(Image source: ESPN)

BY JIM FLINK

Some are calling it, the greatest comeback in NASCAR history. Tony Stewart is the Sprint Cup Champion. Edging out Carl Edwards in a mano-y-mano match for all the marbles.

Here’s ESPN with the significance of the win.

“He didn’t win a race in the regular season.  But he wins half of the races in the playoffs.  We’ve never seen it.  We just finished off an historic run by Jimmie Johnson.  Jimmie Johnson never won five in The Chase.”

Stewart had a ton to overcome. The conditions. A hole in the front of his car -- which forced him to restart the race in 40th place.

The Los Angeles Times notes, Stewart took chances, and drove like a madman.

“Like an Energizer Bunny on steroids, Stewart passed 118 cars Sunday. Boom, boom, boom, he picked them off methodically, high, low, and in-between. But none was more important than the No. 99 Ford of Carl Edwards, the only guy in front of him in the standings.”

Stewart won in a tie-break over Edwards in the points race. Despite Edwards leading the final race at Homestead for 119 laps, he couldn’t close out the victory.

ESPN’s Ed Hinton called this -- the best that’s ever been.

“Tony Stewart drove a race for the ages. He won a championship for the ages. And Carl Edwards, in all-out pursuit to the end, helped Stewart seal Sunday's Ford 400 as the best NASCAR season finale there ever has been -- and probably ever will be.”

For Edwards, it was the narrowest of losses. One point separated Victory -- from second place. On Fox Sports, he reflected on what that means for him.

“I’m obviously disappointed we didn’t win.  That would have been a spectacular result.  OK?  But I’m very proud.  Some of the best races in my life, were in this chase.”

The post-race had a memorable moment as well. Edwards congratulating Stewart in his car. Sports Illustrated notes, that gesture took a lot for two drivers who’ve sparred in the past.

“There is some irony in the fact that Stewart once equated Edwards with one of the most renowned phonies in television history and that five years later Edwards was left sitting in an interview room, having just surrendered a first championship in one of the more scintillating finishes in NASCAR history, assuring everyone that his staid, reasoned handling of the calamity was indeed genuine. If Edwards is a fake, he's risen to championship caliber, and wouldn't lose the trophy in a tiebreaker.”

And Yahoo! Sports concludes, Edwards has plenty to look forward to. Despite only winning one race, he finished no lower than 11th in every Sprint Race for the Cup race.

“...as wickedly consistent as Edwards was this year, this is just a continuation of what he'd begun last year. He closed off 2010 with two first-place finishes and 13 top-10s in the last 19 races. The guy is absolutely dialed in right now. Hot streaks come and go, but consistency ... that's the kind of thing you can rely on for years upon end.”