HAMPTON, Ga. - Don't bother asking Tony Stewart about what might have been.

The two-time NASCAR champion insists there's no frustration in winning races that make no difference in the standings -- at least not to the defending Nextel Cup champion.

Stewart, bitterly disappointed after failing to qualify for NASCAR's playoffs by a mere 16 points, has won two of the first seven events in the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup championship.

His win in Sunday's Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway again stole the spotlight from the title contenders. Last year, Stewart won his second points championship without winning any of the 10 Chase events.

At this point, Stewart, who also wrapped up his first IROC championship here Saturday, is 11th in the points and racing only for pride and wins. This latest victory, his fourth of the season, clearly made him proud as he held off title contender Jimmie Johnson in the waning laps.

Stewart led a race-high 145 of the 325 laps on the 1.5-mile oval Sunday and, afterward, literally grabbed the checkered flag after a somewhat perilous climb up the flagstand in celebration.

Johnson got off to a slow start in the Chase and was eighth, 156 points behind then-leader Jeff Burton just four weeks ago. But a second-place finish at Charlotte followed by the wins in Martinsville and second place here have put him right back into the mix for a shot at winning the one honor that has escaped him in his first four seasons in NASCAR's top stock car series.

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