JOLIET, Ill. - Tony Stewart took himself out of title contention before the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

A topsy-turvy season led the two-time NASCAR champion to cross his name off the list of drivers he believes are legitimate title contenders, and nothing he did on track at Chicagoland Speedway changed his mind.

That includes winning.

Stewart picked up his first win of the season Monday - a day after rain washed out the opening round of the 10-race Chase - by flawlessly conserving fuel to the finish. The victory, his 40th career win in the Cup Series, tied him with Mark Martin for 16th on the all-time wins list.

More importantly, it vaulted him from ninth in the standings to second, and he trails leader Kevin Harvick by a mere seven points.

So, Smoke, you sure you aren't in the mix for a third NASCAR championship?

"One day doesn't change the whole season," he said.

Stewart, who likely benefited the most from the rain out because he was plagued with a migraine headache all day Sunday, seemed subdued in his victory celebration. He's had, by his own admission, "a rough year," and it was just last month when he said the No. 14 team didn't even deserve a spot in the Chase.

But his Stewart-Haas Racing team has turned it up a notch, evidenced by three-straight top-10 finishes and, on Monday, the end of a 32-race losing streak. Round 2 of the Chase shifts to New Hampshire, where Ryan Newman led a 1-2 finish for SHR in July.

So Stewart may not like his title chances, but this recent upswing has crew chief Darian Grubb believing the team is in the mix.

"That's Tony's mind-set," Grubb said. "We all work too hard to ever come to feeling that way."

His rivals tend to agree with Grubb.

"If you believed him when he said (that) ... you've never raced Tony Stewart," said Steve Letarte, crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. "He's a master of deflection. He seems to always be there."

Harvick, who started the race tied with Busch for the points lead, held on for second after his crew chief told him to run wide open and not worry about fuel.

Earnhardt Jr. capitalized other drivers' fuel problems to finish third, his best showing since he was second at Kansas 14 weeks ago. The strong result pushed him from 10th to fifth in the standings.

GEICO 400

Monday

At Chicagoland Speedway

Joliet, Ill.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (26) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267 laps, 114.3 rating, 47 points, $332,308.

2. (30) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267, 98.7, 42, $252,861.

3. (19) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 267, 91.4, 41, $175,950.

4. (5) Carl Edwards, Ford, 267, 113.1, 41, $186,891.

5. (6) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 267, 96.5, 40, $146,983.

6. (3) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 267, 124.5, 40, $161,750.

7. (21) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 267, 90.1, 37, $150,008.

8. (4) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267, 107.4, 37, $142,675.

9. (25) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 267, 79.7, 35, $110,600.

10. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 113.7, 35, $155,811.

11. (15) David Ragan, Ford, 267, 89, 33, $107,850.

12. (24) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 267, 69.7, 32, $120,833.

13. (8) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 267, 78.5, 31, $122,289.

14. (16) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 267, 68.5, 30, $132,383.

15. (22) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 267, 74, 29, $102,975.

16. (10) Joey Logano, Toyota, 267, 71.7, 28, $100,900.

17. (13) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 267, 77, 27, $118,445.

18. (20) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267, 85.1, 27, $99,400.

19. (17) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 267, 72, 25, $120,691.

20. (2) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, 88.6, 24, $98,500.

21. (1) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 266, 114.2, 24, $133,061.

22. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 266, 95, 23, $133,141.

23. (28) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 266, 53.6, 0, $88,925.

24. (23) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 265, 63.6, 20, $124,211.

25. (42) Mike Bliss, Ford, 265, 45.6, 0, $101,608.

26. (7) Greg Biffle, Ford, 265, 93.6, 18, $100,850.

27. (18) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 265, 56.6, 17, $122,186.

28. (40) Andy Lally, Ford, 265, 40.2, 16, $95,150.

29. (41) Casey Mears, Toyota, 265, 41.3, 15, $83,950.

30. (31) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 264, 46.5, 0, $94,358.

31. (27) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 264, 52.3, 13, $129,025.

32. (29) David Reutimann, Toyota, 263, 53.1, 12, $108,708.

33. (39) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 263, 38.7, 11, $91,097.

34. (32) J.J. Yeley, Ford, 263, 39.9, 11, $80,400.

35. (35) Scott Speed, Ford, 260, 30.4, 0, $80,175.

36. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 259, 34.6, 8, $79,975.

37. (11) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 236, 54.6, 7, $106,095.

38. (14) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, engine, 163, 85.9, 6, $118,139.

39. (37) Robby Gordon, Dodge, vibration, 77, 36.5, 5, $79,325.

40. (36) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, electrical, 45, 32.5, 0, $79,080.

41. (34) David Stremme, Chevrolet, vibration, 44, 32.4, 3, $78,805.

42. (43) Josh Wise, Ford, brakes, 41, 29.3, 0, $78,635.

43. (33) Michael McDowell, Toyota, brakes, 25, 28.4, 1, $78,907.

Top 12 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 2,054; 2. T.Stewart, 2,047; 3. C.Edwards, 2,044; 4. Ku.Busch, 2,043; 5. D.Earnhardt Jr., 2,041; 6. R.Newman, 2,040; 7. Bra.Keselowski, 2,040; 8. J.Johnson, 2,038; 9. Ky.Busch, 2,035; 10. M.Kenseth, 2,030; 11. J.Gordon, 2,029; 12. D.Hamlin, 2,013.