Sprint Cup Goes to ...

"Holey Grille, Smoke!"

(HOMESTEAD, FL - NOV. 20, 2011 - RIS) Tony Stewart came from behind several times to do exactly what he needed to in winning the Ford 400 - he won the race - while Carl Edwards finished second in the race and for the season, giving the pair a tie in points but Stewart the championship on the strength of five wins to Edwards' four. All five of Stewart's wins came in the last  ten races of the season, in the 'Chase.'

Tied in points after winning the race while Edwards finished second and led the most laps, Stewart overcame adverse incidents several times in the race, beginning with a hole punched in the No. 14's grille early, requiring a series of caution lap pit stops to repair the damage. Long pit stops caused "Smoke" to fall back in the field more than once, but better pit stops and good fortune put Stewart in position to take the lead at a final caution (for rain again) and he motored around Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski just 36 laps from the checkered flag. Stewart's three-wide dive swept him into a lead he'd never relinquish as the race rand down.

In taking the Sprint Cup, Stewart won five if the ten races in the Chase this year - after no wins in the 'regular season' leading to the final events.

Edwards was the first driver to congratulate the new champion, a fact acknowledged by Stewart in post-race interviews, and an indication of the at least, respect the two have for each other.

Stewart is the first team owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the championship and the ninth to win three championships.

Unofficial Race Results : Ford 400
Pos, St, Driver, Car, LapsPts, Notes, STATUS
1, 15, Tony Stewart, No. 14 Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet, 267, 47/1, Running
2, 1, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Aflac Ford, 267, 44/2, Running
3, 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, 267, 42/1, Running
4, 6, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Crown Royal Ford, 267, 41/1, Running
5, 7, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, 267, 40/1, Running
6, 17, Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet, 267, 38/0, Running
7, 3, Kasey Kahne, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, 267, 37/0, Running
8, 21, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, 267, 37/1, Running
9, 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 267, 35/0, Running
10, 31, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 267, 35/1, Running
11, 11, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 National Guard / Amp Energy Chevrolet, 267, 33/0, Running
12, 14, Ryan Newman, No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 267, 32/0, Running
13, 16, Regan Smith, No. 78 Furniture Row Companies Chevrolet, 267, 31/0, Running
14, 26, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Chevrolet, 267, 30/0, Running
15, 12, A.J. Allmendinger, No. 43 Best Buy Ford, 267, 29/0, Running
16, 23, Paul Menard, No. 27 Duracell / Menards Chevrolet, 267, 28/0, Running
17, 24, Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, 267, 27/0, Running
18, 28, David Reutimann, No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota, 267, 26/0, Running
19, 32, Joey Logano, No. 20 The Home Depot Toyota, 267, 25/0, Running
20, 5, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 267, 25/1, Running
21, 43, Mike Bliss, No. 71 School Media Ford, 267, 0, Running
22, 40, Travis Kvapil, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford, 267, 0, Running
23, 19, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 267, 22/1, Running
24, 25, Mark Martin, No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, 267, 20/0, Running
25, 20, Trevor Bayne, No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 267, 0, Running
26, 39, Casey Mears, No. 13 Hard Rock Vodka Toyota, 267, 18/0, Running
27, 35, Bobby Labonte, No. 47 Reese Towpower Toyota, 267, 17/0, Running
28, 34, Dave Blaney, No. 35 Big Red Chevrolet, 265, 16/0, Running
29, 41, T.J. Bell*, No. 32 Green Smoke Ford, 265, 0, Running
30, 42, Geoffrey Bodine, No. 36 Luke & Associates Chevrolet, 263, 14/0, Running
31, 27, Juan Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 261, 14/1, Running
32, 9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 261, 13/1, Running
33, 38, David Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, 245, 12/1, Running
34, 4, Kurt Busch, No. 22 Shell / Pennzoil Dodge, 220, 10/0, Running
35, 8, Greg Biffle, No. 16 3M Novec Ford, 190, 10/1, Out of Race
36, 22, Landon Cassill, No. 51 Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit Chevrolet, 153, 0, Running
37, 29, Cole Whitt, No. 84 Kangaroo Express Toyota, 153, 0, Running
38, 13, David Ragan, No. 6 UPS My Choice Ford, 81, 6/0, Out of Race
39, 18, Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Stanley Ford, 72, 5/0, Out of Race
40, 37, Joe Nemechek, No. 87 AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves Toyota, 29, 0, In Pit
41, 30, J.J. Yeley, No. 55 Ingersoll Rand Ford, 25, 3/0, In Pit
42, 36, David Stremme, No. 30 Inception Motorsports Chevrolet, 14, 2/0, In Pit
43, 33, Michael McDowell, No. 66 HP Racing LLC Toyota, 13, 1/0, In Pit
*: Rookie

Rank +/- Driver             Points    Back Starts  Poles  Wins  Top5  Top10
  1   +1  Tony Stewart        2403    Leader  36      1      5     9    19
  2   -1  Carl Edwards        2403    Leader  36      3      1    19    26
  3   --  Kevin Harvick       2345      -58   36      0      4     9    19
  4   +2  Matt Kenseth        2330      -73   36      3      3    12    20
  5   -1  Brad Keselowski     2319      -84   36      1      3    10    14
  6   -1  Jimmie Johnson      2304      -99   36      0      2    14    21
  7   --  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  2290     -113   36      1      0     4    12
  8   +3  Jeff Gordon         2287     -116   36      1      3    13    18
  9   +1  Denny Hamlin        2284     -119   36      0      1     5    14
  10   -1  Ryan Newman        2284     -119   36      3      1     9    17
  11   -3  Kurt Busch         2262     -141   36      3      2     8    16
  12   --  Kyle Busch         2246     -157   35      1      4    14    18
  13   --  Clint Bowyer       1047    -1356   36      0      1     4    16
  14   --  Kasey Kahne        1041    -1362   36      2      1     8    15
  15   +1  A.J. Allmendinger  1013    -1390   36      0      0     1    10
  16   -1  Greg Biffle         997    -1406   36      3      0     3    10
  17   +1  Paul Menard         947    -1456   36      0      1     4     8
  18   +5  Martin Truex Jr.    937    -1466   36      1      0     3    12
  19   -2  Marcos Ambrose      936    -1467   36      0      1     5    12
  20   +2  Jeff Burton         935    -1468   36      0      0     2     5
  21   -2  Juan Montoya        932    -1471   36      2      0     2     8
  22   -2  Mark Martin         930    -1473   36      2      0     2    10
  23   -2  David Ragan         906    -1497   36      2      1     4     8
  24   --  Joey Logano         902    -1501   36      2      0     4     6
  25   --  Brian Vickers       846    -1557   36      0      0     3     7
  26   --  Regan Smith         820    -1583   36      0      1     2     5
  27   --  Jamie McMurray      795    -1608   36      1      0     2     4
  28   --  David Reutimann     757    -1646   36      1      0     1     3
  29   --  Bobby Labonte       670    -1733   36      0      0     1     2
  30   --  David Gilliland     572    -1831   36      0      0     1     2
  31   --  Casey Mears         541    -1862   35      0      0     0     0
  32   --  Dave Blaney         508    -1895   35      0      0     1     1
  33   --  Andy Lally*         398    -2005   30      0      0     0     0
  34   --  Robby Gordon        268    -2135   25      0      0     0     0
  35   --  J.J. Yeley          192    -2211   31      0      0     0     0
  36   --  Michael McDowell    139    -2264   32      0      0     0     0
  37   --  Tony Raines         129    -2274   12      0      0     0     0
  38   --  Ken Schrader        110    -2293    7      0      0     0     0
  39   --  Terry Labonte       102    -2301    8      0      0     0     0
  40   --  Bill Elliott        100    -2303    5      0      0     0     0
  41   --  David Stremme        80    -2323   18      0      0     0     0
  42   --  Michael Waltrip      56    -2347    3      0      0     0     1
  43   --  Boris Said           38    -2365    2      0      0     0     0
  44   +1  Geoffrey Bodine      33    -2370    4      0      0     0     0
  45   -1  Stephen Leicht       20    -2383    1      0      0     0     0
  46   --  Andy Pilgrim         18    -2385    1      0      0     0     0
  47   --  Chris Cook           17    -2386    1      0      0     0     0
  48   --  T.J. Bell*           14    -2389    5      0      0     0     0
  49   --  Brian Simo           11    -2392    1      0      0     0     0
  50   --  Brian Keselowski*     3    -2400    1      0      0     0     0
  51   --  Erik Darnell          2    -2401    2      0      0     0     0
  52   --  Steve Park            2    -2401    1      0      0     0     0
  53   --  Trevor Bayne          0    -2403   17      0      1     1     1
  54   --  Ricky Stenhouse Jr.   0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  55   --  Landon Cassill        0    -2403   32      0      0     0     0
  56   --  Travis Kvapil         0    -2403   29      0      0     0     0
  57   --  Steve Wallace         0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  58   +1  Mike Bliss            0    -2403   18      0      0     0     0
  59   -1  Mike Skinner          0    -2403   21      0      0     0     0
  60   --  Cole Whitt            0    -2403    2      0      0     0     0
  61   +1  Austin Dillon         0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  62   -1  Hermie Sadler         0    -2403    3      0      0     0     0
  63   +1  Scott Wimmer          0    -2403    4      0      0     0     0
  64   -1  David Starr           0    -2403    4      0      0     0     0
  65   +2  Ron Fellows           0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  66   -1  Joe Nemechek          0    -2403   36      0      0     0     0
  67   -1  Patrick Carpentier    0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  68   --  Scott Speed           0    -2403   13      0      0     0     0
  69   --  Jason White           0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  70   +1  Andrew Ranger         0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  71   -1  Sam Hornish Jr.       0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  72   --  Reed Sorenson         0    -2403    3      0      0     0     0
  73   --  Johnny Sauter         0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  74   --  Josh Wise             0    -2403    4      0      0     0     0
  75   --  Todd Bodine           0    -2403    3      0      0     0     0
  76   +1  Robert Richardson Jr  0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  77   -1  Dennis Setzer         0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  78   --  Scott Riggs           0    -2403    4      0      0     0     0
  79   +1  P.J. Jones            0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  80   +1  Jeff Green            0    -2403    1      0      0     0     0
  81   -2  Kevin Conway          0    -2403    3      0      0     0     0
  82   +1  Tony Ave              0    -2403    0      0      0     0     0
  83   -1  Derrike Cope          0    -2403    0      0      0     0     0