NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Fast Facts

Tony Stewart won his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. His other titles came in 2002 and 2005.
Stewart is the ninth driver to win three or more championships. The other drivers with three: Darrell Waltrip, Lee Petty, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson are either NASCAR Hall of Fame members or nominees.
Stewart tied second-place Carl Edwards in points, but won the tiebreaker: five wins to Edwards one. Stewart is the seventh champion to win the season finale in his title-winning season.
Stewart won a record five Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2011. His average finish during the Chase was 6.3. Runner-up Carl Edwards had a Chase-record average finish of 4.9.
Stewart is the second consecutive driver to overcome a points deficit going into the season finale to win the championship. Only three other drivers have accomplished the feat since the inception of the position-based points system in 1975 (Richard Petty in 1979, Alan Kulwicki in 1992 and Jimmie Johnson in 2010).
Stewart finished the 2011 season with five wins, nine top fives and 19 top 10s.
Owner Champion: Stewart-Haas Racing
This is Stewart-Haas Racing's first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
Tony Stewart has been co-owner with Gene Haas since 2009. Stewart has won 11 races as driver-owner.
Crew Chief Champion: Darian Grubb
This is Darian Grubb's first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.
Grubb won the Daytona 500 as crew chief for Jimmie Johnson in 2006.
Grubb has 14 career wins (11 with Tony Stewart; two with Jimmie Johnson; one with Casey Mears).(NASCAR Statistics