David Gilliland not only finished up the 2011 NASCAR season at Homestead-Miami Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, but he also played the part of proud dad, watching son Todd do some racing of his own, all for charity.
Stewart won at Homestead, his fifth win of the Chase, and took home the 2011 Sprint Cup championship, the third of his career. Stewart and Carl Edwards both scored 2,403 points in the Chase, but Stewart won by virtue of his Chase victories.
When NASCAR revealed their new points distribution system at the start of the year, much fanfare was given to the fact that drivers could earn points in only one series.
After Tony Stewart tied Carl Edwards in points for the Sprint Cup championship, Stewart commented that he had thrown so much at Edwards and he was too nice of a guy to respond.
The 2011 NASCAR season brought about three different champions. Two of the champions just finished their second season and the third champion won his third title. Lets meet our NASCAR champions.
In a championship battle between two drivers separated by a mere three points going into the race, it was no surprise that Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford and Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrole.
The two contenders running just over a second apart, first and second, with the winner of the race the winner of the season. Would an engine blow, a tire go down, a split second lack of focus bounce one off the wall?
Carl Edwards started the 2011 season thinking about what he could have done differently to win the Daytona 500 after finishing second to Trevor Bayne. He ends the season in the same way when it comes to winning the race and the championship.
Congratulations to the man called Smoke. He set out on a journey 10 weeks ago that he himself said his team was not ready for. He gave himself no chance to win. But through the head games there was a fire burning deep behind those eyes.
Chris Buescher, driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will be making the 400th start of his NASCAR Cup Series career this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.
Anthony Alfredo and Parker Retzlaff will continue to pilot the Nos. 96 and 99 Chevrolet entries, respectively, for the 2027 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season amid a breakout year in 2026.
This race marks a significant milestone for Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing as driver Chris Buescher makes his 400th Career Start after leading 53 laps this past weekend in Talladega.
