On the surface, it was race 36 of 36 on the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule -- the last race of the 10-event playoff that is the Chase.
If one were to dig deeper, however, it would be discovered that Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway was a two-horse race, a heavyweight prizefight.
Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart were separated by three points entering the race. There were plenty of scenarios in which either man could win, but only one really mattered: lead the field at Lap 267 and win the Sprint Cup title.
At the end of the night, it would be "Smoke" who took the checkered flag and his third series championship -- his first since 2005. Stewart's performance was one for the ages, coming back from being buried in 40th place after a hole in the grill of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy forced him to head down pit road on Lap 18.
Stewart made 118 passes Sunday, most of them coming in a masterful weave through the field. By a Lap 108 caution for rain, he was in sixth place.
Meanwhile, polesitter Carl Edwards looked to have the championship well in hand by dominating the early going, eventually clinching the bonus point for the most laps led. This wasn't without some tension in the Roush Fenway Racing camp, as David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose (of Richard Petty Motorsports) and Greg Biffle -- all running Roush-Yates engines -- suffered engine failures or issues in the first portion of the afternoon.
There was an unintended halftime break on Lap 110, when a brief rain shower caused just enough dampness to "lose the track" and a 1-hour, 15-minute rain delay to dry off the 1.5-mile oval.
When the race restarted, Kevin Harvick led the race after making a two-tire gamble during a set of pit stops. Jeff Gordon eventually passed Harvick, but Stewart eventually overtook Gordon for the lead on Lap 123.
Stewart fell back to ninth after a set of yellow-flag pit stops on Lap 133, unable to make up any significant ground until retaking the lead from Martin Truex Jr. 20 laps later.
On Lap 180, the fireworks between Stewart and Edwards began to take shape while running 1-2. Edwards finally blinked during what would become the final set of green-flag pit stops on Lap 201, while Stewart and crew chief Darian Grubb took a gamble to run the fuel tank dry.
The gamble didn't seem to pay off, as the man called "Smoke" had to pit on Lap 212. Then, the heavens above opened with rain a lap later, giving Stewart a reprieve and Edwards a chance to save fuel to the finish.
Eighteen laps later, arguably the greatest duel to the finish in NASCAR history took place. Stewart passed Brad Keselowski off the restart, while Edwards did so a lap or two later. What occurred was a cat-and-mouse game through lapped traffic, Stewart keeping a sizable advantage over Edwards. Their lap times were similar, something that proved to be Edwards' downfall. He wasn't able to make up enough ground in the late stages, receiving no help from caution flags.
The final points tally: Tony Stewart 2,403, Carl Edwards 2,403.
Tiebreaker: Stewart, 5 wins to 1.
Rounding out the top ten Sunday were Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton.
Image courtesy of www.washingtonpost.com
Written by:
