Stewart will not defend title

Stewart

RICHMOND, Va. - When the music stopped on Saturday night, the man left outside the circle was defending Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart.

Stewart finished 18th, losing out to Kasey Kahne by a scant 16 points when the checkered flag flew on the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Missing the Chase means that Stewart is guaranteed his worst career finish in the Nextel Cup standings - he had a streak of seven consecutive seasons of finishing inside the top 10.

"We just never could get it to turn in the center of the corner," Stewart said as he made the long walk from pit road to the garage area. "All we did was make it loose on the exit. It's been an up-and-down year and the day we needed to be on, we just couldn't get on."

Missing the Chase also means that Stewart will not become the first backto back champion since Jeff Gordon turned the trick in 1997-98.

"That just proves how tough this series is and how tough it is just to make this Chase," Stewart said. "It's a big letdown, obviously, but at the same time there's 10 guys that earned their way in."

Stewart started 40th, the result of a crash during practice on Friday which caused his team to pull out a backup car. The car that Stewart crashed was a new-generation chassis, and much of the new stuff could not be transferred to the backup.

For the first half of the race, Stewart alternated being in the Chase and then back out as the field ebbed and flowed around him. He went a lap down on Lap 307, and from there it was an uphill battle.