Road to a Miami Championship

The “Road to a Miami Championship” Heads to Delaware This Weekend

Race 3 in the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup takes place at Dover before culminating at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20

MIAMI— Tony Stewart may not have captured a win leading up to the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup, but he is making up for it now. Stewart is two-for-two in NASCAR's “playoffs” after winning at New Hampshire and has taken over the Championship points lead.  In capturing his first two victories of 2011, Stewart became only the second driver to start the Chase with two consecutive wins. The first was in 2008 by Greg Biffle, who went on to finish third in that season’s championship points. Now, can he do the seemingly impossible? Stewart would be the first to open the Chase with three consecutive wins and it would be the first time in his career he has ever won three straight races. The driver of the No. 14 car is stalking a third NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. His championship runs in 2002 and 2005 at Homestead-Miami Speedway make him the only driver to win NASCAR’s biggest prize in both the pre-Chase and Chase era. Stewart is also trying to become the first driver/owner to win the Sprint Cup trophy since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat in 1992.

While Chase drivers around him ran out of gas at Loudon, Stewart had the fuel to go the distance and injected the Chase For The Sprint Cup Championship with a dose of dominance that has made him a formidable front-runner and a favorite to end five-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson’s incredible run. Johnson has gotten off to a sluggish start in the Chase, falling to 10th in the standings after the first two Chase races and leading to questions about whether his reign as five-time champion is finally over.

Don’t count Johnson out of the Championship fight just yet. Johnson has overcome large deficits before to win the title, and rallied during the final two races last season to win the Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He has won three of the past five races at Dover and dominated the spring race there in May.

Every point matters and could be huge when it comes down to the Championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 20. Here’s a look at some notable Chase drivers and how they have fared on the “Road to a Miami Championship”:

Tony Stewart                     The current Championship points leader heads to Dover with two straight wins. Stewart also has four straight Top 10 finishes with three of those in the Top 5. This torrid pace has made him a legitimate championship contender.

Carl Edwards                      The defending Ford 400 winner at Homestead-Miami Speedway has recorded five consecutive Top 10 finishes to keep his NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship hopes alive.

Brad Keselowski              The reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion at Homestead-Miami Speedway has put together an impressive streak of his own lately. Keselowski has eight Top 10 results in his last nine races, and the other finish was 12^th. His runner-up finish last week at Loudon put him in the thick of the Championship race.

Expect these drivers to take this momentum into Delaware this weekend. The drama, excitement and anticipation of NASCAR’s Chase For The Sprint Cup Championship “playoff” system has begun—the winner of which will be crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway during Ford Championship Weekend for a 10th consecutive season Nov. 18-20.