FORT WORTH, Texas — Tony Stewart figures he has no need to issue any more verbal jabs in what has become quite a fight for the Sprint Cup title.
Stewart raced to his second consecutive victory and won for the fourth time in eight NASCAR Chase races, finishing just ahead of points leader Carl Edwards in the so-called “Texas Title Fight” that fully lived up to its billing Sunday.
“I’m pretty sure what we did on the race track said everything we needed to tell him today. I don’t know how you top that,” Stewart said. “The funny thing, I don’t feel like I have to say anything. I feel like I’ve already got it done.”
After winning last week at Martinsville, Stewart got out of his car in Victory Lane and said Edwards “better be worried. That’s all I’m saying.”
Now it appears to be a two-driver fight for the championship with two races left after they finished 1-2 at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked Texas track.
Stewart has his focus set on winning a third Cup championship and becoming the first person besides Jimmie Johnson to win the title since 2005 — when Stewart won while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing before becoming a driver-owner.
“I mean we are set on it, man,” Stewart said. “This is just the way it’s going to be.”
Stewart cut his points deficit from eight to three with an average speed of 152.705 mph, the fastest Cup race at Texas, and a 1.092-second margin over Edwards, a Roush Fenway driver going for his first championship.
“He’s calmed down a little bit this week. It didn’t slow him down any,” said Edwards, the points leader for the fifth straight week. “I hope this roll doesn’t last much longer, otherwise this is going to be tough.”
The series returns this week to Phoenix, where the track has been reconfigured and resurfaced since Stewart was seventh and Edwards 28th there in February in the second race this season, and then to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the finale. Edwards won both races at the end of last season.
Stewart led seven times for a race-high 173 of 334 laps, and more importantly stayed ahead of Edwards down the stretch.
On a restart with 60 laps to go after the second caution in a matter of laps, Edwards was the leader and on the inside of Stewart.
Coming out of Turn 2, Stewart shot by onto the backstretch and charged back to the lead.
“He timed it just right,” said Edwards, who led three times for 14 laps.
