An improved Stewart?
by Steve Waid
I know the season is very young and there are all kinds of circumstances and scenarios that could arise.
But through them all, I think we might see a calmer, kinder Tony Stewart.
We all know Stewart's past, one filled with episodes of temper tantrums, bratty behavior and physical confrontations.
Then there's that other Stewart, the guy who can be pleasant, polite, contrite and downright funny. He's the guy who, when he wins, can wow fans by climbing the fence and then joke he's too fat to do that sort of thing.
I wrote a while back that while at the annual Media Day at Daytona, Stewart's persona was far removed from that which has been perceived so often in the past, I thought someone had cloned him, complete with a Jerry Seinfeld brain chip.
He was cooperative, informative, all smiles and hung around much longer than his planned time.
I've seen him at Media Day when he would have much preferred to have a root canal.
During the week leading up to the Daytona 500, I didn't see much of Stewart, other than when he was on the track.
He was cruising. He won the Budweiser Shootout and a Gatorade Duel race. His Joe Gibbs Racing team was so pleased with his Chevrolet that it ran about six laps in final practice before calling it a day. Stewart became the odds-on Daytona 500 favorite. He has never won the race.
And he most likely would have had there not been a late-race bobble that slowed him and made him a target for Kurt Busch. Both crashed out of the event.
Afterward, Stewart, with a slight smile and a calm demeanor, expressed his disappointment but praised his team and said things would get better. There was a time when he might not have given an interview at all.
OK, let's get one thing straight. I have no idea how Stewart behaved in other situations or with other people during the week. There might have been a few folks who saw his dark side.
My point is that at least for me, and doubtless several others, the Stewart seen at Daytona is the kind of Stewart we would like to see all the time.
I think that would serve him very well.
by Steve Waid
I know the season is very young and there are all kinds of circumstances and scenarios that could arise.
But through them all, I think we might see a calmer, kinder Tony Stewart.
We all know Stewart's past, one filled with episodes of temper tantrums, bratty behavior and physical confrontations.
Then there's that other Stewart, the guy who can be pleasant, polite, contrite and downright funny. He's the guy who, when he wins, can wow fans by climbing the fence and then joke he's too fat to do that sort of thing.
I wrote a while back that while at the annual Media Day at Daytona, Stewart's persona was far removed from that which has been perceived so often in the past, I thought someone had cloned him, complete with a Jerry Seinfeld brain chip.
He was cooperative, informative, all smiles and hung around much longer than his planned time.
I've seen him at Media Day when he would have much preferred to have a root canal.
During the week leading up to the Daytona 500, I didn't see much of Stewart, other than when he was on the track.
He was cruising. He won the Budweiser Shootout and a Gatorade Duel race. His Joe Gibbs Racing team was so pleased with his Chevrolet that it ran about six laps in final practice before calling it a day. Stewart became the odds-on Daytona 500 favorite. He has never won the race.
And he most likely would have had there not been a late-race bobble that slowed him and made him a target for Kurt Busch. Both crashed out of the event.
Afterward, Stewart, with a slight smile and a calm demeanor, expressed his disappointment but praised his team and said things would get better. There was a time when he might not have given an interview at all.
OK, let's get one thing straight. I have no idea how Stewart behaved in other situations or with other people during the week. There might have been a few folks who saw his dark side.
My point is that at least for me, and doubtless several others, the Stewart seen at Daytona is the kind of Stewart we would like to see all the time.
I think that would serve him very well.
