 | | When the smoke cleared on the 2005 season, it was Smoke who came out on top with the Nextel Cup trophy. Credit: Autostock |
B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM
December 22, 2005
02:42 PM EST (19:42 GMT)
Tony Stewart started his push to the Chase for the Nextel Cup at Michigan in June with a runner-up finish to Greg Biffle that jump-started a two-month stretch that included five wins and eight top-10s and vaulted him into the point standings lead after an emotional victory at Indianapolis in August.  |  | | Credit: Autostock |
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| Inside the Numbers |
| Tony Stewart in 2005 |
| Race |
Start |
Finish |
| Daytona |
4 |
7 |
| California |
29 |
17 |
| Las Vegas |
23 |
10 |
| Atlanta |
9 |
17 |
| Bristol |
11 |
3 |
| Martinsville |
7 |
26 |
| Texas |
10 |
31 |
| Phoenix |
6 |
33 |
| Talladega |
11 |
2 |
| Darlington |
15 |
10 |
| Richmond |
3 |
2 |
| Lowe's |
9 |
24 |
| Dover |
6 |
15 |
| Pocono |
26 |
29 |
| Michigan |
3 |
2 |
| Infineon |
7 |
1 |
| Daytona |
1 |
1 |
| Chicagoland |
13 |
5 |
| New Hampshire |
13 |
1 |
| Pocono |
6 |
7 |
| Indianapolis |
22 |
1 |
| Watkins Glen |
1 |
1 |
| Michigan |
36 |
5 |
| Bristol |
17 |
8 |
| California |
14 |
5 |
| Richmond |
25 |
7 |
| New Hampshire |
1 |
2 |
| Dover |
31 |
18 |
| Talladega |
4 |
2 |
| Kansas |
9 |
4 |
| Lowe's |
4 |
25 |
| Martinsville |
1 |
2 |
| Atlanta |
10 |
9 |
| Texas |
16 |
6 |
| Phoenix |
9 |
4 |
| Homestead |
20 |
15 |
| Average |
12.0 |
9.9 |
|
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A no-holds-barred offseason meeting ultimately resulted in a calmer, more effective Stewart and a more effective team. "The impact of [the meeting] was pretty big," Stewart said. "And we don't have to go into the details of what it was about. Sometimes bad things have to happen for good things to come out of it. "[The meeting] was something that was definitely an eye-opening experience for me. It was a meeting that Zippy [crew chief Greg Zipadelli] wasn't in; he had always been the in-between guy. "When the guys would complain about something I did, they'd complain to Zippy. And if I was going to complain about something the guys did, I'd complain to Zippy about it. He was the go-to guy in all that. "That's why 2002 [Stewart's first title season] was such a year of turmoil for all of us. That's why this year means so much more to win it for [Zipadelli] without all that turmoil where we can enjoy the year instead of just being glad the year is over because of all the garbage that went on." He began the year with a seventh-place finish at Daytona, but a three-race slide in April -- Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix -- dropped Stewart to a season-low 14th in points. He righted the ship with a second-place finish at Talladega and slowly began creeping up through the standings. However, another three-race hiccup -- Charlotte, Dover and Pocono -- saw Stewart fail to finish on the lead lap at any of those tracks. Maybe it was then that the preseason meeting really began taking root within the struggling team. "All the guys and me sat down and we talked and everybody got to air everything out," Stewart said of the offseason meeting. "It was probably the most stressful meeting I've ever gone into in my life. "I didn't know what the outcome of the meeting was going to be. I didn't even know if I was going to have a job. "The best thing about it was I knew where everybody stood. That was something that hadn't happened with our race team the entire time [six previous years] I'd been there. "So after the amount of years we were all together, you would have never thought it would get to that. The fact that it did, and through Zippy and J.D.'s [Gibbs, owner Joe Gibbs' son] leadership, we talked about it and then made a decision, shows the leadership we have in our organization and the people we have on this race team." Then came Michigan, where Stewart led 97 laps, and his streak of eight consecutive top-10s began. He won at Sonoma, Daytona, New Hampshire, Indy and Watkins Glen, completing the two-race sweep of the series' road-course races. Stewart entered the 10-race Chase first in points and finished second at New Hampshire to begin his title quest. But an 18th-place finish at Dover dropped him to fifth -- 23 points behind Jimmie Johnson. But Stewart was not to be denied this year. He finished second at Talladega, regained the points lead and began a methodical march toward Homestead -- and his second Cup championship. At Homestead, Stewart cruised to his second title in four years, capping an uncharacteristically calm season for the former Bad Boy. He won races, kept his temper in check and avoided every major incident long enough to cement himself as one of the greatest drivers of his time. Needing only to run a clean race in the season finale, Stewart hovered just outside the top 10 and away from any potential danger. He ended up 15th, winning the title by 35 points over Biffle, who won the Ford 400 for the second consecutive year by besting teammate Mark Martin in a door-to-door finish. Stewart became just the 14th driver in NASCAR history with more than one championship and joined four-time winner Jeff Gordon as the only active full-time drivers with multiple titles. "This year versus 2002 -- we've had fun all year," Stewart said. "Even when we weren't running good, we were having fun. We got back to why we started racing in the first place and that's because we love being a part of race teams and we love racing and we love competing." | 
