Tony Stewart's Low Expectations Result in Winning NASCAR Sprint Cup Title

Tony Stewart said the team had nothing to lose and everything to gain heading to the Chase finale. His thoughts early in the Chase may surprise you, and be the key to why his team did so well.

The driver of the Office Depot/Mobil 1 No. 14 Chevrolet was dead serious when he spoke of not belonging in the Chase. That he was perhaps taking up a slot someone else belonged in.

Stewart explained the team was not in a position to contend for the title before the fall race at Richmond, or after that race. Their program was just not where they wanted it to be.

When Stewart and his team made the Chase they didn't have high expectations. Under that scenario the team didn't have much stress. He stated they, "Never filled the stress-meter up at all."

The new NASCAR Sprint Cup champion said, "Anything we did right off the bat was kind of a luxury." It pretty much remained that way and the stress just never really built up.

Martinsville was the race that finally gave Stewart the confidence to tell his guys, that they thought they really were going to be in the run for the championship.

At the Martinsville race, when the driver of the No. 14 had to battle to stay on the lead lap, and then fight back against Jimmie Johnson to eventually win. It made a statement to the driver they were a legitimate team to win the title.

Stewart had gotten through the races that he knew would be the toughest. The remaining tracks would be tracks he ran well on.

The team then relaxed and began to have fun. Especially, heading to the finale when things were going so well for the team. The performance remained at a high level and they just kept on doing the same things.

Stewart then went on to win at Texas the following week with Carl Edwards finishing second. The race after that was Phoenix, where Edwards finished second and Stewart finished third.

The somewhat amazing run between the two drivers, who battled for the title, continued to the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Where of course Stewart won, and Edwards again finished second.

In a NASCAR teleconference, Stewart stated, "I think it truly was one of the best battles, I feel like, in the history of the sport because of that. Not just because of the outcome of who won, but just the fact you had the two top guys that literally fought it out."

Normally, the driver who has momentum during the season with the most wins and consistent finishes is the horse you bet on to win the title in the Chase.

Stewart broke the mold this year with his inconsistent performance during the 26-week season that barely got him in the Chase.

Not all of the bad finishes for the No. 14 team were of their own making. With the team having just plain bad luck, which took away their opportunity to win.

Because of that the team could stay on the same page and remain motivated to continue. Even though they were not happy with the situation.

It was the fact that the Stewart Haas Racing team was able to come from behind and unload strong race cars. Pretty much off the truck, which made it a lot easier for them to have fun in the Chase.

Certainly, the battle between Stewart and Edwards was great for NASCAR, as was shown in the ratings for the final Chase race. It was a tough battle that we haven't seen the likes of in some time.

Stewart's incredible performance in the Chase raised the bar pretty high. It will be tough for any driver to repeat that outstanding feat, but records are meant to be broken.

NASCAR set its' fans up for a highly competitive season with the new point system.

The Chase was one that will be talked about for years to come. The fans got everything they wanted, including a new NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

Any quotes in this article were taken directly from the source by the writer of this article via a telephone interview unless otherwise noted.