Points tiebreaker gives Stewart championship after he beats Edwards for fifth win
Tony Stewart won the biggest game of winner-take-all in the history of NASCAR.
Rebounding from a succession of setbacks, Stewart took the checkered flag in Sunday’s rain-interrupted Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the Sprint Cup championship in a tiebreaker over race runner-up Carl Edwards.
Tony Stewart’s fifth Chase victory made him a three-time Cup Series champ. Smoke needed every one as he and Carl Edwards finished in a dead heat and Stewart won on the tiebreaker.
With four new tires to Edwards’ two — thanks to a strategic gamble that paid off when rain hit the 1.5-mile speedway for the second time on Lap 213 of 267 — Stewart gradually pulled away after a restart on Lap 231 and claimed his third Cup title, bookending the five consecutive championships won by Jimmie Johnson from 2006 to 2010. Stewart also won in 2002.
Reversal of fortune: Stewart claims Loudon victory
After climbing from his winning car Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart made the understatement of the year.
“We’ve got a shot at this thing,” said Stewart, who by taking the checkered flag in the Sylvania 300 became the second driver to win the first two races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
In a dramatic reversal of fortune, Stewart won the race — and grabbed a seven-point lead in the Cup standings over 12th-place finisher Kevin Harvick — when Clint Bowyer ran out of fuel with fewer than three laps to go.
Reversal of fortune: Stewart claims Loudon victory
Stewart starts Chase with his first win of season
Poor-mouthing Tony Stewart, who four days ago minimized his chances for a third Sprint Cup title, outlasted the field in Monday’s rain-delayed Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Saving fuel during a 50-lap green-flag run to the finish, Stewart, who started 26th, crossed the stripe .941 seconds ahead of hard-charging Kevin Harvick to win his first race of the season and the 40th of his career, tying him with Mark Martin for 16th on the all-time list.
Stewart starts Chase with his first win of season
Harvick holds on in wild race at Richmond
As far as the Chase was concerned, nothing changed during Kevin Harvick’s victory in Saturday night’s Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond International Raceway — but what happened between the green flag and the checkered flag was astounding.
For the record, Harvick won his fourth race of the season and the 18th of his career as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin secured the final Chase spots they held provisionally entering the race — but not without considerable angst in the process.
Harvick holds on in wild race at Richmond
Menard stretches fuel to win Brickyard 400
Years ago, as a garage rat at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Paul Menard dreamed of winning a race at the vaunted Brickyard. On Sunday, the dream came true. In a season full of improbable first-time winners in NASCAR’s foremost races, Menard, 30, stretched his fuel mileage and held off a charging Jeff Gordon to win Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at the 2.5-mile track.
The victory was Menard’s first as a Sprint Cup driver, and it catapulted him into the conversation for a wild-card berth in the Chase. Gordon, who closed rapidly in the final five laps, crossed the finish line .725 seconds behind the season’s fourth first-time winner.
Menard stretches fuel to win Brickyard 400
Newman, Stewart run 1-2 at New Hampshire
Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart started 1-2 in Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and not even a fuel crisis, a wild jumble of divergent strategies or a crew chief with pneumonia could prevent them from finishing that way.
“One hell of a day, boys — one hell of a day,” Stewart radioed to his team as he approached the finish line .773 seconds behind his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate.
Newman, Stewart run 1-2 at New Hampshire
Gordon claims 84th win to tie for third all time
Jeff Gordon may be starting to feel his age, but he certainly didn’t show it in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway.
“I’m just so excited to be a part of this sport,” Gordon said in Victory Lane after taking the checkered flag 2.965 seconds ahead of runner-up Kurt Busch. “I’m going to be 40 this year [Aug. 4]. I’m an old man now.”
NASCAR.com – Jeff Gordon Claims 84th Win
Harvick wins 600 when Earnhardt runs dry
Kevin Harvick, a driver who wasn’t a factor for 600 miles, won the race when Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas a half-mile from the finish line after the event went to overtime for the first time in its history
Earnhardt ran out of gas in sight of the checkered flag, breaking the hearts of fans who were certain until the last moment that Earnhardt was about to break a 104-race drought.
Instead, the dry spell reached 105 when Earnhardt coasted across the finish line in seventh place.
NASCAR.com – Harvick wins 600 when Earnhardt runs dry
Regan Smith Wins Darlington
Nearly three years after a NASCAR ruling denied him his first Sprint Cup victory, Regan Smith finally got the elusive win.
After staying out on old tires, Smith held off Carl Edwards to win Saturday night’s Showtime Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in a dramatic green-white-checkered-flag finish.
Smith crossed the finish line .196 seconds ahead of runner-up Edwards. Moments later, tempers flared between drivers Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick and their crews in the aftermath of a wild wreck that brought out the final caution of the race.
Read on NASCAR.com – Regan Smith Wins Darlington
Johnson nips Bowyer with push from Dale Jr.
At the end of 188 laps and 500 miles, Jimmie Johnson won Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 by inches, tying a record with his razor-thin .002-second margin of victory.
With a push from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson edged Clint Bowyer in a wild three-wide finish at the 2.66-mile track. The victory was Johnson’s first of the season, his second at Talladega and the 54th of his Cup career, tying him with 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Lee Petty for ninth on the all-time list.
Check out the race details on NASCAR.com.