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Tony Stewart wouldnt make predictions during the preseason about his final Sprint Cup year. He knew he had struggled since 2013, and he didnt want to put on a bold face and guarantee a win or a Chase berth. He only promised he would do his best and try to have fun along the way.Many in sports equal fun with winning. Second is the first loser. But while he has compiled a house full of racing-winning and championship trophies, racing for Stewart also revolves around speed and fervent competition. Go hard or go home but go at it with respect. The atmosphere: Raw with the smell of fuel amid the blinding speed in cars driven by the fearless.Racing at the Sprint Cup level doesnt feature that grass-roots feel. Along with the boatloads of money earned and money spent come mudslides of manure that drivers and owners must trudge through. Stewart gets the double-whammy of both driver and owner. He needs his own tanker trailer of Port-o-John suction power to navigate his racing season.So he will retire after this year and go back to the pure form of racing sprint cars when he wants, not when some sponsor tells him to. He will get to the track, practice, qualify and race all in the same day and either go have pizza and beers, go light fireworks (did you see that display on Periscope?) or head to the next track. Or he could just go to sleep. Or get on his plane and go somewhere remote, away from the bright lights and the adoration.He will still rank as a superstar and he will have to contend with public perception, but it wont drain him as much as it does now. If things get too overwhelming, he can decide to change his plans.And after winning Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, Stewart can also say he went out of NASCAR as a winner in his final Sprint Cup season. Not every great driver can say that. And not every great driver had gone three years -- 84 races (plus 26 more that he missed) -- before winning in his final rodeo.For someone so brash, Stewart also apparently has a sensitive side. He doesnt understand how some people could have such venom, which they spew on social media, critical of his racing ability, his demeanor, and his past transgressions. Certainly, Stewarts resume and at-track persona -- and more than a few antics -- dont sit well with everyone and he has earned some of that hate.He reads hes too washed up, too slow and obviously cant drive the good equipment that Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch take to wins. And it might not hurt for long, but Stewart saw enough of those comments to mention in his postrace news conference at Sonoma.His win at Sonoma wont change that type of vitriol. His lengthy resume has allowed fans to form opinions. If he got on social media this week, he might stumble among those who believe that Denny Hamlin purposefully went wide in the final corner to give Stewart the win. (The video does not help the cause, especially the overhead shots. Hamlin had a good gap on Stewart and went wide, blowing the corner in epic fashion. How in the world could Hamlin mess up so bad?)But to believe Hamlin gifted the victory, you would have to assume Hamlin first made a mistake in passing Stewart in the first place.Knowing the competitiveness of a race-car driver, it is rational to believe Hamlin just delivered the choke job of ultimate proportion. Even the best make mistakes, and Hamlin has made a few in his career, especially in the 2010 championship hunt. Great pitchers hang a fastball at the wrong moment. Great basketball shooters miss from close range. Sometimes the best golfer two-putts when a 12-year-old can sink it on the first try.Stewart earned this win. He didnt get passed on either of the restarts after he assumed the lead. As he said, he probably hit all but three corners on the final 14 laps. He delivered a winning performance no matter what happened on that last lap.Now comes the Chase. In 2011 he predicted he didnt have a chance and then won five races to capture the title. So dont ask him now, hell say.Dont look on the track for answers. Teams ran the proposed 2017 package at Michigan, where Stewart had his best performance of the season prior to Sonoma. The road course at Sonoma has no correlation to any turn in the Chase, and this week the series heads to the restrictor-plate event at Daytona. Then comes another look at the 2017 package with Kentucky. Not for another month will Stewart race a car that has a potential Chase setup.The odds dont favor him. But truthfully a driver doesnt have to run great in the entire Chase to advance to the championship round. A driver could race mediocre in the first round, good in the second round and then must have those great moments over the last four events.Stewart could get there. But if he doesnt, he gave his fans one more chance to celebrate. Actually, theyll have plenty of more chances to celebrate. When he gets to running the cars that truly make him happy, they could see him race closer to their hometowns, and theyll pay cheaper prices for tickets and concessions. As long as they can see through the clouds of dirt rising from the surface, they will see Stewart wheeling a car with a smile on his face.When he wins, hell celebrate. He might have to thank a few sponsors, but hell celebrate in a victory lane void of much of the butt-kissing and media stops one has to do as part of the big-money Sprint Cup machine.It will be raw. It will be real. And it will prove once again that he has the talent. No questions asked. 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