By Ryan - Posted on September 28, 2011

By any measure, Tony Stewart has definitely saved the best for last. He has turned an average (well, average for him) season into a spectacular start to the 10-race Chase to the Championship.

In last year’s race, Stewart was leading Clint Bowyer toward the checkered flag, but ran out of fuel on the white flag lap. In this year’s race, Bowyer was closing in on his first win of the season, but ran out of fuel three laps from the finish.  Stewart had enough fuel to finish, and passed Bowyer for the win.

"I know exactly how he feels right now," Stewart said. "I saw him slow down on the backstretch, and I thought, 'Oh, no, you're kidding me.' That's not the way you want to win, but we're in the Chase now, and we've got to get everything we can get."

Forty laps from the finish, Bowyer came out of the pits in first place, and immediately began to try to save fuel. Unfortunately, he ended in 26th place. Denny Hamlin, who cannot seem to catch a break whenever he is in the Chase, also ran out of fuel and finished 29th.

Brad Keselowski, boasting a hot streak over the last handful of races, had another great finish, coming in second behind Stewart. Keselowski has to be one of the biggest stories this season, as he is now third in the Chase standings. It seems to be as much of a surprise to him as it is to everyone else.

"It's funny, because 10 races ago, we left Loudon here 23rd in points," Keselowski said. "Who'd have ever thought we'd be third in 10 weeks? It's been a good road to travel down the last few weeks, and today was no exception.”

Greg Biffle was third, and Jeff Gordon, who led the most laps with 78, finished fourth. Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, Juan Montoya, and Regan Smith rounded out the top ten.

Although Stewart is now atop the points standings, he warns his fans to only be cautiously optimistic. He said, “Got eight long weeks, still, man. It’s way too early to start counting chickens.” Regardless, he leads Kevin Harvick in the standings by seven points.

Although the Chase is still nearly anyone’s game, for those at the bottom, things are looking bleak. Hamlin, who started the race 41 points back, finished the worst of all the Chase drivers. There are nine drivers within 29 points of Stewart, but Hamlin is 66 points back, so barring some really significant problems with everyone ahead of him, his championship quest is over.