“I know part of it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Stewart. “I'm sure when I get with my family and friends again that it's all going to hit me. Since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to just compete at the Brickyard. Then when I realized that, I was like, we ran so well and missed it so many times, it was like, ‘I know I can win at the Brickyard one day.’ So finally today was that day.”
There was once a day when the writer of this story wished he could do the same, but for now I have to settle for watching drivers like Stewart—and my hero Mark Martin—take to the 2.5 mile rectangle in Speedway, Indiana. And of course, the occasional video game race at Indy, which I take even more seriously than any other race I ever run on a video game.
As I sat in this show car at Indy in 2005, I knew my dreams of ever actually driving around this track were slim and none. But, I do a fair job on video games. Indy is mine in the digital world!
This season Stewart made a monumental risk in moving to his own team as a driver-owner. Michael Waltrip has been less than stellar at the job, and Robby Gordon just isn’t competitive. But, Stewart has broken the mold. He’s the first driver-owner to lead the Cup points standings since Alan Kulwicki did in 1992.
Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup Championship. Stewart might be the favorite to win the Sprint Cup in 2009. Even more than that, he’s my favorite pick to win the 2009 Brickyard 400.
Stop the presses.
No, I am not picking Mark Martin to win it, although I’m going to be pulling for my role model as I do in every race, but it’s tough to not overlook Stewart and his career statistics at Indy.
He has one pole, two wins and four top five finishes in ten races. Not counting last year’s tire plagued race, Stewart has finished no lower than 17th in his other nine Brickyard 400s. In fact, he has only finished outside the top fifteen twice (that 17th and last year’s 23rd).
In 2005, though, Stewart completed a dream. He already won a Winston Cup title in 2002 (over Mark Martin might I add) and that may not have been the highlight of his career. In 2005 he beat out Kasey Kahne in an intense battle for the win. On a restart with ten to go Stewart ducked under Kahne going into turn two. After the race he explained his daring pass. “When I sailed off into two, I mean, I had the attitude I was either going to win it or wear it,” he said.
He won it. Maybe my favorite memory of that race was Stewart, lying on the pit road wall after kissing the bricks on the front straightaway, just soaking in the moment.
He has one pole, two wins and four top five finishes in ten races. Not counting last year’s tire plagued race, Stewart has finished no lower than 17th in his other nine Brickyard 400s. In fact, he has only finished outside the top fifteen twice (that 17th and last year’s 23rd).
In 2005, though, Stewart completed a dream. He already won a Winston Cup title in 2002 (over Mark Martin might I add) and that may not have been the highlight of his career. In 2005 he beat out Kasey Kahne in an intense battle for the win. On a restart with ten to go Stewart ducked under Kahne going into turn two. After the race he explained his daring pass. “When I sailed off into two, I mean, I had the attitude I was either going to win it or wear it,” he said.
He won it. Maybe my favorite memory of that race was Stewart, lying on the pit road wall after kissing the bricks on the front straightaway, just soaking in the moment.
Tony Stewart celebrated his first Brickyard win in 2005 by driving all around the 2.5 mile rectangular shaped track. These fans in front of me certainly enjoyed Stewart's victory. “I drove a tow truck for a guy I raced sprint cars against. And I would drive down 16th Street and wonder what it would be like to be 300 feet to the left running 200 miles-an-hour,” he said in victory lane. “I got a chance to do that. Finally today, I got to feel what it feels like, to see what the view is of coming down that front straightaway, seeing those checkered flags as the first driver to go under versus the third or fourth driver.”
But Stewart wasn’t satisfied with just one win. In 2007 he was able to reel in Kevin Harvick with ten to go and make a pass for the win. Stewart drove down the 5/8ths of a mile frontstretch using his knees to steer while taking a drink from his water bottle, and keyed his mic playfully saying, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.” He drove away and won by nearly three seconds.
Stewart runs through turn one during practice for the 2007 Brickyard 400
“This one I’m going to remember a lot more of it, for sure, afterward,” Stewart said. “But no, it is still like a dream. The first one was great, but there was so much going around it, being the first one. Both races were special. Neither of the wins outweighs the other win.”
Stewart made waves with what he said on TV after the race for the second straight race. When he won at Chicago two weeks earlier he commented that he was going to celebrate with his team and drink a case of Schlitz beer. He was chastised for being a bad role model by members of the media. Stewart basked in the limelight of the negative press, and made some more after winning the Brickyard 400.
“This one is for every one of those fans in the stands that pull for me every week and take all the bulls--t from everybody else,” Stewart said after the race.
Say what? I nearly fell down the steps I was descending when I heard Stewart say this. I turned and looked at my dad and said, “Did he just say what I think he just said?” My dad replied, “If you heard the same thing I heard, then I think so.”
While I doubt we’ll hear the same thing from a much more laid back Stewart if he wins this year, I know we’ve got a very good opportunity to see him snatch his third victory at Indy. Even his teammate/employee Ryan Newman—also a Hoosier—has run well this year, and he’s positioning himself to make a run at Indy too.
Smoke now carries the #14 of his childhood hero A.J. Foyt, also an Indy legend, and I know he’ll be fired up to be, “Back Home Again, In Indiana.” Come on, you didn’t think I’d miss an opportunity to sneak in a reference to Jim Nabors, did you?
“I’m the first Indiana-born driver to win the Brickyard 400,” Stewart said after his first win in 2005. “That’s an award and an honor that I’m proud to have finally.” And, he might become the first Indiana born driver to win three Brickyard 400s if he continues to run as well as he has all season.
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Thanks for joining in on this lengthy look back at Tony Stewart’s history at Indy. Smoke is always entertaining and should be considered a favorite to win at Indy in 12 days. Join me tomorrow as we take yet another look at the Brickyard 400’s past. It was a race that was on ESPN Classic on Monday evening, and it also was yet another Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin duel to the checkers.
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