Tony Stewart Wins NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship In All-Time Classic

As painful as it may be, put yourself in Carl Edwards’ shoes for a moment.

Despite recording the best average finish in Chase history and scoring the most points of any driver throughout the season, you just lost what would have been your first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on a tiebreaker.

Tony Stewart grabbed the spotlight as he scored the win and hoisted his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series trophy.

Carl Edwards garnered much of the attention after leading the most laps and losing out on his first Cup championship in a tie-breaker.

Tony Stewart’s championship-winning crew chief, Darian Grubb, says he’s been fired.

Grubb, speaking after he and Stewart won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title on Sunday night, said he was told prior to the Charlotte Chase race that he would not be welcomed back by Stewart-Haas Racing next season.

Wow. What a Chase, right? Here are some more stats and notes from one of the greatest championship races in NASCAR history:

The improbable happened Sunday night in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale as the 2011 Chase came down to a tiebreaker situation between championship contenders Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.

While Edwards dominated Sunday’s season finale, Stewart was able to fight back from multiple setbacks and score the win, tying Edwards for the lead in the final Chase standings.

It’s a surreal scene right now at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Tony Stewart is celebrating his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship on the track about 100 yards away from my perch in the press box.

Just moments after Stewart pulled into the makeshift Victory Lane – a giant stage assembled quickly on the frontstretch like the set of a Super Bowl halftime show – the skies opened up and completely drenched the entire track.

Tony Stewart had the odds stacked against him multiple times throughout Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but overcame it all to score the win and his third series championship.

Despite setbacks early in the race, Stewart put himself in position and was able to take control of the race from the dominant Carl Edwards.

NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup finale is in its final laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the champion is anyone’s guess.

Tony Stewart is playing the fuel-mileage game – or at least crew chief Darian Grubb is – and there is concern that Carl Edwards may have to pit one more time.

It just took one brief downpour to put NASCAR’s final race under an extended red flag. Looking at radar, there’s not much out there. If you follow me here or on Twitter you’ve heard me say, “It’s not the rain you see but the rain you don’t that you have to worry about” and this is the case this evening.

Personally I think once we get this race restarted we are good. The odds of an another isolated shower to hit Homestead-Miami Speedway is around 10 to 20 percent. I don’t feel like we see another one but that doesn’t mean we won’t. I’ll keep you updated.

A brief but strong rain shower swept across Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday afternoon, interrupting NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup finale on lap 109.

When the race restarts, there will be 158 laps remaining.

Tony Stewart has already encountered trouble twice in the early laps of today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Stewart hit an unidentified piece of debris sometime in the first 13 laps of the race, and he had to spend significant time on pit road repairing a hole in his grille.

It’s race day at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the 2011 Sprint Cup season comes down to this last race with only three points separating the the final two contenders. We have heard all week that “nothing will stand in the way” for either Tony Stewart or Carl Edwards when it comes to winning 2011 Sprint Cup.

But the only thing that could “stand in their way” is something neither Edwards or Stewart can control – the weather.

The final race of the NASCAR season is today at Homestead-Miami Speedway and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about the Chase for the Sprint Cup finale for you below.

What time does the race start today? The Homestead start time is a bit later than most Chase races have been, because NASCAR and ESPN want the final race of the season to end close to prime time on the East Coast – and under the lights. The command to start engines will be given by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden at 3:12 p.m. Eastern time. The green flag will then wave at 3:20 p.m. Eastern. So if you want to tune in for the actual race itself and skip the pre-race show, just tune in at 3:20.

Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth met with NASCAR on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to discuss racing incidents at Martinsville and, most recently, Phoenix.

Both drivers came away satisfied with the meeting, as did NASCAR.

Chase leader Carl Edwards has a golden opportunity to extend his advantage over Tony Stewart as soon as the green flag drops on Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Edwards won the pole for the Ford 400 on Saturday, the only driver to top 175 mph in qualifying. The Roush Fenway Racing driver’s championship rival, Tony Stewart, will start 15th.

If Austin Dillon brings the No. 3 into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series over the next year or two, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is cool with it.

The son of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt – who made the ‘3’ famous – said he doesn’t believe numbers are tied to drivers as much as he believes in the legacy of numbers as a whole.

The final Sprint Cup Series practice session of the season couldn’t have gone any better for Chase leader Carl Edwards.

Edwards ran just three laps, but was easily the fastest car during Homestead-Miami Speedway’s Happy Hour practice, posting an average lap of 171.124 mph.

Unlike most NASCAR drivers who move to Charlotte, Carl Edwards still lives in his home state of Missouri. And his legion of supporters in Columbia are pulling hard for their favorite son.

Check out this video from Columbia. It even features one of Edwards’ former teachers (complete with a grade school yearbook photo).

Brad Keselowski expressed regret Friday for being too harsh in recent comments about NASCAR’s move to electronic fuel injection, which earned him a secret fine from the sanctioning body.

But the outspoken driver also vowed not to change his candid ways – though perhaps he might tone down the rhetoric next time, he said.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France wants drivers to continue to express themselves and show personality, but vowed to continue issuing fines if any of them criticize the sport itself.

The NASCAR media grilled France on several issues, but most notably on the purpose of secret fines after Brad Keselowski was penalized for anti-fuel injection comments recently.

Your NASCAR weather forecast for Homestead-Miami Speedway is dry overall, but there is just a small chance for an isolated shower or two over the weekend.

I think most of the weekend stays dry, but a lone shower or two can’t be ruled out. It doesn’t look like anything that would wash out the weekend, though.

You were stuck at work and weren’t able to watch Thursday’s NASCAR Championship Contenders press conference in South Beach.

That’s cool. We get it.

As the 2011 NASCAR championship heads into the final weekend of the year, Tony Stewart has the opportunity to become the first owner-driver champion since the late Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat in 1992.

The comparisons have begun to trickle in between Stewart and Kulwicki, but looking at the two former champions as one in the same is the wrong approach.

The garage at Homestead-Miami Speedway often has that “last day of school” feel – a mix of wistfulness and relief that a long journey has ended.

But the close of the season always inspires reflection and, as with every year, it’s also a goodbye. For those who don’t enjoy change, Homestead’s arrival can be difficult.