http://www.indystar.com/article.php?stewart01.html
Drivers share famous name and passion for racing
By Phillip B. Wilson
[email protected]
August 01, 2002
Brad Anthony Stewart's alarm clock read 2:30 a.m. He was too excited to sleep. His wife, Kim, had already drifted off, unable to keep up with her husband's ramblings about the forthcoming day.
The July day couldn't come soon enough. He couldn't wait. Stewart's slumber lasted a mere four hours.
This would be the day that a relatively unknown small-town race car driver who goes by the recognizable name of Tony Stewart would actually be face to face with his famous NASCAR namesake, who had returned to his Hoosier home to test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
For a part-time driver who makes a living from drywall but lives for driving his Thunder car street stock on Saturdays at Mt. Lawn Speedway near New Castle, this is the ultimate.
"All you can say is wow," the Mt. Lawn driver said.
It was Stewart's oldest child, 11-year-old Kinzie, who pitched the idea that her dad should take advantage of the famous last name and paint his Thunder car in the same color scheme. It's not that the sun really rises and sets with the NASCAR star -- father and daughter are actually Dale Jarrett fans -- but it made sense.
"Dad, you are Tony Stewart," Kinzie said. "Why wouldn't you want to have a car like his?"
So the Straughn, Ind., resident sprayed Krylon on his red, white and blue 1978 Caprice Classic. After 100 hours of painting, he had the same orange, white and black hues as the distinctive Winston Cup car sponsored by Home Depot.
Stewart talked another driver into trading him No. 20. The new ride made its debut this season and is just a few points out of first place.
The unheralded Stewart didn't start racing until 2000. He's two weeks shy of his 31st birthday and three months younger than his popular counterpart. A U.S. Marines stint, a marriage with three children and his own drywall business put racing on hold.
His racing-fan mother, Hazel Simpson, mandated a "big boy haircut" for the special day. She started chopping her son's long brown strands the night before. They weren't straight. A salon stylist fixed it in the morning.
Those shorter hairs were covered up anyway by a favorite hat, the orange one with the manufactured Tony Stewart cursive signature.
The giddy "other" Stewart arrived more than two hours before the conclusion of Brickyard 400 testing. He spent $22 at the museum gift shop on a white T-shirt that fit the occasion. The front showed the No. 20 orange car rolling out of Gasoline Alley with the words "Tony Stewart -- Working In The Yard." The back read: "Diggin' For The Win."
From the moment he walked into Gasoline Alley, he couldn't stop smiling. The Joe Gibbs Racing garages were at the end of the A wing. Stewart and teammate Bobby Labonte were stone-faced serious, as if they were in a race.
"If you get rid of Bobby, then Joe Gibbs could have two Tony Stewarts, you know?" the Mt. Lawn driver quipped.
As Stewart's car backed out of the garage and thundered toward the track, his wide-eyed admirer leaned on a stack of Goodyears marked with the number 20.
"Man! That looks so much like my car! God! I'd love to drive something like that!" he shouted. "I'm going to have a lifetime of memories from this! . . . All I can say is wow!"
Well worth the wait
Ninety minutes later, the former Indy Racing League champion and Winston Cup title contender emerged from the garage and greeted his namesake with a handshake.
The meeting lasted five minutes. It was as if they already knew each other.
"I guess there's like five of us around Indianapolis," the famous Stewart said of their name. "One of them got a DUI last year."
"That wasn't me," his visitor said with a hearty laugh.
The famous Stewart didn't mind his car being copied. He considered it a compliment. Many of the Mt. Lawn regulars are from Rushville, where the famous Stewart once lived and often lists as home. They didn't consider the car a compliment.
"They all came up and were like, 'Man, that's pretty weak. You ought to get your own scheme,' " Mt. Lawn's Stewart said.
NASCAR's Stewart disagreed, and with unabashed authority.
"You just tell them you got approval from the man," he said. "They can shove it . . . if they don't like it."
Both shared a hearty laugh.
"I just appreciate the moment," the Mt. Lawn driver said, shaking hands a second time.
"Don't worry about it, man," the NASCAR driver said. "It's good to meet you."
"It's good to meet you," the Mt. Lawn driver quickly responded.
The two Tony Stewarts parted after a picture and an autograph. The bill of that orange hat was signed. Now it's truly a signature cap.
"I may have to mount it and get me a new one," the wearer said.
Too enthused to leave, the Mt. Lawn driver headed to the haulers behind Gasoline Alley. He exited with autographs from Labonte, Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Jimmy Spencer, Ryan Newman and Ricky Rudd.
The autographs were for family and friends. His day had already been made.
He couldn't wait to get home, where he'd share his stories over a few beers at Moyer's Pub in Cambridge City.
It would be another long evening, but one he didn't mind.
"I couldn't sleep that night, either," he said. "I just kept remembering little things I saw all day. Kim dozed off at about 4 a.m. just looking at me."
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Drivers share famous name and passion for racing
By Phillip B. Wilson
[email protected]
August 01, 2002
Brad Anthony Stewart's alarm clock read 2:30 a.m. He was too excited to sleep. His wife, Kim, had already drifted off, unable to keep up with her husband's ramblings about the forthcoming day.
The July day couldn't come soon enough. He couldn't wait. Stewart's slumber lasted a mere four hours.
This would be the day that a relatively unknown small-town race car driver who goes by the recognizable name of Tony Stewart would actually be face to face with his famous NASCAR namesake, who had returned to his Hoosier home to test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
For a part-time driver who makes a living from drywall but lives for driving his Thunder car street stock on Saturdays at Mt. Lawn Speedway near New Castle, this is the ultimate.
"All you can say is wow," the Mt. Lawn driver said.
It was Stewart's oldest child, 11-year-old Kinzie, who pitched the idea that her dad should take advantage of the famous last name and paint his Thunder car in the same color scheme. It's not that the sun really rises and sets with the NASCAR star -- father and daughter are actually Dale Jarrett fans -- but it made sense.
"Dad, you are Tony Stewart," Kinzie said. "Why wouldn't you want to have a car like his?"
So the Straughn, Ind., resident sprayed Krylon on his red, white and blue 1978 Caprice Classic. After 100 hours of painting, he had the same orange, white and black hues as the distinctive Winston Cup car sponsored by Home Depot.
Stewart talked another driver into trading him No. 20. The new ride made its debut this season and is just a few points out of first place.
The unheralded Stewart didn't start racing until 2000. He's two weeks shy of his 31st birthday and three months younger than his popular counterpart. A U.S. Marines stint, a marriage with three children and his own drywall business put racing on hold.
His racing-fan mother, Hazel Simpson, mandated a "big boy haircut" for the special day. She started chopping her son's long brown strands the night before. They weren't straight. A salon stylist fixed it in the morning.
Those shorter hairs were covered up anyway by a favorite hat, the orange one with the manufactured Tony Stewart cursive signature.
The giddy "other" Stewart arrived more than two hours before the conclusion of Brickyard 400 testing. He spent $22 at the museum gift shop on a white T-shirt that fit the occasion. The front showed the No. 20 orange car rolling out of Gasoline Alley with the words "Tony Stewart -- Working In The Yard." The back read: "Diggin' For The Win."
From the moment he walked into Gasoline Alley, he couldn't stop smiling. The Joe Gibbs Racing garages were at the end of the A wing. Stewart and teammate Bobby Labonte were stone-faced serious, as if they were in a race.
"If you get rid of Bobby, then Joe Gibbs could have two Tony Stewarts, you know?" the Mt. Lawn driver quipped.
As Stewart's car backed out of the garage and thundered toward the track, his wide-eyed admirer leaned on a stack of Goodyears marked with the number 20.
"Man! That looks so much like my car! God! I'd love to drive something like that!" he shouted. "I'm going to have a lifetime of memories from this! . . . All I can say is wow!"
Well worth the wait
Ninety minutes later, the former Indy Racing League champion and Winston Cup title contender emerged from the garage and greeted his namesake with a handshake.
The meeting lasted five minutes. It was as if they already knew each other.
"I guess there's like five of us around Indianapolis," the famous Stewart said of their name. "One of them got a DUI last year."
"That wasn't me," his visitor said with a hearty laugh.
The famous Stewart didn't mind his car being copied. He considered it a compliment. Many of the Mt. Lawn regulars are from Rushville, where the famous Stewart once lived and often lists as home. They didn't consider the car a compliment.
"They all came up and were like, 'Man, that's pretty weak. You ought to get your own scheme,' " Mt. Lawn's Stewart said.
NASCAR's Stewart disagreed, and with unabashed authority.
"You just tell them you got approval from the man," he said. "They can shove it . . . if they don't like it."
Both shared a hearty laugh.
"I just appreciate the moment," the Mt. Lawn driver said, shaking hands a second time.
"Don't worry about it, man," the NASCAR driver said. "It's good to meet you."
"It's good to meet you," the Mt. Lawn driver quickly responded.
The two Tony Stewarts parted after a picture and an autograph. The bill of that orange hat was signed. Now it's truly a signature cap.
"I may have to mount it and get me a new one," the wearer said.
Too enthused to leave, the Mt. Lawn driver headed to the haulers behind Gasoline Alley. He exited with autographs from Labonte, Kyle Petty, John Andretti, Jimmy Spencer, Ryan Newman and Ricky Rudd.
The autographs were for family and friends. His day had already been made.
He couldn't wait to get home, where he'd share his stories over a few beers at Moyer's Pub in Cambridge City.
It would be another long evening, but one he didn't mind.
"I couldn't sleep that night, either," he said. "I just kept remembering little things I saw all day. Kim dozed off at about 4 a.m. just looking at me."
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