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Former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart earned his third championship title after winning the 2011 Sprint Cup. Driving the No. 14 Chevrolet, he was highly ambitious even before the final race at Homestead Miami Speedway.
The Stewart-Haas Racing owner was tied with Carl Edwards on points. However, he won the championship as he had five wins during the season compared to Edwards' one. This was the first time in NASCAR that anyone had won the title through a tiebreaker.
In a press conference before the final race, Tony Stewart was confident and dismissed any idea of being friendly with Edwards.
"This isn't about friendships this weekend; this is a war. This is a battle. This is for a national championship... I'd wreck my mom to win a championship... It's no holds barred this weekend. I didn't come this far to be one step away from it and let it slip away, so we're going to go for it," Steward said.
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Stewart had earlier won the championship in 2002 and 2005.
Stewart began the playoffs in ninth place before the elimination playoff format was introduced in the 2014 season. He passed 118 cars and won the final race.
"I feel like I passed half the state of Florida" -Tony Stewart after the 2011 Ford 400
Tony Stewart started the 2011 season with no wins in the first 26 races.
He later won five of the 10 playoff races. His first playoff race win was at Chicagoland Speedway and the second at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After some poor finishes, he dropped to seventh place, and Stewart turned things around with wins at Martinsville and Texas.
In the 2011 Ford 400, Carl Edwards had a three-point lead over Tony Stewart before the race started. Edwards qualified in first place but Stewart won the race by just over a second.
"Man, I feel like I passed half the state of Florida. One hundred eighteen cars is a lot of cars to pass in one race. I don’t care what series you’re in or where you’re at. To do it under the circumstances and the pressure that we had today, I’m very, very proud of that. I’ve been racing 31 years, I can’t even remember some of the races I’ve won... I’ve got to believe that this is definitely one of the greatest races of my life,” Stewart said after winnng.
Stewart celebrated his win with Michelle Obama and Jill Biden.
