The 2011 season of NASCAR started out with a bang when rookie Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500. It ended with an electrifying duel between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards for the championship. Sandwiched in between was one of the most competitive seasons in recent history.
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.
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.
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.
It all comes down to this, one race, three points, one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion. 65,000+ will be on hand Sunday Evening to witness the battle between two-time Sprint Cup Series Champion, Tony Stewart, and number-one contender for the title, Carl Edwards.
Edwards chased Kasey Kahne to the finish at Phoenix, but had to settle for the runner-up spot in the Kobalt Tools 500. Edwards remained on top in the Sprint Cup point standings and will take a three-point lead over Tony Stewart to Homestead.
With NASCAR traveling to the ‘Valley of the Sun’ for the next to the last race of the season, it was no surprise that the reconfigured race track was soaked instead with liquid sunshine.
Two races to go in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup, and this week we head to a track that may be the biggest juggernaut of them all, Phoenix International Raceway.
