Tony Stewart is more relaxed this season when things go wrong.
By JOANNE KORTH
Published May 3, 2003
Tony Stewart was having a blast.
Leading laps at California Speedway, mixing it up with a spunky rookie, steering toward his first win of the season in defense of the Winston Cup title.
Then, the telltale puff of smoke.
A year ago, an engine failure on an otherwise promising day might have sent Stewart into a rage. But minutes after climbing out of the No. 20 Chevrolet, Stewart granted a lengthy television interview and calmly explained what went wrong.
"It just went down to the end of the backstretch and broke a rod going into Turn 3," he said. "I just tried to get slowed down and get off the racetrack so I didn't get it oiled down for everybody else."
At the start of the season, Stewart said he felt more relaxed and was determined to change his destructive behavior. So far, he has been true to his word.
Even in trying times.
Stewart has finished 25th or worse in four of the past five races, plummeting from third to 11th in the standings. But only once during that stretch did Stewart lose his cool - would you believe in a race in which he finished sixth?
"It seemed like once we won the championship last year, I dumped a 3,000-pound weight off my back," said Stewart, who bumped Elliott Sadler's car at Martinsville after he knocked Stewart out of the way in a race to the caution.
"As a race team this year we've had more fun. That's something we'd started to lose in the past. As much as we all loved the sport, we were losing the passion behind why we love it so much. We needed to get that back, and luckily winning the championship did that for us."
As Stewart closed in on the title last season, many speculated about what type of champion he would be, whether someone so impatient with the trappings of stardom could properly represent the sport. But starting with the awards banquet in December, he seemed to turn over a new leaf.
"Tony just normally wants to race a car," owner Joe Gibbs said. "But since then, he's taken to heart that he's the champion, and he wants to represent the sport in the right way.
"I think he's done a terrific job. We've had a lot of things happen to the car this year, and he doesn't seem to get nearly as uptight and rattled by it. He's more relaxed."
Stewart, the defending champion of tonight's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, Va., cannot be thrilled with the team's results the past five races, but he seems to understand that storming around the garage does not help.
A traditional slow starter, Stewart instead is staying positive.
"We're not tickled to death with our performance until we get that first win," said Stewart, who turns 32 this month. "We're starting to close in on the time period that we normally get going well. I'm not going to say we're disappointed, but we're feeling like it can be better."
He also is staying focused.
Before the season, Stewart announced he would put his lifelong dream of winning the Indianapolis 500 on hold. Competing in two races on one day - Indy in the afternoon and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 at night - puts too much strain on his Cup team, especially crew chief and close friend Greg Zipadelli.
Two weeks ago, when Stewart's name came up as a candidate for an Indy ride, the 1997 Indy Racing League co-champ and Indiana native reiterated his commitment to his stock car team.
"Knowing how he feels about that race, saying no says a lot about his priorities now," Gibbs said. "He knows that Zippy is spending his whole life working on those race cars, and 30 other guys are doing the same thing. He's taken that to heart."
As for the demands on the reigning Cup champion, Stewart is happy the so-called hassles and commitments were exaggerated.
"I think it was built up too much, to be honest," Stewart said. "I've enjoyed it. There has not been anything unpleasant about it by any means. It's just been business as usual for us."
