Offseason capsule: Tony Stewart
Yahoo! Sports has spent the offseason breaking down the Nextel Cup field as the season-opening Daytona 500 approaches.
We have counted down through the standings to No. 1: 2005 Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart.
 | Tony Stewart  | |
2005 Recap
The champ. What more is left to say?
Actually, Stewart earned his second Cup championship in a completely different manner than his first title in 2002, which was a season steeped in controversy and negativity. In contrast, 2005 was a breath of fresh air, thanks to Stewart's new laid-back and non-confrontational outlook and the way he dominated the series during the final two-thirds of the season with five wins (including an emotional triumph in his home state at the Brickyard 400), nine other top-five and five additional top-10 finishes in the final 22 races.
2006 Outlook
What's next
Stewart enters the new season with two goals: win the Daytona 500, the one major accomplishment that has eluded him, and join the exclusive class of three-time NASCAR champions. Both goals are attainable.
Best case scenario: Stewart becomes the first driver since Jeff Gordon (1997 and '98) to win back-to-back Cup titles. He also does it in a dominating fashion. If it wasn't for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Stewart easily could have the championship more or less wrapped up by mid-August if he dominates like he did last season. Even with the Chase, Stewart still could go on an early tear in the final 10 races and have things locked up well before the season finale.
Likely scenario: Stewart has never finished lower than seventh in points in his Cup career and is almost a lock to finish in the top five. But with crew chief Greg Zipadelli and most of his title-winning team from last season returning – not to mention the No. 20 team having one of the best car preparation programs in the business – it's hard to imagine Stewart doing anything else but winning the title in 2006.
Beware: Let's face it, everything has been going awfully well for Stewart for more than a year. There have been very few instances of him losing his composure. But if he suddenly goes through a string of bad luck or gets into a heated on-track confrontation with another driver like he has in the past, how well he handles the fallout will be a true test of whether the "new" Stewart doesn't backslide to the "old" one.
