Tony Stewart

Sporting News, The, Dec 9, 2005

Of course, this was a no-brainer, but consider this tribute: Mark Martin described Stewart as "the greatest racecar driver I've watched drive in this era" and as "my driving hero." Martin knows firsthand. He fought the No. 20 crew to the wire in 2002, losing to Stewart by 38 points.

This year, Stewart took a 52-point cushion on Jimmie Johnson into the season finale. When Johnson blew a tire, the pressure was off, and Stewart patiently finished 15th, sealing the deal. It was only his third finish out of the top 10 in the final 22 races. He was an overwhelming choice by his fellow competitors as the Driver of the Year.

"That's the greatest honor that a driver could have in this sport--to have your peers vote for you like that," Stewart says. Although Stewart bridled at the advantages of the uber-operations--Roush Racing and Hendrick Motorsports---early in the season, Smoke finally stopped bitching and went to work. The turning point was a test at Michigan in June and a subsequent second-place finish followed by a win the following week at Sonoma. Stewart added to his fan base when he exuberantly climbed the catchfence after a dominating victory from the pole at Daytona, and he also got the win that he wanted most, at the Brickyard in front of his home crowd.

Stewart joined an elite fraternity of 14 multi-title champions at NASCAR's Cup level. He scored five wins, three poles and 25 top 10s, including 17 top fives, and he gained 150 bonus points for laps led.

By the way, he would have won his second title under the old point system, too.

Pit Crew of the Year No. 20

Behind every champion racer there has to be one hell of a pit crew. It's imperative to have a crew that can pit the car swiftly and accurately and give the driver ultimate track position,

Tony Stewart led 599 laps in the final 10 races, topping the Chase competitors and gaining 50 lap leader bonus points. It's obvious the No. 20 crew was up to the task.