Bob Jennings

It was a sunny early October Sunday afternoon as I headed up Interstate 65 to northwest Indiana to visit friends. This is familiar territory. Over the past 25 years I've driven I-65 from Indianapolis to Chicago (and back) so many times it's like tying my shoes or brushing my teeth. There were occasional flashes of red, orange and yellow appearing on the faded green of the trees along the highway. It was still a bit early in the season in Indiana for much autumn color however. So the scenery on my trip was mostly "uneventful" Midwestern flat terrain I've seen hundreds of times before.

But there was the urgency of the start of U.S. reprisals against the terrorists in Afghanistan taking place. I was listening closely to the news coming from my car radio. I was also hitting the channel button so I could follow the Winston Cup race in Charlotte. For much of the NASCAR race Tony Stewart was running in front. However as the race moved to its conclusion, it became apparent Sterling Marlin's Coors Light Dodge was faster than Stewart's Home Depot Pontiac. 

Sterling Marlin won the Charlotte race giving Chip Ganassi a second Winston Cup win since Ganassi assumed majority ownership of the Felix Sabates NASCAR team. Tony Stewart finished second at Lowes Motor Speedway. Then he complained to a radio reporter he wasn't fast enough to beat Marlin's Dodge Intrepid because of rules advantages implemented in August by NASCAR on the eve of the "Brickyard 400." Perhaps there's something to Stewart's allegations. After going winless in the first 20 races of the current Winston Cup season, Intrepids have won three of the nine most recent events. 

Stewart's relationship with NASCAR has been troubled in 2001. Tony was placed on probation for his part in a bumping match with Jeff Gordon at Bristol in March. Then Stewart was penalized in the "Pepsi 400" at Daytona for dropping below the white line on the inside of the tri-oval section of the racing surface. That prompted Tony's confrontation with Gary Nelson. Problems with the media popped up along the way too. After the "Brickyard 400" there was a fracas between one of the Home Depot crew members and Will Hampton of Indianapolis TV station WISH channel 8 as the reporter tried to interview Tony, who was disappointed with problems he experienced near the end of the race. Recently Stewart has taken on Goodyear. After the Winston Cup race at Dover Tony called his tires "junk." A few days later Joe Gibbs' son J.D. issued a media release that amounted to an apology for Stewart's criticism of Goodyear. 

Do you get the idea that Tony Stewart isn't having much fun this season? Last night I read an interview with Stewart on the ESPN website in which Tony expressed a lot of frustration and dissatisfaction with NASCAR. Stewart's closing comments in the interview with Jerry Bonkowski were "From what I've seen of NASCAR, they're pretty hardheaded and set in their ways. Their approach is, 'It's our way or the highway.' I might be driving down the highway pretty soon."

It's almost time for racing fans to reflect as the 2001 racing season moves to its conclusion. An interesting exercise is to list the most dynamic performers in motorsports at present. Michael Schumacher has to be at or near the top of anyone's list of the best racers in the world. Juan Montoya has been impressive in his first year of Formula One after conquering the "Indianapolis 500" in 2000 and CART in 1999. Montoya seems to worry Schumacher, judging from some of Michael's recent  disparaging remarks about the Colombian. 

There are other guys grabbing wins and headlines this season too. Jeff Gordon has come back without Ray Evernham and looks set to claim his fourth career Winston Cup championship. Gil de Ferran has recently stolen the thunder but for much of this season Kenny Brack has been the guy to beat in CART. Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems to get better each week and he's replaced his father as NASCAR's most popular driver. In my opinion Buddy Lazier is the best in the Indy Racing League. But young Sam Hornish was able to withstand Lazier's challenge to win the IRL title this season. 

As you read this you might be thinking about your own list of racing's best drivers. If you don't include Tony Stewart you're missing the point. In his third season of Winston Cup Stewart has shown he's as good if not better than anyone else in NASCAR. He may not be selling as many tee shirts and souvenirs in "NASCAR-land" as he was this time last year. But if you go to a race track in Indiana on a Saturday night you'll probably see a lot of orange number 20 caps, jackets and sweat shirts which proclaim admiration for Tony Stewart.  

Many of us in "Hoosier land" (including me) think our local boy from Rushville, Indiana by way of Columbus, Indiana is the best racing driver out there. Among the ever increasing number of Indy Racing League fans there are some of us who still claim Tony Stewart as an IRL driver. Kenny Brack is another of our "IRL guys"  who's made good elsewhere although not at the same level as Tony  Stewart. 

The more controversy that surrounds Tony Stewart the more he reminds me of Nigel Mansell, another  of my racing favorites. Obviously there are some personality and maturity issues when it comes to Stewart. Perhaps his parents spoiled him when he was growing up. I don't know Tony so I can only speculate on the reason for his behavior. But like Nigel Mansell, the way Tony Stewart performs in a racing car strikes a responsive chord inside me. For a lot of long time racing fans Stewart is reminiscent of a young A.J. Foyt. Being like A.J. Foyt is still a good thing to a lot of people in Indiana. 

Tony Stewart is the featured player on this website. When I launched the original version of Bob Jennings' World O' Racing in 1996 I was caught up in a Tony Stewart frenzy. Watching Stewart run like a rocket in front of the field during the opening laps of the 1996 "Indianapolis 500" is one of my all time favorite racing memories. Time and time again on this website I write about how I became excited about the Indy Racing League because of Tony Stewart.

Although Stewart only won three races in his 26 career IRL starts, he had one of the strongest identifications to Tony George's series of any driver who's participated. Tony Stewart was called the Indy Racing League "poster boy" in the early days of the series. Remember that? Images of Stewart in one of the cosmic yellow Menard IRL cars are still vivid in my mind. The Menard seasons with Larry Curry is my favorite Tony Stewart period. It will probably be that way until Stewart wins his first "Indianapolis 500."

Stewart has only run two races, both at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, since he left the Indy Racing League after the 1998 season. But Tony still holds the record for the most laps led in competition in the IRL. Greg Ray needs 366 leading laps to pass Stewart as the all time IRL lap leader. 

After Stewart made it known he didn't plan to do the Indianapolis - Charlotte "doubleheader" again after his first attempt in 1999 I was disappointed. That's an understatement! It was bad enough when Tony left the Indy Racing League on a full time basis for NASCAR in 1999. When Stewart dropped the "Indianapolis 500" from his annual plans shortly after Memorial Day weekend 1999 I felt worse. 

Stewart dropped the "Indianapolis 500" from his public dialogue for more than a year. The first sign  Tony was getting homesick for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway came when I watched the replay of  the USAC midget Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale Speedway last November on ESPN2. Before the race which he won, Stewart was asked if it was the open wheel race he most wanted to win. He said that he wanted to win the "Turkey Night" show but there was another open wheel race he wanted to win more. Of course I knew which open wheel race Tony was referring to.

I first heard about it in mid-April. Robin Miller made a comment on a Sunday night sports program on Indianapolis TV station WTHR channel 13 that Tony Stewart was coming back to race in the "Indianapolis 500" for Chip Ganassi's Target team. That caught my attention in a big way. Often I find whatever comes from Robin Miller is disagreeable but this time I liked what he was saying.

Given past events, the teaming of Chip Ganassi and Tony Stewart for the "Indianapolis 500" was one of the most interesting off track developments in a long time. Talk about strange "bedfellows." It reminded me of another piece of news delivered by Robin Miller in September 1982. In a race report from the CART 150 mile race at Michigan International Speedway in The Indianapolis Star on September 27, 1982, Robin wrote Al Unser was joining Roger Penske's team for 1983. That meant Unser was moving from Bobby Hillin's Longhorn team and the most disappointing period of his career to the powerful Penske organization and unlimited possibilities for success. 

If you have looked at this website at any length you can determine I have little regard for Roger Penske. Penske takes on the image of a demon as I indict him for being the primary reason for the relative fall in popularity and prestige of Indy car racing. No doubt some of you cast Tony George in a similar role. I'll argue the point if you like. Send me an e-mail. 

Although Penske isn't one of my favorites and wasn't in September 1982 I wanted Al Unser to win races again. Driving for Roger Penske presented winning opportunities for Big Al. During nine seasons from 1983 through 1992 Unser drove Roger Penske's race cars full time for three years and then on a part time basis. Al only won three Indy car races driving cars for Penske. One of those wins was Al's fourth victory in the 1987 "Indianapolis 500." The other two (Cleveland 1983 and Phoenix 1985) propelled Unser to CART championships. If Unser's wins were small in quantity they were very large in quality.  

Chip Ganassi has been one of the principal leaders of the opposition (CART) since the Indy car split in 1996. Ganassi has been ruthless and opportunistic since he started his Indy car team at the end of 1989. Chip was a minority partner in Patrick Racing in 1989. After he and Pat Patrick split up, Ganassi purchased the team's inventory and located in the former Patrick Racing headquarters.  

Chip goes through drivers the way Elizabeth Taylor goes through husbands. Eddie Cheever, Arie Luyendyk and Bryan Herta were hired and fired during the formative years of the Target team. Michael Andretti walked away from the red Target cars in 1994 when the opportunity to return to the Newman Haas team in 1995 became available. But Michael was the only guy to leave of his own choosing rather than be told to go. Ganassi's treatment of Herta was especially tough stringing Bryan along until it was almost too late for him to find another ride for 1996.  

Just as Ganassi tried a series of drivers on his way to the top he also tried a variety of race car packages. The Target Ganassi team began the 1990 season with year old Penskes left over from  Patrick Racing. Eddie Cheever was racing Ilmor Chevy powered 1990 Lolas by mid-season however. For 1992 Ganassi signed with Ford Motor Company to race the new Ford Cosworth XB Indy car engine package. In 1994 Ganassi brought the Reynard chassis to Indy car racing. For 1996 Ganassi traded in his Ford engines for Honda power and replaced the Goodyear "rubber" on his cars with Firestone tires.

The Honda - Reynard - Firestone combination brought Ganassi the success he'd been looking for. Jimmy Vasser won four CART races on the way to the 1996 championship and rookie Alex Zanardi took three more CART victories. In 1997 Zanardi won five races in the Target Reynard - Hondas and brought another CART championship to the Target team. Zanardi won seven races and another CART title in 1998. Alex answered the call of Formula One for 1999 after an unsuccessful attempt a few years earlier. He joined the Williams team as Jacques Villeneuve's replacement.

Chip Ganassi essentially rescued Alex Zanardi's racing career when he hired the Italian for 1996. At the time Zanardi was signed for 1996 he was racing Lotus production cars in a local British series. Ganassi's gamble on Zanardi made Chip look like a genius. Perhaps bringing in 23 year old Juan  Montoya as Zanardi's replacement for 1999 wasn't as big a gamble but it still made Ganassi look pretty savvy.

I want to comment on Alex Zanardi's terrible accident at the CART race in Germany. When I first saw the report of Zanardi's injuries on the Internet on Saturday September 15 it made me feel sad. Alex was a wonderful racing driver, certainly one of the most successful in CART history. Once he figured things out he became the "man to beat" in nearly every race. His first CART win came at Portland in June 1996 in his ninth start in the series. Who can forget the spectacular pass Alex put on Bryan Herta in the "corkscrew" on the final lap at Laguna Seca in 1996? Zanardi won a total of 15 races in the three  CART seasons before leaving for Formula One. His CART comeback this year has been disappointing but Zanardi was beginning to turn it around. He was fast at the EuroSpeedway. He led the German race before pitting, after which his accident occurred. I sincerely hope he recovers from his injuries and is able to carry on. Racing can be a very cruel sport sometimes.   

Montoya won the 1999 Long Beach race in only his third career CART start. Juan followed with wins at Nazareth, Rio de Janeiro, Cleveland, Mid Ohio, Chicago and Vancouver. Although Montoya tied Dario Franchitti in total points for the season, Juan became the 1999 CART champion because he had seven wins on the season compared to three for Franchitti. The 24 year old Columbian was so impressive he made people forget about Zanardi who he replaced on the Target team.

Despite the Target team's success with Honda and Reynard from 1966 through 1999, which yielded four consecutive CART championships and a total of 30 wins, Chip Ganassi was ready for another change. In October 1999 Ganassi announced he would be switching to Toyota power for the 2000 CART season. A few weeks later it was also announced the Target team was replacing their Reynards with Lolas for 2000.

The Lola - Toyota package became better as the 2000 CART season progressed. Montoya brought the first CART win to Toyota at Milwaukee. The Japanese auto maker was in the fifth season of its CART program. Juan also took wins at Milwaukee and Gateway later in the season and Jimmy Vasser won the CART race through the streets of Houston. But the season title went to Gil de Ferran racing a heavily modified Marlboro Reynard powered by Honda for Roger Penske.                

However Chip Ganassi knows how to compensate. He knew that winning a fifth consecutive CART championship wasn't likely in 2000 with Toyota. There are reports that Ganassi received $40 million to make the switch from Honda. So Chip made a deal for Budweiser to become an associate sponsor for the return to the "Indianapolis 500" in May 2000 with Target G-Force - Oldsmobiles for Montoya and Jimmy Vasser. 

The rest of that story is history as Montoya led 167 laps and drove to an easy win in the 84th "Indianapolis 500." Unlike the somewhat opportunistic "500" win by Roger Penske and Helio Castroneves this past May, Montoya kicked ass. Ganassi appeared to be more elated over winning Indianapolis than he was after any or all of his team's CART titles and he called it "the greatest moment of my life." 

As if branching out to race in the "Indianapolis 500" wasn't enough for Chip Ganassi, he acquired majority ownership in Felix Sabates' NASCAR operation. Upon assuming control of the Sabates team Ganassi decided to join DaimlerChrysler and run Dodge Intrepids in 2001. We know the rest of that story too.

It's a big deal to me for Tony Stewart to win the "Indianapolis 500." If Chip Ganassi can provide the winning ride, that's where I want Tony to be. It's the same thing as 1983 when Al Unser went to drive for Roger Penske. 

Not long after Robin Miller's initial revelation to Dave Calabro on Indianapolis television, the Stewart - Ganassi deal gathered momentum. According to Chip, he and Stewart didn't discuss the "Indianapolis 500" until the Winston Cup race at Talladega on April 22. The following weekend Curt Cavin reported in The Indianapolis Star about a Stewart - Ganassi deal being worked out at the Winston Cup race at California Speedway    

In the May 2 issue of  National Speed Sport News there was a report by Bruce Martin. The heading above Martin's story asked "Will Tony Stewart Race in Indy 500?" and opened with the following words:

"The most anticipated return to the 85th Indianapolis 500 may not be team owner Roger Penske's  return to the race for the first time since he failed to make the field in 1995 or Michael Andretti's bid to win the Indy 500 for the first time in his career.

In fact, the most anticipated return to the Indy 500 over the past ten days involves a driver who hasn't competed in an Indy car race in more than two years but is more well known as one of NASCAR Winston Cup racing's best drivers.

According to sources, Tony Stewart has agreed in principle to compete for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing in this year's Indianapolis 500, either as a third driver on a team that also includes CART rookies Nicolas Minassian and Bruno Junqueira or as a replacement for one of the rookies.

Team owner Chip Ganassi however told ESPN.com that the deal has not been finalized."

As Stewart was preparing to go to Richmond for the Winston Cup race on May 5 he was quoted in the media as saying a deal had not been completed and indicated the primary issue involved his Winston Cup sponsor The Home Depot. But it seems as if once the weekend of the Richmond race came and with it  Stewart's tenth Winston Cup victory, the issues fell into place. The next day practice opened for the 85th "Indianapolis 500".  A press conference was called for the following day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to announce Minassian and Junqueira would be replaced by Tony Stewart and Chip Ganassi's original champion Jimmy Vasser in the Target cars at Indianapolis.   

I wonder how much Tony Stewart was paid to drive for Ganassi. Home Depot had to be happy with the deal. Not only was there a square orange Home Depot decal on the nose of Stewart's number 33 Target G Force, there was an identical decal on the nose of Jimmy Vasser's car and on the cars eventually qualified by Minassian and Junqueira. But Target had to be happy too. The wild asymmetrical "thorny vine" graphics on Tony's helmet were painted in white and metallic red with a red Target bulls eye above the visor.

The second day of practice for the 85th "Indianapolis 500" on Monday May 7 was cut short by afternoon showers but not before 39 cars turned 1070 laps. For the second day in a row Greg Ray was fastest with a lap at 222.976 mph in his backup 2T Menards Dallara. Arie Luyendyk was second fastest at 221.340. Ray had third fastest speed (221.130) in another backup Menard Dallara, this one carrying number 22. Eliseo Salazar was fourth fastest (220.634) in A.J. Foyt's Harrah's Dallara number 14. Scott Sharp's Delphi Dallara number 8 had the fifth fastest lap at 220.340 mph. The top five cars were followed in order by Eddie Cheever (220.037), Robby Gordon (220.028) in the Foyt Conseco Dallara, Billy Boat (219.994), Robbie Buhl (219.621) and Vasser at 219.381 mph.

Al Unser Jr. did 30 laps in his number 3 Starz G Force with a quick lap of 218.208 mph. That was 17th fastest. Tony Stewart ran 24 laps in the Target car 33T with a quick lap of 215.474 mph. Tony was able to only get five laps in his primary Target car 33 before rains closed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the day. Stewart's top lap of 196.347 in that car ranked him 39th (and slowest) on the day. 

As practice for the 85th "Indianapolis 500" opened I faced the bleak reality I would be unemployed as of Memorial Day weekend. There was a possible contract assignment in suburban Chicago at Allstate Insurance. But other than that I had no prospects for work. Since I didn't want to lose even an hour's pay from my three weeks of remaining income I altered my schedule at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Unlike May 1999 and 2000 I couldn't take vacation to go to "500" practice. So I had to be content with arriving at the Speedway for the final 30 minutes of track action each day. It was disappointing but things worked out okay and I made the most of my daily half hour.

I didn't go to the Speedway on Monday May 7 because rained closed the track early. However the next day I rushed out of work at 5 PM, ran to my car and hurriedly drove west on 16th Street. As I was getting within sight of the Speedway I heard Vince Welsh report on WIBC that Casey Mears had crashed one of Rick Galles' cars, bringing out the yellow light. Upon hearing of the Mears crash I thought to myself  the last thing Al Unser Jr. and the Galles team needed was another wrecked race car.   

I entered the pits via the Gasoline Alley entrance at 5:30 PM. The yellow light was still on while safety crews cleaned up the Mears crash. Al Unser Jr. was nowhere to be seen. Earlier in the day Little Al turned 44 laps in his Starz G Force. Unser's fastest lap was 220.630 mph which ended up 16th best for the day. 

I walked north through the pits until I spotted the Target G Force number 33. Within a few moments Tony Stewart arrived and began putting on his helmet and preparing to take car 33 on to the track. 

I've enjoyed each of Tony Stewart's three Winston Cup wins in 2001. David Coulthard's wins in Brazil and Austria have been the highlights of the Formula One season for me. However my three happiest racing moments during the 2001 racing season involved Indy cars.

When Tony Stewart moved into the lead on lap 137 in the "Indianapolis 500" I experienced euphoria because I thought Tony was heading for victory. Obviously that didn't happen but at the time I felt terrific and remembering the feeling still brings a smile to my face. The endorphins were circulating around my brain while Stewart led with little more than 50 laps remaining in the "500." I still don't understand why Chip Ganassi brought Tony to the pits while he was leading when it was apparent the rain would come down any moment. But it was still the number one moment for me in racing this year. 

Next on my list was a much needed win for Al Unser Jr. in the Indy Racing League event on August 26 at Gateway International Raceway. Seeing Tony Stewart climb into the Target G Force at the  Indianapolis Motor Speedway around 5:40 PM on Tuesday May 8 ranks number three. I went through a roll of film quickly and the photo I like best is displayed at the top of this page. 

Red isn't my favorite color on a race car. I don't particularly like the way Ganassi's Target cars looked  over the years. But the red number 33 car looked good to me last May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's ironic. It was the second time I cheered for a driver named Tony in a red car 33 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tony Bettenhausen drove the red number 33 Jones & Maley Special to fourth place in the 1958 "500" after leading the race for 24 laps.   

45 cars ran 1783 practice laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday May 8. Mark Dismore topped the speed charts with a lap at 224.823 mph in the number 28 Delphi Dallara. Arie Luyendyk had the second fastest lap at 223.986. Jeff Ward was third at 223.716 mph. Buddy Lazier (223. 315) had the fourth fastest lap of the day. Eddie Cheever was fifth quick at 223.146 mph. The second five in order of lap speeds on May 8 were Helio Castroneves (222.997), Jimmy Vasser (222.587), Greg Ray in Menard Dallara number 2T at 222.467, Eliseo Salazar (222.166) and Scott Goodyear at 222.132.

Tony Stewart was eleventh fastest in his primary number 33 Target G Force at 221.810. Tony ran 40  laps in car 33. He ran 41 laps in Target car 33T with a fast lap at 220.076 mph, which was 21st fastest for the day.  

Throughout last summer there were bits and pieces of information to suggest Tony Stewart might join Chip Ganassi's NASCAR team for next season. According to the stories, part of the Ganassi - Stewart package was a lifetime deal for the "Indianapolis 500." Both Ganassi and Stewart have admitted they  discussed racing together again in the future. Tony says the discussion has only been about the "500." Ganassi characterized it as "a little bit of this and a lot of that." 

Recently it's been announced that Kenny Brack would join the Ganassi team in CART for 2002. Brack indicated the "Indianapolis 500" and possible NASCAR appearances were part of his arrangement with Ganassi. I also read that Ganassi is trying to buy Tony Kanaan's contract from Mo Nunn. Hopefully the signing of Brack and Kanaan won't keep Tony Stewart out of a Ganassi Target car next May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.