With only one race remaining, Tony Stewart holds a 52-point lead over Jimmie Johnson. Credit: Autostock

Stewart, Johnson know what Homestead holds

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Tony Stewart has led the Nextel Cup Series point standings for the past seven weeks. Throughout that stretch, Stewart constantly has said he and his No. 20 team haven't approached racing any differently.

Ditto next week at Homestead.

Inside the Chase Standings after Phoenix Rank Driver Pts. Behind 1. T. Stewart 6,415 -- 2. J. Johnson 6,363 -52 3. C. Edwards 6,328 -87 4. G. Biffle 6,313 -102 5. M. Martin 6,253 -162 6. R. Newman 6,208 -207 7. M. Kenseth 6,187 -228 8. R. Wallace 6,016 -399 9. Ku. Busch 5,974 -441 10. J. Mayfield 5,939 -476 • Race Results, click here • Cup Standings, click here • Race Recap, click here Tony stays on topStewart finishes fourth and retains points lead Johnson looks aheadJimmie will have some work to do next week Checker 500Watch the race highlights with TrackPass Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"It'd be pretty spectacular if we won the race and the championship on the same day, wouldn't it," he said. "Go for it."

Stewart finished fourth in Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500, the penultimate race of the 2005 season. As the season finale looms next weekend, Stewart leads second-place Jimmie Johnson by 52 points in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

He said that keeping Johnson, and 38 other cars at bay was exactly what he expected to do at the place he calls his "west coast home away from home."

"It's one of my favorite tracks," Stewart said. "I knew that we had a car that was capable of having a good day if we didn't have any problems, so it was just a case of staying out of trouble. We did what we needed to do, which is pull away in the points."

Still, it could have been better.

"Our car just had good balance," Stewart said. "It still needed to be faster. If you tried to make it cut through the center, it was probably going to be freer up off, and if you tried to give it more forward bite off, it was going to make it tighter in the center."

For Johnson, who finished seventh, it was a day filled with disappointments, particularly at the end of the race.

"It's frustrating when you're going backwards," Johnson said, "especially when I saw the 99 [Edwards] coming and the 20 [Stewart] going away. We worked so hard all day long just to get the car a little bit better. I tried to do what I could and Chad [Knaus, crew chief] was being real aggressive on the stops."

Apart from the race, the big picture wasn't much brighter for Johnson.

"We really needed to finish ahead of him [Sunday] and cut some of the margin down going into Homestead," Johnson said. "We weren't able to do it.

"It's not over until that last race at Homestead. It's going to be tough. It's been tough."

In Stewart's mind, there's one way to make sure Johnson close the gap next Sunday in South Florida.

"We are going to go out next week and practice, just like we always do and try to get the car driving good. Then we're gonna qualify and get the best starting spot that we can qualify. Then when the race starts and they drop the green flag, we're actually going to try to win the race.

"I know it sounds crazy, but that's really what we're gonna try to do," he said. "Last time I checked my contract, that's what I get paid to do, so that's what we're gonna do."

Still, that doesn't mean that Stewart isn't going to enter the race knowing exactly what he needs to do to win his second Cup championship.

"I'm going to be doing some number-crunching this week," he said. "This is the first and only week of the Chase that I'll actually start running numbers and figuring out where we need to be."

While winning the race may be one goal, Stewart certainly believes his team is very capable of doing what's necessary to win the big prize next weekend.

"I still think we had a decent test there. We weren't the fastest car, but I think we've got a really good shot of running up front there," Stewart said. "We ran really well there last year."