TONY STEWART Championship Fast Facts

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Championship Fast Facts
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Sunday, November 20, 2011
Driver Champion: Tony Stewart
Team: No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
 Tony Stewart won his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. His other titles came in 2002 and 2005.
 Stewart is the ninth driver to win three or more championships. The other drivers with three – Darrell Waltrip, Lee Petty, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson – are either NASCAR Hall of Fame members or nominees.
 Stewart tied second-place Carl Edwards in points, but won the tiebreaker – five wins to Edwards’ one. Stewart is the seventh champion to win the season finale in his title-winning season.
 Stewart won a record five Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2011. His average finish during the Chase was 6.3. Runner-up Carl Edwards had a Chase-record average finish of 4.9.
 Stewart is the first owner-driver to win the series championship since Alan Kulwicki in 1992.
 Stewart is the second consecutive driver to overcome a points deficit going into the season finale to win the championship. Only three other drivers have accomplished the feat since the inception of the position-based points system in 1975 (Richard Petty in 1979, Alan Kulwicki in 1992 and Jimmie Johnson in 2010).
 Stewart finished the 2011 season with five wins, nine top fives and 19 top 10s.
Owner Champion: Stewart-Haas Racing
 This is Stewart-Haas Racing’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
 Tony Stewart has been co-owner with Gene Haas since 2009. Stewart has won 11 races as driver-owner.
Crew Chief Champion: Darian Grubb
 This is Darian Grubb’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
 Grubb won the Daytona 500 as crew chief for Jimmie Johnson in 2006.
 Grubb has 14 career wins (11 with Tony Stewart; two with Jimmie Johnson; one with Casey Mears