DOVER, Del. -- Jimmie Johnson's four tires scored a resounding victory over Tony Stewart's pair of Goodyears over the last 27 laps Sunday at Dover International Speedway, but Stewart's second place behind Johnson in the Autism Speaks 400 gave him the Sprint Cup points lead.

Stewart couldn't stop smiling about the fact he'd finished so well in his own No. 14 Chevrolet that he said deserved so much less, or that he'd taken the point lead about eight races sooner in the season than he'd ever done it before.

"Obviously that stat there is pretty cool, to be leading the point standings this early into the new venture," Stewart said. "But really proud of our guys to give us equipment that puts us in this position. Just pretty excited about the end of the day, there. It was fun racing with Jimmie like that."

And the fact that he became the first owner/driver to lead the Cup standings -- unofficially by 46 over erstwhile leader Jeff Gordon -- since champion Alan Kulwicki ended the 1992 season on top made it the best antidote of all for getting beat.

"It's been a dream season for us up to this point, and you hope that you don't wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden realize that we're just getting ready to go to Daytona or something and it's all been a dream," Stewart said. "It means something [to be the first owner/driver since Kulwicki to lead]. Everybody respected Alan because he was an owner/driver and what he was able to accomplish.

"I was still sprint car and midget racing at that point and wasn't able to keep up because we were racing the same days Cup was racing. You go through a time and you're able to go back and look at how the history of the sport has evolved and what milestones and moments shaped the sport to what it is, so it's a pretty cool moment to have your organization mentioned with his organization."

For Stewart-Haas director of competition Bobby Hutchens, it has a direct impact since Hutchens was an integral member of Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 Chevrolet team that raced Kulwicki for that championship, sandwiching it with titles in 1991 and 1993 by Dale Earnhardt.

"That's pretty prestigious," Hutchens said. "We raced with the 3 car, against Alan back in those days and Alan was an innovator and a thinker and a pretty smart individual -- and of course he won the championship because of all that.

"He did things a lot different than a lot of us had done it in the garage area and there are things in the garage today that Alan probably brought here, so I think it's pretty cool that Tony was able to do that because he's been able to do a pretty good job at being able to distinguish between the driver and the owner role. (Continued)