Driver of the year: Tony Stewart. (NASCAR Awards 2002).

Tony Stewart's championship season won't be remembered for the numbers. Stewart won just three races, the fewest for a champ since Terry Labonte's two in 1996, and he failed to finish six races, the most for a champ since Darrell Waltrip's eight in 1982.

Stewart, 31, didn't score the most points in the first or second half of the season. He didn't lead the most laps. But he did lead all drivers with 15 top fives, his best number and one that, given the structure of the Winston Cup points system, was greater in significance than Matt Kenseth's five wins or Mark Martin's most miles completed (13,841 of 14,072).

Still, Stewart's season will be remembered for something else: He didn't let adversity drive him off course. And that, more than any other driver, was the foe he had to beat to win his first Cup title.

Stewart's talent and perseverance were recognized by peers who voted him THE SPORTING NEWS' Driver of the Year. Stewart received 39 percent of first-place votes; rookie Jimmie Johnson was second with 22 percent.

"It's an honor to have my fellow drivers vote me as their driver of the year," Stewart says. ...