Welcome all you Gabbers and others to the final race wrap up of the Sprint Cup Chase Series. Where it rained, it was 3 and 4 wide, there was damage on a contenders car, there was fuel mileage strategy, a new champion was crowned, the excitement was intense, the battle epic and the loser was a class act and gentlemen. This was one worthy of The Wide World of Sports high light reels. It will be talked about for years to come. So lets get there. Shall we?

STARTING POSITIONS - Edwards Pole - Ku Busch 4th - Keselowski 5th - Kenseth 6th - Gordon 7th - Johnson 9th - Earnhardt Jr 11th - Newman 14th - Stewart 15th - Ky Busch 19th - Harvick 21st

I'm doing a different write up this time. There were only 2 drivers contending for the Championship trophy any way. So we have our starting positions and every one except me has written Tony's championship hopes off because he's starting 15th and Carl is on the pole. Fools I say. AND Tony soon proves that to be so. At the drop of the green flag there's a 20% chance of showers but Edwards takes the first lap while Stewart makes a bold 3 wide move to 12th.

Lap 3 Kurt Busch is off to the Garage because his transmission just left go. Don't know who made him mad but he's showing some love to some one through that middle finger.

Lap 5 Stewart to 10th.

Lap 14 Stewart is 8th and a caution comes out for rain. All go to pit lane for service and it is discovered that Stewart has a hole the size of a fist in the mesh part of his grill. Work begins to fix this. All signs point to the debris from Kurt's transmission for the cause of the hole. He's now back in 40th but still on the lead lap. Edwards in 1st. 

Four laps after the restart on lap 22 Stewart is on a mission and in 29th. Edwards is still first.

Lap 30 Stewart is 25th and says his car is STILL fast. Edwards still out front.

Lap 34 Dave Blaney spins in turn 4 and brings out a caution. All to pit road for service. Stewart has an extended stay to fix the grill. Good news. Radiator is not damaged.  Back to 30th. Edwards rear tire changer slipped on that stop and he's starting in 5th.

Lap 40 Stewart to 27th. Edwards to 3rd.

Lap 45 Stewart to 23rd. Lap 47 Stewart 19th.

Lap 48 Edwards to the lead.

Lap 51 Kurt Busch is now back on the track 47 laps down in 42nd.

Lap 56 Stewart to 16th. Edwards in lead.

Lap 74 Marcos Ambrose to the garage for a blown motor. He's the first Ford to go. Edwards is still leading and Stewart is 12th.

Lap 83 Caution. David Ragan also a Ford has just lost his motor. Oil on the track and a question mark appears for the Ford camp and Edwards. After Edwards pit stop Bob warns him that his right front tire was pushed to the limit. Don't go any harder because the inside shoulder was worn through. Edwards in the lead at restart. Stewart in 10th.

Three laps later Stewart is in 7th.

Lap 104 Johnson to the pits for a missing motor. They change the ignition boxes and are about to replace the plugs but the caution is now out.

Lap 108 Caution comes out for rain. The red flag comes out on lap 109 and no work or pit stops can go on during a red flag. Johnson's crew must stop working. They park the cars for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Edwards is still leading. Stewart is in 5th.

Cars are started up and out onto the track where a yellow flag flys at lap 110. Johnson's crew may now work on the car. Turns out it's a carburetor issue and a new one is installed. He's now 5 laps down in 36th.

Lap 117 restart and Gordon takes the lead. Stewart is on his bumper in 2nd and Edwards is in 3rd.

Lap 123 Stewart to the lead. Edwards still 3rd.

Lap 130 Edwards to 2nd. Bob is still telling him to take care of that right front tire. Warns he's being a little too aggressive.

Lap 133 Trevor Bayne rides the wall to bring out a caution. 

Lap 139 on restart Harvick takes the lead and Martin Truex Jr takes 3rd from Edwards.

Lap 140 It's Harvick - Truex Jr - Edwards in 1,2,3.....Stewart in 9th

Lap 141 Caution for Johnson spinning. Has to go into the pits before open for 4 flat tires.

Lap 145 Harvick is out of pits first. Edwards 3rd. Stewart 9th.

Lap 147 Truex takes the lead from Harvick on the restart. Stewart is going 4 wide to the bottom. Edwards beside the wall then Harvick then Kyle and Stewart on the bottom. IT'S WIDE RACING FOR POSITION!!!!!

Lap 150 It's Truex - Newman - Stewart - Kenseth - Edwards.

Lap 152 Stewart to the lead and Edwards to 3rd.

Lap 154 Caution. Wreck. Cassil, Bayne and Whitt involved. Stewart has a bad pit stop. The socket on the rear tire changers air wrench is stripped. Edwards in 5th. Stewart in 12th on restart.

Lap 161 Restart. Stewart to the high side this time AND GOES WIDE AGAIN to take 7th. Kenseth to the lead and Edwards to 3rd.

Lap 163 Stewart to 4th and he taps Edwards bumper to let him know he's there. NASCAR sends a knock it off message to Stewart.

Lap 174 Edwards to 2nd. Lap 176 he's in the lead again with Stewart in 3rd. Lap 180 Stewart to 2nd

Lap 193 Greg Biffle another Ford is down a cylinder and goes to the garage. Green flag pit stops are in progress.

Lap 202 Most of the cars have pitted and Edwards goes in for 4 tires and fuel. Stewart is told the he can go 57 laps on a tank and Edwards can't so Darian tells Stewart to stay out 12 - 15 more laps and save fuel. Stewart is now being passed by cars with fresher tires and Edwards is one who goes by him.

Lap 210 On his final lap to the pits his fuel pressure gage drops to 2 Lbs in turn 2. In turn 3 he shuts it off and coasts. In turn 4 he coasts to pit entrance and starts the car. Darian tells him to keep the rpm's up as they fuel the car. He leaves the pit stall, he makes it to the last timing line and the car motor dies. He coasts about 100 feet and it comes back to life. He re-enters the track to be in 15th. 

Lap 213 Caution for rain. Edwards pits again for fuel and 2 tires.

Lap 231 On the restart the caution laps have made Edwards and Stewart good to go to the finish on fuel. Top 5 is Kyle - Keselowski - Stewart - Bowyer - Edwards. AGAIN  STEWART GOES 3 WIDE ON THE RESTART to pass Kyle and Keselowski for the lead.

From here on out Stewart keeps the lead and Edwards stays in 2nd. They come up on lapped cars that don't give any resistance and move out of the way. There was debris reported but NASCAR held that yellow flag and chose not to bring out a caution. All drivers kept their cars under control and the race and the Chase ended with Tony Stewart winning both. The points were a tie and with Stewart's 5 wins being the tie breaker he got the championship.

There was no victory burn out and no fence climbing. Bummer. I so wanted to see my handsome knight of the Office Depot - Mobile One ride his trusty Chevy Impala steed to victory and climb the walls of the castle Homestead to claim his flag and the Sprint Challis Trophy. It was still an epic battle and the best Chase yet. Stewart now has a Winston Cup, Nextel Cup and a Sprint Cup trophy. He had to pass 118 cars all together with the issues he had. Edwards was quite classy and gentleman like in his defeat. 

CHASE POINTS - Stewart 2403 (5 W's) - Edwards 2403 - Harvick 2345 - Kenseth 2330 - Keselowski 2319 - Johnson 2304 - Earnhardt Jr 2290 - Gordon 2287 - Hamlin 2284 - Newman 2284 - Ku Busch 2262 - Ky Busch 2246

Thanks for dropping by and man I can't wait for Daytona already.......