Tony Stewart: Why Smoke's Chase Run Proved Doubters Wrong

It has been a month since Tony Stewart's Chase run came to an end, yet it is still being talked about in NASCAR circles. The run that made history not only won Smoke the Championship, it also proved some of the people that questioned his move from Joe Gibbs Racing wrong.

Let's take a look at a few of the things that doubters can't question anymore.

Equipment

Tony Stewart proved that he can win with any equipment. Sure, Hendrick Motor Sports provides him with some of the parts in his cars, but overall, they are Stewart-Haas cars.

Stewart doesn't need to drive cars from the big teams to win because he can get the best out of any car.

Money Not Totally Needed

Stewart's team also proved that even the "smaller" teams can get championship-quality people to work for them. Sure, Stewart-Haas isn't some start-and-park team, but it doesn't take a HMS- or JGR-sized team to get guys willing to work for you if you know how to keep them motivated.

Of course, Stewart also proved that he is a good motivator in this Chase.

Ownership Doesn't Change Much

While ownership is a ton of responsibility, it hasn't crushed Tony Stewart's driving skills. Stewart knows how to handle both roles, and he knows when to drop the ownership hat for the driver one. 

An owner-driver hasn't done anything near what Stewart has done in a long time. But with his Chase run, Stewart silenced those that said he can't successfully be both an owner and driver at the same time.

Success Has Come Relatively Easily

When Smoke announced that he was going to his "own" team, people talked about how Haas-CNC (the team's previous name) wasn't all that successful. The team hadn't done all that much before Stewart moved over and couldn't keep sponsors.

Sure, last year was a "lean" year for the team, with only Stewart getting into the Chase and Ryan Newman finishing 15th, but two out of the three years that Stewart has been there, both drivers have been in the Chase.

This year, Stewart proved that the unsuccessful team could be turned around and that he made the right choice buying the team.

He Can Win Without Zippy

When Stewart left JGR, the other half of the dynamic duo decided to stay. Greg Zipadelli and Tony Stewart were seen as one of the best teams in NASCAR, winning 32 times in their 10 years together,

But Smoke proved he could run well and win without Zippy, winning five of the 10 Chase races this year with Darian Grubb and staying at the top of the leaderboard in other races in the Chase.

The team won 11 races overall in the three years they were together.

Grubb has ironically moved to JGR to work with Denny Hamlin for next year, but his time with Stewart, putting the driver in championship contention during multiple years, helped end the "Stewart and Zippy need to be together to win" thoughts.