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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Stewart Named SPEED Performer Of The Year
Tony Stewart won the closest championship battle in NASCAR Sprint Cup history...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted January 29, 2012   Charlotte, NC
He is the three-time and reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, a USAC Triple Crown winner, an IZOD IndyCar Series champion and one of the best and most versatile drivers in the world. And now, Tony Stewart is also the SPEED Performer of the Year for 2011.

Stewart put on a remarkable display in last season’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, winning a record five of 10 races and coming from the No. 9 seed to win his third series title. In the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, early front-end damage and a series of bad pit stops set Stewart far back in the field, but the Rushville, Ind., native passed an astonishing 118 cars to defeat Carl Edwards and win the race and the championship.

And that was enough for Stewart to win the coveted SPEED Performer Of The Year honors over an all-star field that consisted of Formula One champ and 2010 SPOTY winner Sebastian Vettel; MotoGP star Casey Stoner; Ryan Villopoto (Supercross/Motocross), Dario Franchitti (IndyCar), Scott Pruett (Grand-Am) and Kyle Larson (USAC/WoO).

For all his myriad accomplishments in motorsports, Stewart’s true claim to fame as a wheelman might be that he’s at his very best in situations of drama and pressure behind the wheel, what NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France likes to refer to as “Game 7 moments.”

“Looking at the history of the sport and you look at guys like A.J. Foyt and Steve Kinser, guys that have been in those positions for so long, it just seems like you thrive on those situations,” Stewart said in an exclusive interview with SPEED.com Sunday evening. “You like that challenge, you like that level of competition.”

Stewart relishes the intensity.

“When you do get in that scenario, it just seems like you focus more,” he said. “It seems like all the outside distractions don’t matter any more and you’re able to just strictly keep your eye on the prize. You hear people a lot of time talking about rising to the occasion. That’s when those guys get going, what gets them excited.”

For his efforts, Stewart was presented with the Mario Andretti Trophy, a 100-pound bronze sculpture created by artist Elie Hazak, which was presented as part of Sunday’s special edition of SPEED Center.

Representing both four-wheel and two-wheel efforts across the globe, the Mario Andretti Trophy goes to the racer who puts a premium on winning races, shines on the sport’s biggest stages and does it all with a measure of sportsmanship and class.

“There were several extraordinary performances in motor sports this season,” said Andretti, the only driver to ever win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Formula One World Championship. “In fact, this may be one of the most difficult seasons ever for the SPEED voting panel. As much as it rewards winning, this award is designed to honor the heart and soul of a racer and all of the nominees certainly put both on display all season long.”

Mario Andretti Trophy winners:

• 2006 – Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR
• 2007 – Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR
• 2008 – Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR
• 2009 – Tony Schumacher, NHRA
• 2010 – Sebastian Vettel, Formula One
• 2011 – Tony Stewart, NASCAR

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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