Tony Stewart's streak of seasons with a win stops at 15
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – As Tony Stewart celebrated his second Sprint Cup Series championship as an owner, a streak of his as a driver had just ended.
Stewart, who entered the Sprint Cup Series in 1999, had won a race in every season in his Cup career. He needed a win in Sunday's race at Homestead to extend the streak to 16 years with a win.
He got the opposite of a win. He finished last, and the streak ended at 15 years, while Kevin Harvick, who joined Stewart-Haas Racing won the race and the 2014 Sprint Cup.
"This is great, especially with a great friend of mine like Kevin Harvick, to come together and in our first year accomplish a championship together," Stewart said. "It doesn't make up for a bad year. I mean, I've had a terrible year but this makes the end of November great."
On Sunday, Stewart qualified poorly and wasn't competitive all day. He broke into the top 10 after the first caution flag with a two-tire pit stop. But not long after restarting eighth, he was in 29th spot. Soon he went a lap down.
Then he was in the garage. Something had punctured a hole in the front of his car and raised the engine temperatures to unsustainable levels. Stewart parked the car.
Stewart's first win was on September 11 of his rookie season at Richmond and he led 333 of the race's 400 laps. Since then, he's won three championships and had 47 more wins, the last of which came at Dover in June of 2013.
Since the Dover win, Stewart's life has been tumultuous. He broke his leg in a sprint car accident in August 2013 and missed the rest of the season. He returned in 2014 but struggled, posting six top 10s in the first 21 races of the season.
Then, on August 9, Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward while racing in a sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park the night before the Sprint Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. As law enforcement investigated the incident – Stewart was ultimately not charged with a crime – and Stewart grieved, he sat out three races.
When he returned to the Cup Series, he got a waiver from NASCAR that would have put him in the Chase if he won one of the remaining two races before the Chase. He didn't, and didn't get another top 10 until Martinsville, where he finished fourth.
In an interview with the Associated Press before the race, Stewart said he was sad that the streak could end but he wasn't done winning championships. On Sunday, he said the evening wasn't about him.
"It's not about me right now," Stewart said. "It's about us as a group. It's about everybody at Stewart-haas Racing. You know, you learn when you're in these situations that it's about a larger group of people and a bigger picture that's in play. I'm grateful that I ahve a co-owner and co-workers and teammates that are such great people that no matter what's been thrown at us the last year and a half that this organization was able to thrive and continue to prosper and be successful through this."
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!