Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart: Only Two Left in Championship Heading to Miami

And then there were two.

After 35 races including nine Chase races, only three points separate Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart heading into next week's season finale in the Ford 400 in Miami.

This is the closest margin heading into a season finale in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

Both drivers talked in the press conference about this being a fun battle, and can't wait to get to Miami.

Stewart said that he's "got a busy week with Office Depot's headquarters in Florida and will stay busy this week to keep his mind off of it while Edwards added that he's "not going to be too busy, but he can certainly find stuff to do."

Edwards also went on to say, that "he hopes it comes down to the fastest car on Sunday and is a huge fan of that."

When asked what would happen if both drivers tie, Stewart made light of it by saying, "he's got a dirt track in Ohio they can use." Edwards came back and said, "I'm not falling for that one, I'm not going to Ohio to settle the tie-breaker." Stewart came back with, "I've got one in Kentucky and Illinois too, you pick."

That's the kind of rivalry that this is.

Both drivers have the utmost respect for each other. This isn't the hatred that most rivalries have.

When ESPN's Shannon Spake asked about the rivalry Stewart said, "This isn't drama TV. You guys make these things into a rivalry. Can you please tell your people at ESPN to tone it down this week?"

He even kicked the chair that separated the two in the media center to allow Edwards to move closer to humor the press a bit.

Next Sunday will be a title bout and should be very interesting. Both drivers talked about how much they love the Homestead track and hope to race this out.

Eric Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.