HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The familiar orange and white racecar came to a stop in the garage area, and for the longest time, Tony Stewart sat inside, helmet on, not moving. Was he savoring his final ride in the No. 20 machine with which he had become synonymous? Was he struggling to control his emotions following his last start with Joe Gibbs Racing?

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I'm leaving a group of guys I'm used to working with 38 weeks a year for 10 years. It's always hard to do that.

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TONY STEWART

"I was frustrated and still frustrated, and there were some media people here I wouldn't trust with a penny, much less a quote of mine," said Stewart, feisty to the end. "I was just trying to take care of myself and make for an easier offseason."

The end of Stewart's 10-year run with the Gibbs team, a span that saw driver and organization win 33 races and two series championships together, appropriately featured plenty of thunder and noise. Stewart stormed to the front of the field at Homestead-Miami Speedway, looked like the driver to beat in the late stages of the Ford 400, and then was forced to surrender the lead and take fuel with 11 laps to go. Carl Edwards won, Jimmie Johnson captured his third consecutive Cup Series title, and Stewart came home in ninth.

It was enough to move him up two spots to ninth in points, securing a trip to the season-ending awards banquet in New York.. But in his last race with a team that's meant so much to him, he wanted more. Next season, he'll be driving a No. 14 car for a Stewart-Haas Racing team of which he owns half.

"The biggest thing to me was that we went out on a night where we were competitive," Stewart said. "Everybody knew we were here. They knew we were one of the fastest teams out here. We did what we needed to do."

It was the end of a relationship that began when team owner Joe Gibbs brought Stewart to NASCAR from the Indy Racing League in 1996. The crowd at Homestead-Miami flipped colored cards in the grandstand to commemorate Stewart's tenure with the Gibbs team, and his car featured an array of banners on the hood -- one for each of his 33 career wins. When he finally emerged from his No. 20 Camry after the race, he traded emotional hugs with crewmen who over time had become close friends.

"I'm leaving a group of guys I'm used to working with 38 weeks a year for 10 years. It's always hard to do that," he said. "I guess if we didn't all like each other, it would make it all a lot easier to be where we are right now. But when you like the group of guys you're working with and you always have, it makes nights like [Sunday night] even harder."

Stewart wasn't the only driver forced by circumstances to say goodbye. Clint Bowyer, in his final ride in Richard Childress Racing's No. 07 car, finished fourth and secured the fifth position in final points Sunday, his last race with crew chief Gil Martin. Bowyer will drive a new car at RCR, the No. 33, for new crew chief Shane Wilson in 2009. Bowyer and Martin won two races together, and made the Chase for two consecutive years.

"Kind of an emotional night, really," he said. "Gil and all the guys, we have had a lot of fun together and a lot of success."

Some goodbyes were more emotional than others. Ryan Newman, who'll drive the second car for Stewart's new team next season, placed 21st in his final ride in Roger Penske's No. 12 car. The Penske team is the only NASCAR organization Newman, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, has ever known.

"The way that we ran [Sunday night], I'm glad that the season is over," Newman said. "Despite our run [Sunday night], I'm very, very grateful for the opportunity that Roger has given me over the last several years. The friendships and relationships that I've made over the last several years are priceless. To win the Daytona 500 for Roger is something that I'll never forget. Our year ended in a struggle, but my entire Alltel Dodge team fought every race to get the best finish that we could."

Stewart has long known that Sunday was coming, but that didn't make it any easier. As the final race neared, Stewart became reticent to speak publicly about his impending separation from the Gibbs organization. Some of the members of his No. 20 team, like crew chief Greg Zipadelli, have been with him the entire time.

"It's hard," Stewart said. "These guys are my family. When you've been with a group of guys for 10 years and a sponsor for 10 years like this, that's a long time. I know people who haven't been married that long. It's just one of those rough nights. We had a shot to win, and it didn't work out for us."

Which only made the night more difficult. "I sure wish we could have won that one," team president J.D. Gibbs said. "We had such a great car. That would have been a great finish."

Now Stewart must turn the page to his new organization and his new role as team owner, something he wasn't ready to do Sunday night. "Tomorrow is tomorrow," he said of Monday. "I'll worry about that tomorrow."

His old teammates will still be there, ready with a laugh or a handshake. "It's part of life," Gibbs said, "but the fact that he'll still be in the sport and we'll still see a lot of him will help."

That was of little solace to Stewart on Sunday night, when crewmen began disassembling parts from the No. 20 car and preparing to load it into the upper bay of the team's transporter. The next time it appears on the racetrack, rookie Joey Logano will be behind the wheel.