Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson each had a mathematical chance to win the championship. However, Johnson crashed out at Lap 127 with a blown tire in Turn Three. Despite the fact that Edwards and Biffle finished upfront while Stewart finished 15th, Stewart still clinched the championship. The race was also the last for Rusty Wallace; he retired afterward, having competed in NASCAR Cup racing for 25 years. He finished his career-ending season with an 8th-place points finish. He would finish his career with 55 wins, 36 poles, 202 top 5s, 349 top 10s, and 1 Cup Series Championship, being back in 1989. Top Ten Finishers 16- Greg Biffle 6- Mark Martin 17- Matt Kenseth 99- Carl Edwards 41- Casey Mears 07- Dave Blaney 12- Ryan Newman 29- Kevin Harvick 24- Jeff Gordon 19- Jeremy Mayfield Failed to qualify: Chad Chaffin (#92), Mike Garvey (#51), Derrike Cope (#00), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Carl Long (#80) If the Chase never existed, Tony Stewart would have won the championship regardless. He would have scored a total of 5,174 points in 36 races. He would have won the title by 220 points over Greg Biffle, who would have finished 2nd in points regardless as well. 1st time since 2002 that Kyle Petty ran every single race in a season. This was the last points race without Clint Bowyer until the 2021 Daytona 500. This race would be the last time a single team swept the first four finishing positions in a Cup race until Dover in May 2021. Full Drivers' Championship (key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by owner's points standings. * – Most laps led. Rookie of the year The 2005 Rookie of the Year battle in NEXTEL Cup was pretty much decided halfway into the season. Twenty-year-old Kyle Busch became a phenomenon by winning twice and breaking the record for the youngest driver to win at NASCAR's premier level. Runner-up Travis Kvapil had a modest season, qualifying for every race, but only finishing in the top-ten twice. After that, the field was quite slim, as only Mike Garvey and Stanton Barrett ran more than seven races during the year. The only other declaree, Eric McClure, had resigned from his No. 73 Raabe Racing Enterprises ride after the season's third race. And while he had run too many races in 2004 to declare for the ROTY award for