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Ford 400

Updated: December 22, 2011 8:16AM

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Tony Stewart insisted he wasn’t a title contender when the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship began.

When it became clear he actually was a viable threat, he kicked it into another gear and vowed to go for broke in his pursuit of the title.

Did he ever.

Stewart used a powerful and relentless drive in the season finale Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway to seize his third Sprint Cup Series title. He overcame a hole in the grille of his Chevrolet and a rain delay, used debatable fuel strategy and made 118 passes on the track to win the race and the championship.

Carl Edwards, who started the race with a three-point lead in the standings, did everything he could from the minute he got to the track. His Roush-Fenway Racing team put his Ford on the pole, he led a race-high 119 of the 267 laps — and he still finished a helpless second by 1.3 seconds.

Stewart and Edwards
actually ended up tied in the final standings, but Stewart won the title based on his five victories — all in the 10-race Chase — to Edwards’ one.

Stewart became the first owner/driver to win the championship since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992. His last Sprint Cup Series title came in 2005, the year
before Jimmie Johnson’s
began his run of five in a row.

‘‘Are you kidding me?’’ Stewart asked in victory lane. ‘‘We said all week we’d just go out and win the race and didn’t have to worry about what [Edwards] did. If this doesn’t go down as one of the greatest championship battles in history, I don’t know what will.’’

Edwards was disappointed, but he held his head high after the race.

‘‘This night is about Tony Stewart,’’ Edwards said. ‘‘Those guys rose to the
occasion and beat us fair and square. That is all I had. We came here and sat on the pole, led the most laps, and Tony still managed. That’s it. That’s all I got at the end. That’s as hard as I can drive.

‘‘I told my wife, ‘If I can’t win this thing, I’m going to be the best loser NASCAR has ever had.’ So I’m going to try really hard to keep my head up and know that we’ll just go next year and be just as hard to beat.’’

AP