HAMPTON, Ga. -- At this point, Tony Stewart is racing only for pride and wins. On Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he stole the spotlight from the title contenders with a victory that clearly made him proud.

Stewart, who failed to qualify for the 10-race Chase for Nextel Cup after winning his second Nextel Cup title last season, held off Jimmie Johnson for his fourth victory of the season and second in the first seven races of the 2006 playoffs.

Afterward, he literally grabbed the checkered flag after a somewhat perilous climb up the flagstand in celebration.

"It's better than last year,'' said Stewart after jumping out of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet. "We were in it last year and couldn't win any of these, so it's a lot of fun.''

The runner-up finish was just fine with Johnson, though, as he moved within 26 points of series leader Matt Kenseth with three races remaining.  More