Concord, N.C. ? Fuel mileage wasn’t a factor, neither was track position. For the first time in a long time, the fastest car won, and Tony Stewart was behind the wheel.

Stewart chased down Ryan Newman over the final stretch Saturday night to win the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

It was just the second win of the season in what has been a disappointing reign as Winston Cup champion for Stewart.

“It’s about time in the Winston Cup series that the fastest car won the race,” Stewart said. “That fuel stuff is getting old, and all these fans deserve to see the fastest car win the race.”

Like the rest of the competitors, Stewart has had to sit back and watch as Newman has gambled by stretching his fuel mileage to a series-high eight victories this season.

It has been irritating to the field, some of whom have even accused Newman of cheating.

“We’ve all been frustrated by races won by track position and fuel mileage,” Stewart said. “But 10 years down the road when they look at the record books, it’s only going to say Ryan Newman won the most races, and no one is going to know how he did it.”

Nor will they remember how Stewart ran down Newman to win Saturday night.

Newman, the pole-sitter, made an early pit stop to search for a vibration on the No. 12 Dodge. When the rest of the field had to make their stops much later, Newman inherited the lead from Stewart.

Bill Elliott, left, leads Tony Stewart out of turn four during the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Stewart won the race Saturday in Concord, N.C.

He had an eight-second lead when Stewart got back on the track after his stop, and Stewart had 36 laps to run him down.

But with four fresh tires, Stewart was much faster and chipped into Newman’s lead.

Stewart 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, piloting the No. 20 Chevrolet to an easy win.

“I’m not disappointed in the finish itself. I’m disappointed in having a shot to win the race and not being able to follow through,” Newman said.

Jimmie Johnson, trying to become the first driver in track history to win all three events here in the same year, finished third in a Chevrolet and was followed by Bill Elliott in a Dodge and Jeff Gordon in a Chevy.

Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth finished eighth to gain ground in his title chase. Kenseth has a 267-point advantage over Kevin Harvick with five races remaining.