of using fuel strategy. Not deserved. The criticisms dampened when he won again at New Hampshire the following weekend. None could fully reason for the sudden surge in performance.
In the meanwhile, fan favorite Carl Edwards was beginning to get wary of this new threat from the higher order of the points table. He had displayed extraordinary consistency throughout the season.
But it could all be undone if Stewart managed to keep his form going. Fortunately for him, the No. 14 team was quickly brought back down to earth with subpar results at Dover and Kansas.
Crew chief Darian Grubb was also told that he would be fired at the end of the season and the mood surrounding the team broke down to destructive levels never seen before.
How Stewart climbed out of a deep pit to challenge Edwards
Six more races were left at this point and Stewart still had a mountain to climb. Edwards was cruising forward towards what would have been his maiden Cup Series championship.
But Smoke wasn’t going to let him off easy. He finished eighth in Charlotte and seventh in Talladega before reaching victory lane again in Martinsville. This string gave him all the confidence he needed.
He sent out a warning to Edwards, who was still only collecting top-10s and top-5s instead of victories, “He’d better be worried. That’s all I can say. He’s not going to have an easy three weeks.”
He backed the threat up with another victory in Texas, where Edwards was supposed to have an edge. Trash talk flew out of the Stewart-Haas Racing garage every weekend trying to unnerve the competition.
The penultimate race of the playoffs was raced out in Phoenix. Stewart finished third and Edwards finished second. The result rendered that the former was still three points behind the points leader and had to close this gap down in the season finale that was to be held at Homestead-Miami. The situation was as high pressure as it ever got before in the sport’s history.
Stewart had essentially already placed his name in the history books with the most unexpected runs of redemption after a terrible regular season.
Securing the championship would be an achievement to be placed among the stars. But Edwards had been absolutely heroic throughout the season in his own right. The drama was insurmountable as the gates to Miami opened.
Stewart triumphs over Edwards after a battle of the ages
Edwards is a driver known for his calm demeanor. It is only when he wins a race does he display strong emotion and does the infamous backflip to make his fans happy.
This is a reason why he remained strong against the number of passive-aggressive insults that Stewart threw at him up until the moment they got into their cars for the final race that would decide their fates.
And when they did, he let his driving do the talking. He started from the pole and led 119 laps. Stewart, meanwhile, started from 15th on the grid and led only 65. But did that make a difference? Sadly, no.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver failed to lead the lap that mattered the most — the last one. Stewart passed him with 36 laps to go and held the position by 1.306 seconds when the checkered flag flew.
The victory put him level on points with Edwards and presented a truly unique scenario to officials. Ultimately, they decided that the title would go to Stewart since he had more wins than his opponent who’d reached victory lane just once in the entire season.
The race was highly reflective of how the season had played out. Stewart passed 118 cars to catch up with Edwards and finally beat him. He said after the race, “Man, I feel like I passed half the state of Florida. One hundred eighteen cars is a lot of cars to pass in one race. I don’t care what series you’re in or where you’re at.”
The journey that these drivers brought on fans that year led Bill France to change the playoff format to replicate a similar outcome every season. However, little has that magic been seen since.
