Steady Takes Stewart Where He Wants to Go

Rain that could have drenched Homestead-Miami Speedway and delayed the Ford 400 never materialized Sunday. Nor did the threatened challenge of Jimmie Johnson to Tony Stewart in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Stewart, who started with a 52-point lead over Johnson in the race for a $5-million championship prize, kept his No. 20 Gibbs Racing Chevrolet in cruise control all 400 miles around the 1.5-mile oval, finishing 15th. He never got higher than ninth after starting 20th.

“My car never did get balanced, so we didn’t get aggressive and instead kept our eye on the big picture,” the surprisingly clean-shaven Stewart said of his lackluster performance.

Stewart also said that he was gun-shy after spinning out in the twilight Friday, not knowing what caused the car to break loose.

“I’ll admit, I started today needing to get my confidence back,” he said. “When it started getting dark, I kept wondering what might happen so I never pushed it. I began to feel more comfortable as the race went along, but by then there was no point in getting aggressive.”

With Stewart content to motor along in midpack and Johnson frustrated by an ailing wheel that ended up throwing him into the wall before the race was half over, the excitement in the final of NASCAR’s 36-race Nextel Cup season was provided by a pair of Ford drivers from Jack Roush’s five-driver stable -- Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

Biffle, who won the final race here last year, came flying out of the pack with a daring three-wide pass of teammate Mark Martin and Dave Blaney to take the lead seven laps from the checkered flag. It gave Biffle the win and moved him into second overall, after tying with Edwards in Nextel Cup points, 35 behind Stewart. Biffle gained the runner-up spot because he had six wins to Edwards’ four.

“I had just taken on four new tires and when I found how well they stuck, I saw a hole between Blaney and Mark and when Blaney went a little high, I kept my foot on the accelerator and ran right between them. It was hairy, but it was late and it had to be done.”

Martin came back to challenge Biffle in a tense duel on the final lap. The winner’s margin was a minuscule 0.017 seconds -- less than a foot.

“Racing a veteran like Mark, he squeezed me up going down the backstretch pretty tight to the wall and he let off early getting into [Turn] 3, and I thought I was going to get squeezed out of room,” Biffle said. “I’ve never raced Mark for a win like that. It was a pretty incredible experience.”

Roush had other thoughts.

“I thought I was going to see one of my prophecies unfold before my eyes,” the car owner said. “I’ve been talking about seeing two of our guys rolling themselves up in a ball coming off Turn 4, and this time I saw Greg and Mark getting tangled and Matt and Carl getting tangled up behind them. That was the horror that was in my mind.”

Edwards, who started the day 87 points from Stewart, did about all he could but was just too far behind to be a serious threat. He picked up 10 bonus points by leading a lap and leading the most laps -- Stewart collected neither --but fell back to finish fourth.

“I’m going to predict that Carl Edwards is [going to be] the driver of the decade for not only Roush Racing but for all of Nextel Cup racing,” Roush said. “I can’t imagine anyone coming into this business in their first full year and being able to win four times and finish tied for second in points.”

One of the surprises of the season was Roush’s placing five drivers in the 10-driver Chase. Sunday all four of those left placed 1-2-3-4: Biffle, Martin, Matt Kenseth and Edwards. The fifth driver, 2004 champion Kurt Busch, was suspended for the last two races after an altercation with police this month in Phoenix. Casey Mears, seeking his first Nextel Cup win in his third season with Chip Ganassi Racing, was the first non-Roush finisher, bringing his Target Dodge home fifth. Mears looked as if he might win when he led 75 laps in the latter stages of the race, but couldn’t hold off the Ford parade.

Only Edwards, who led 94, was in front longer.

Johnson, who started the race with the only clear shot at catching Stewart, was moving through the pack in ninth place when a wheel began to go bad on Lap 156. Before he could pit, he was about to be lapped when he spun in front of race leader Jeff Gordon, owner of Johnson’s Chevrolet.

Asked whether he was disappointed, Johnson said: “What do you think, man? I lived my whole life for this. Then end up blowing a tire and being out. The tire just exploded. But I’ll be back next year.”

In his post-race celebration, Stewart kept saying how much more this Cup win meant than his first one in 2002, when he edged Martin by 38 points.

“I’m so happy that I could get the championship for [crew chief] Zippy Zipadelli and do it the right way for him instead of putting them through the hell that I put this team through in 2002,” Stewart said. “Actually, I’ve put this team through a lot of hell the whole time I’ve been with them, but they’ve never given up on me.

“I got to hoist the trophy and they announced that I got a check for $5 million, but it was this team, Zippy, Joe Gibbs, J.D. [Gibbs], all the crew and the guys in the shop that won it. We didn’t want to win it like we did in 2002, we won it right this time.”

It was the 10th championship for the 34-year-old former open-wheel superstar from Columbus, Ind., starting with the International Karting Foundation crown he won in 1983.

His other wins included Indy Racing League, U.S. Auto Club midget, sprint car and Silver Crown titles and as a car owner, the World of Outlaws.

“I’ve been around this sport of racing for 25 years, and Tony Stewart is the greatest driver I have ever seen,” Martin said. “A.J. Foyt might have been the best when I was a little boy, but in this era there’s no one been better than Tony.”

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Top 10

NASCAR’s final Nextel Cup standings:

*--* No Drivers Points Starts 1st T10 1 Tony Stewart 6,533 36 5 25 2 Greg Biffle 6,498 36 6 21 3 Carl Edwards 6,498 36 4 18 4 Mark Martin 6,428 36 1 19 5 Jimmie Johnson 6,406 36 4 22 6 Ryan Newman 6,359 36 1 16 7 Matt Kenseth 6,352 36 1 17 8 Rusty Wallace 6,140 36 0 17 9 Jeremy Mayfield 6,073 36 1 8 10 Kurt Busch 5,974 34 3 18

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Winners’ circle

NASCAR season champions:

* 2005 Tony Stewart

* 2004 Kurt Busch

* 2003 Matt Kenseth

* 2002 Tony Stewart

* 2001 Jeff Gordon

* 2000 Bobby Labonte

* 1999 Dale Jarrett

* 1998 Jeff Gordon

* 1997 Jeff Gordon

* 1996 Terry Labonte

* 1995 Jeff Gordon

* 1994 Dale Earnhardt

* 1993 Dale Earnhardt

* 1992 Alan Kulwicki

* 1991 Dale Earnhardt

* 1990 Dale Earnhardt

* 1989 Rusty Wallace

* 1988 Bill Elliott

* 1987 Dale Earnhardt

* 1986 Dale Earnhardt

* 1985 Darrell Waltrip

* 1984 Terry Labonte

* 1983 Bobby Allison

* 1982 Darrell Waltrip

* 1981 Darrell Waltrip

* 1980 Dale Earnhardt

* 1979 Richard Petty

* 1978 Cale Yarborough

* 1977 Cale Yarborough

* 1976 Cale Yarborough

* 1975 Richard Petty

* 1974 Richard Petty

* 1973 Benny Parsons

* 1972 Richard Petty

* 1971 Richard Petty

* 1970 Bobby Isaac

* 1969 David Pearson

* 1968 David Pearson

* 1967 Richard Petty

* 1966 David Pearson

* 1965 Ned Jarrett

* 1964 Richard Petty

* 1963 Joe Weatherly

* 1962 Joe Weatherly

* 1961 Ned Jarrett

* 1960 Rex White

* 1959 Lee Petty

* 1958 Lee Petty

* 1957 Buck Baker

* 1956 Buck Baker

* 1955 Tim Flock

* 1954 Lee Petty

* 1953 Herb Thomas

* 1952 Tim Flock

* 1951 Herb Thomas

* 1950 Bill Rexford

* 1949 Red Byron