I was thinking back to Homestead in 2005...?

May be...

Jimmie was in 2nd place, behind Tony by 52 points going into Homestead that year. In 2005 Tony finished 20th there, scoring 118 points. Jimmie would have had to get a top 4 or 5 in order to win the championship and I personally don't think he would have done that well. Lord knows I'm a Jimmie defender until the bitter end but it just wasn't in the cards, apparently. It is possible though, he did have a 2nd and 3rd in 2004 and 2003 respectively. I guess we will never know, just another one of racing's woulda/shoulda/couldas.
3 STR8 N 08!!!

I think it depends on how good his car was that night and how much better or worse he would have done that Tony! Hey thanks for reminding me of that race! Tony Stewart is my favorite driver and I love remembering him winning the championship that night!

#48JJFan Tony did not finish 20th he finished 15th!

I believe he was third going in. Biffle was 2nd and Edwards was 4th. Biffle won the race, Carl came in 8th, and Johnson 40th. The final standings had Jimmie 127 behind Stewart. Edwards and Biffle tied, but Biffle had more wins, so he was listed as second in standings. I remember that season, Jimmie was so good going in, but just fell of midway through the chase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QMyHijga...

Do you think this cost him 3 straight and a chance at 4 in a row this year. I can't remember the points going into that race.

Considering Tony finished 20th in that race, if Jimmie would have finished in the top 5, he would have had it. I will never forgot that. He had just come over the radio and said he thought he had a tire going down. He and Chad chose to stay out and hope for a caution so he would not go a lap down. The race went to commercial break, and then quickly cut back into the race and showed Jimmie in the wall. Had to watch the instant replay to see the crash. I was so incredibly bummed. Then my brother called laughing his butt off and rubbing it in. LOL! My brother is a diehard Stewart fan.