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HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 20: Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 and the 2011 Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20, 2011 in Homestead, Florida. Stewart wins his third NASCAR Championship. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 20: Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, celebrates with the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 and the 2011 Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20, 2011 in Homestead, Florida. Stewart wins his third NASCAR Championship. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Back in 2011, NASCAR saw an intense championship battle pan out between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. As the two fought it out on track in their quest to be the 2011 champion, Tony Stewart apparently made a comment about how eager he was to win, a few days prior to the championship-winning race.
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The commentator said, “On Thursday Tony Stewart said, he’d wreck his mother for a championship.”
Stewart was on an all-out dash to win the race, as he was seen going 4 wide to an overtake at one point in time. He cut through the field like butter. With his excellent racing prowess, Stewart was finally able to overcome his championship contender Edwards and clinch his third title.
After the race, Edward said, “That’s as hard as I can drive, I’m going to try to keep my head up and go again next year.” No wonder Edwards had that thought, had it been anyone else, they would have said the same when battling someone like Stewart.
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How did the 2011 season pan out for Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart?
Both of the drivers had seen an excellent season-wide campaign but in the end, both had reached a tie in terms of points. They needed a tie-breaker in the form of the number of races won during the Chase.

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HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 21: Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, poses with the Championship trophy after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 and the 2011 Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 21, 2011, in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Stewart had won an impressive 5 races during the chase, which was way more than Edward’s single win. Hence, Stewart was crowned the 2011 champion on the basis of wins and not points.
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His win put an end to a rollercoaster era of Jimmie Johnson’s five championship-winning runs. However, this would be the final championship in NASCAR for Tony Stewart.
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