He did drive like a madman, though, dodging and ducking and dicing his way through the cluster of cars at Homestead-Miami Speedway, possessed by an obsessive charge to race to the front.
Like an Energizer Bunny on steroids, Stewart passed 118 cars Sunday. Boom, boom, boom, he picked them off methodically, high, low and in-between. "I feel like I passed half of the state of Florida," Stewart would say later.But no car was more important than the No. 99 Ford of Carl Edwards, the only guy in front of him in the Sprint Cup standings. Stewart won the Ford 400 after a final restart on a soggy Sunday night, holding off Edwards in the final 37 laps for his third Cup title and first since 2005. The margin could not get any closer: They finished tied in points for the season, but Stewart won on a tie-breaker based on the number of victories (five to one).
"Smoke" was smokin' on one of the most historic nights in NASCAR history. It marked the first time since the NASCAR points system was established in 1975 that a driver came from behind to win the championship in the final race.
"They came with a vengeance and they did their job," Edwards said.
"If you didn't think this was one of the most exciting Chases to watch from a fan standpoint, you've got to go to a doctor immediately and get checked out," Stewart said.
The sprint to the finish was laced with prickly barbs from Stewart, trying to gain the slightest advantage in a battle of two NASCAR veterans. He even insisted he would wreck his mom if it came down to a last-lap sprint.
Stewart, 40, didn't have to take out his mom, but he found a competitive blood-brother in Edwards. Only three points separated Edwards and Stewart, who insisted all along that the pressure was on the guy up front.
"I felt like I had to throw everything I had in my arsenal to get this opportunity," Stewart said. "He's too nice to fight back."
Quiet and calm, Edwards never wilted -- he even led 119 of 267 laps, the most on the day and seemed poised to win his first Cup title, but Stewart just keep on charging.
Stewart and Edwards tangled fiercely in the final 37 laps after the third restart of the night that dealt with intermittent weather issues. Stewart never lost the lead, and Edwards got close but was never able to be in position to make a significant run..
"I drove to the edge and beyond and that's all I had," Edwards said.
No one could have anticipated this kind of finish at the start of the day. Stewart had issues from the get-go when a hole poked through the front grill of his No. 14 Office Depot Chevy. Stewart's crew worked furiously to replace the grill as the race drew its first caution between laps 14 and 21. Stewart fell back to 40th, but then got back on the track and meticulously began weaving his way back to the front.
"They're going to feel like [bleep] when we kick their [bleep] after this," Stewart said after he got back on the track.
"We're fixing to wear him out," Stewart said during a rain delay after lap 109.
That he did.
It involved some risky business along the way, when crew chief Darian Grubb made an unusual call to keep Stewart out on the track while other drivers pitted. Stewart endured a flurry of cars passing him _ and barely had enough gas to make it to pit road _ but the call played out when the rain came to force another caution.
Stewart started fourth on the final restart, and used a three-wide pass to snag the lead again.
"To make the call that he made at the end _ I need to take a nap. My nerves are absolutely shot," Stewart said.
"That is my maximum effort out there and Tony beat us," Edwards said. "He is a champion and deserves to be a champion."
Stewart won his third Cup title, while also becoming a historic footnote in the record books: His last title came before the five-year run of Jimmie Johnson, giving him bookend championships in between Johnson's incredible run.
Reflective of the graceful competitive spirit of Johnson, he was one of the first drivers to congratulate Stewart on Victory Lane.
Edwards was classy too in defeat, rushing up to Stewart as he drove a victory lap with the checkered flag and telling him: "Promise me one thing: please have fun with this."
Anybody aware of Stewart's rambunctious ways knows that won't be a problem. He jokingly worried about getting drunk and crashing a boat he won in conjunction with the Cup victory Sunday night. Expect a heavy round of partying.
And why not?
"To have the week that we had, and the sparring that we had at media day, and to come here and finish the season running first and second, I just I don't know how it gets better than that," Stewart said. "No matter what the outcome was, there would have been no shame in finishing second to him tonight in the championship. But to have that battle come down to me, that's epic."
gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego
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