CONCORD, N.C. (AP) – His term as Winston Cup champion has been uncharacteristically calm and quiet, and the trips to Victory Lane for Tony Stewart have been few.

Even Stewart admits his reign at the top of NASCAR has been a bust. But he’s doing his best to close out the run with a bang.

Stewart scored only his second victory of the season Saturday night, chasing down Ryan Newman over the final stretch to win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

His appearance in Victory Lane was the 17th of his career, but first since June in a season marked by engine failures, poor runs and an up-and-down struggle in adapting to a change in car makes.

“Its been harder to accept the disappointments this year,” Stewart said. “But knowing that we won the championship last year, and knowing that there were so many changes in our program … you kind of just have to bite your tongue and go on.”

Silence has never been Stewart’s strong suit, especially after a disappointing run.

Even harder for him to swallow is when the No. 20 Chevrolet was capable of winning, only to come up short because of a bad set of tires or the inability to stretch his fuel as long as others.

But in a sign of maturity for one of NASCAR’s notorious boys – remember, Stewart punched a photographer last season to add to his long list of off-track dramatics – Stewart has been the one keeping the peace within his Joe Gibbs Racing team.

When Gibbs and car owner Greg Zipadelli have been livid over mechanical failures, Stewart has been the surprising voice of reason.

“The biggest variable is just trying to find the positives in all the negatives,” he said. “Joe and Zippy were trying to keep me calm last year, but I’ve been the guy trying to keep everyone calm this year. I’ve tried to find the positives in all the negatives that have happened.”

That might not have been the case had Stewart not pulled off the win Saturday night.

His was undoubtedly the best car in the field, leading six times for a race-high 149 laps. But as the race neared its ending, Newman was again out front and in position for yet another win.

Because of a vibration in his car, Newman had to pit much earlier than everyone else. It put him back in the pack, but in position to take over the lead once the rest of the field made its scheduled stops.

So Newman was all alone, cruising with an eight-second lead, when Stewart completed his pit stop. Stewart had just 36 laps to run him down, and with the fastest car, quickly began chipping into Newman’s lead.

The two were bumper to bumper with 10 laps to go, and Stewart was primed for a pass three laps later. He pulled alongside Newman heading into the first turn with seven laps to go, then passed him for the lead in the second turn. He was in the clear from there.

“We haven’t had a lot of luck on our side this year, but we didn’t really need luck (this time) because it just didn’t come down to it,” Stewart said. “It came down to just flat winning the race. It was nice to not have to worry about the luck thing.”

Now Stewart, who has not been a contender to repeat his title all season, sits seventh in the points with five races to go. The only thing his team can do over the final stretch is try to close out the year on a high note and look toward 2004.

“Its been frustrating, but knowing that you reached the ultimate goal of winning the championship last year makes this year a little easier to deal with,” Zipadelli said. “Hopefully we can finish the next six weeks here or so with some good runs and take that momentum and start next year with it.”

AP-ES-10-12-03 1615EDT