Adios Tony

bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING

Adios Tony (completed 03/27/99)

Tony Stewart is towed to the pits after retiring from the 1998 "Indianapolis 500"

Bob Jennings

The photo, on this page, portrays my biggest disappointment of the 1998 racing season. I couldn't believe it!. Tony Stewart took the lead, on lap 24, of the "Indianapolis 500," with a neat pass on Greg Ray, going into turn one, but as he passed the line to be scored as leader, the Aurora engine, in the Menard car 1 Dallara, quit. Tony coasted up next to the outside wall, in turn one, got out of the car and waved to the crowd. Officials made Tony get back in, to be towed to the pits, and I caught this photo as he passed by my position inside the entrance to turn four.

More disappointing, however, than Tony Stewart being the first competitor out of the 1998 "Indianapolis 500," immediately after taking the race lead, is the realization that Stewart's Indy car and open wheel racing career is likely behind him, with but a few exceptions. He's NASCAR now. He'll probably become a Winston Cup star and Joe Gibbs has Tony Stewart tied up tight. There won't be any more "500" Pole night appearances at Indianapolis Raceway Park to race with his old USAC competitors. He won't show up at 16th St. Speedway either. He's probably moved to the metro Charlotte area now, where most of the NASCAR people live and it's unlikely we'll see Tony Stewart make midnight appearances at Stefan Johansson's karting center, within one mile of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as was his tendency during his Indy Racing League career.

The "local boy makes good" has hit the NASCAR big time and the lure of potential "Indianapolis 500" and IRL supremacy can't keep him from going for the riches down south. That's a clear example of the current environment in American motor sports. NASCAR rules. Everything else lags behind.

Joe Gibbs promised last July, at the Charlotte IRL race, that Tony Stewart would have an Indy Racing League presence and when the NASCAR schedule permitted, Tony would be able to compete in a few IRL races. Forget that! Stewart has a clause in his contract , with Gibbs, that allows him to compete in the "Indianapolis 500." With little more than two months until the "500," Stewart hasn't disclosed his plans, for May, however.

The deal with The Home Depot stores to sponsor the Joe Gibbs number 20 Pontiac means that Tony won't be able to drive for home improvement store competitor John Menard again (Home Depot, Lowes and Menards rank 1 - 2 - 3 in the category). The originally stated intent was for Tony to continue driving for John Menard, at Indianapolis and in the other selected IRL appearances Gibbs talked about last July. But things have changed in that scenario. Since that time, John Menard publicly blasted the IRL for allowing A.J. Foyt's cars extra horsepower and threatened to leave the series for CART. The day after the 1998 IRL season finale, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Menard fired long time team manager Larry Curry, who is Tony Stewart's best friend. A couple days later, Menard announced Greg Ray would drive the single Team Menard entry in 1999 IRL events, with the exception of Indianapolis, where Menard's partner in a new CART team, Robby Gordon, would also run a Menard backed team. Thomas Knapp, who ran Ray's Dallara, in IRL races where resources allowed, the previous two seasons, was hired to replace Curry, to manage Team Menard's IRL program.

There was talk that Stewart might run, at Indianapolis, for the new Tri-Star team, that Larry Curry founded, with Tony and Indianapolis associate Andy Card. Curry and Stewart were at Walt Disney World, in January. They leased the Dallara that Sam Schmidt ran last season, with some support from Teco Energy, of Tampa. Former Indy Lights and CART driver, Gualter Salles, was put in the plain white Dallara, which qualified 23rd. The car lost power, near the halfway point of the race, and was "rear ended" by 1998 IRL champion Kenny Brack. I read last week that Curry is the new general manager at ISM Racing and Steve Knapp is the new full time ISM driver, replacing Jeff Ward. So the possibility that Stewart might run the "Indianapolis 500" for his own new IRL team, appears to be remote.

Tony was linked to A.J. Foyt's team, for the "500," but Conseco pulled out as the sponsor of Foyt's car, driven by Billy Boat, and to my knowledge, a new sponsor hasn't been found. That would seem to make Stewart's addition to the Foyt team unlikely in May, as A.J. has other problems to resolve, without adding another driver into the mix.

I liked seeing Stewart drive the yellow Menard cars, but who he drives for, in May, is of secondary importance. I want to see Tony win the "Indianapolis 500," even if it means, as he has suggested, that he would give up Indy car racing completely. But what a damn shame that the Indy Racing League had to lose him, because he represents what the series is all about! He's the most natural Indy car driver, on ovals, since Rick Mears. The sad thing about this is that Tony has to be the "next Jeff Gordon," when he should be the next Rick Mears.

Tony Stewart was my original motivation for becoming an IRL fan, with his run at the inaugural Disney World race, in January 1996. During the first third of the 1996 "Indianapolis 500," I was so excited watching Stewart run the cosmic" yellow Team Menard Lola V6 turbo around the Speedway, at 230 mph plus, and away from the rest of the "500" field, that I became a "true believer" in the Indy Racing League concept and the new series.

During the early 1990's, I was real excited about Al Unser Jr. I wanted to see him parallel the accomplishments of his dad. Events, since the CART - IRL split, have diminished my enthusiasm for Little Al, but he was the focus, at the "Indianapolis 500," and the other Indy car races, from 1990 through 1992. The previous driver to get me enthusiastic the way Tony Stewart has, was in 1984, when I took a close look at Nigel Mansell, during the CBS telecast, of the Dallas Grand Prix.

Stewart generated immediate excitement, in the IRL; a mega-talented Indiana boy, from the USAC mainstream, just like earlier Indy car legends, before the personality of the competition became road racing and foreign. He was a throwback to A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, the Unsers, etc. He was the first driver to win three USAC series titles, in a single season, when he captured 1995 Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midget championships, and he was the most exciting "grass roots" oval open wheel racer, since Jeff Gordon, a few years earlier. That's when the comparisons to Jeff Gordon began.

Larry Curry played a big part in bringing Stewart to Team Menard, for the Indy Racing League opener, at Walt Disney World, in January 1996. I wish, however, Curry's Menard crew would've provided more reliable cars for the races though. In so many IRL races, Tony would dominate and run away from the competition, only to suffer mechanical problems, which either took him out of the race or out of contention for a win. Tony qualified for the pole in nine of his 24 career IRL races and he led 1502 competitive laps. Second in the lap leading category is Jeff Ward, with 417 laps in front. It took Tony ten races, however, to win an IRL race, and he had a total of three wins in the series. By virtue of his performances, Stewart should've had three or four times that many IRL victories, at the least. Even his 1997 IRL championship was a close call, as Tony collected but a few points more than his closest pursuer Davy Hamilton. "Billionaire" John Menard is reported to have spent a fortune on his racing. Judging by the reliability and durability of the racing cars provided for Tony Stewart, in the IRL, it doesn't appear that Menard spent his money wisely. Perhaps Menard ought to talk to his former driver, Eddie Cheever, about how to build a successful racing operation.

I called Stewart's Indianapolis office, last week, to inquire about potential decisions Tony has made regarding May, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I was told that Tony had "offers" and that he would definitely be in the 1999 "500." I was told that Stewart plans to race in the "Indianapolis 500" until he wins. I heard Tony say the same thing, but with less than two months until official practice for the "500" opens, things appear to be indecisive.

One of the best elements of Stewart's rise, while he was running for Team Menard, was his eagerness to race anywhere, anytime. He might run an IRL race, on a weekend, then a few days later, show up at a USAC race somewhere in the Midwest. It reminded me a lot of the early 1960's, when A.J. Foyt seemed to be racing and winning anywhere and everywhere, from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Daytona to Le Mans to Terre Haute. I liked the "throwback" to racing's past that Tony Stewart represented. It was a refreshing change from the specialization that "big money" has brought to the sport. It was traditional "grass roots" oval track racing. Not satisfied with the racing in the IRL, NASCAR Busch Grand National series and frequent USAC appearances, Tony purchased a late model stock car from another local Indianapolis racer. He put the name of Indianapolis used car dealer, J.D. Byrider, on the "stocker" and showed up at Indiana dirt tracks to do battle with the "local boys" when he could. In a seven or eight day span, last season, Tony raced in a NASCAR Busch event and in the International Race of Champions one weekend and an IRL race the following weekend. In between, he raced in two or three USAC Midget shows (one of those was in Wisconsin), ran a USAC Silver Crown event and ran at the small dirt oval, in North Vernon, Indiana, one evening with his late model car. It's too bad that's gone.

Stewart appears to be happy in the NASCAR world he now inhabits. He looks almost as natural in the orange and white Joe Gibbs Home Depot car 44 Pontiac, as he did in the Menard cars or the Steve Lewis Beast USAC midget, he won so many races with. I've read quotes, from Tony, that indicate his goals focused on NASCAR, even before opportunities with the Indy Racing League became available. He signed a contract, with Harry Ranier, late in 1995, to run in the NASCAR Busch series, with an eye toward a Winston Cup program.

Tony ran a single Busch race, in 1996, at Milwaukee, in Ranier's Pontiac. I watched that race, on television, and Stewart moved into the top five before his car quit. In 1996, NASCAR took notice of Tony Stewart and his name was linked with NASCAR team owners, like Darrell Waltrip and Rick Hendrick. Joe Gibbs expressed interest in Stewart, in the media, and there was a press conference, at the Indianapolis Athletic Club, a few days before the opening of practice for the 1997 "Indianapolis 500." It was announced that Stewart and Gibbs had reached a multi-year agreement, which would put Stewart in NASCAR, full time, by the1999 season.

Tony ran five Busch races, in the second half of the 1997 season, in Gibbs' Shell Oil car 44 Pontiac, with one top five finish. Last season, he made 22 starts in the Shell Pontiac. Stewart had five finishes in the top five, with two seconds, two thirds and one fifth place finish. The closest he came to winning a Busch race was at Rockingham, in the second race of the 1998 season. Tony qualified on pole position for that race; one of two Busch series poles he earned last year. He was leading Matt Kenseth through the final corner, of the final lap, when Kenseth lightly bumped the rear of the Shell Pontiac. That was just enough to knock Tony out of the way and take away his momentum and Kenseth went by to take the victory.

Actually, based upon his Busch Grand National series performances, I was skeptical whether Tony was ready for Winston Cup. One of my good friends, John Dailey, told me that my skepticism was more "wishful thinking" than skepticism, as I obviously wanted Stewart to remain in the IRL, and John was correct. I'd love for Tony Stewart to still be running in the Indy Racing League. I'm impressed though, with the way the first five races, in the 1999 Winston Cup schedule have gone for Tony and I think success is close.

This past Sunday, at Darlington, in the "TransSouth 400," Tony had his best race yet, qualifying tenth and finishing sixth, in the rain-shortened event. He was running third, very near the end of the race, and for several laps, he raced wheel to wheel with Jeff Gordon around the tricky "egg-shaped" Darlington circuit, which many of NASCAR's past and current stars call the most difficult track on the schedule.

Stewart's most notable accomplishment so far in the new season was to qualify on the outside of the front row for the "Daytona 500." I watched the CBS coverage of Daytona pole qualifications and I got a big kick from Tony's run. Rusty Wallace was second to make his run, at 194.187 mph, and held the top spot until Mike Skinner's 194.536 mph lap, some 25 cars later. Tony had something like the seventh fastest practice lap, prior to qualifications and I expected him to run in the top 15 cars. When he turned a lap, at 194.599 mph, to grab temporary pole position, I felt a lot of pride. It was a bit disappointing that Jeff Gordon's 195.067 mph lap pushed the Home Depot Pontiac car 20 to the outside front row grid position, but it didn't lessen my pride in Tony's performance.

In the second 125 mile race, preceding the "Daytona 500," Tony finished seventh. In that race, Tony led the opening laps and resisted race winner Dale Earnhardt's challenge, which drew Earnhardt's criticism in the media. Tony responded by asking if he was supposed to let Earnhardt pass without racing him for the lead.

In his first official Winston Cup start, the "Daytona 500," Tony ran along side, with Pole-sitter Gordon, on the opening lap. He stayed with the top three or four cars until he was caught in the middle of two lanes of race traffic and fell back. Tony recovered from that early mistake, however, and ran consistently in the top ten until he experienced problems which brought him to the garage. Stewart told CBS that he brought his "IRL luck" with him to NASCAR. The Gibbs crew put car 20 back on the track, however, and Tony completed 181 laps, to finish 28th.

Stewart qualified 20th, the following weekend, at Rockingham, and ran a good race to finish 12th. He qualified 20th again, in Las Vegas, and was taken out of the race, when Johnny Benson's car 26 hit the outside wall and ran into car 20, for a 36th place finish. At Atlanta, he qualified third and finished 11th.

Tomorrow, Tony starts 19th in the season's sixth Winston Cup event, at Texas Motor Speedway. I think he stands a decent chance of getting a Winston Cup win in 1999, based on what I've seen so far this season. The Gibbs team is producing fast cars for Tony and Bobby Labonte and as Stewart gains experience I'm confident he'll be a force.

But he doesn't look the natural, in NASCAR, that he does in an Indy car. Regardless of how well Tony Stewart performs in NASCAR, I'll continue to feel his loss to the Indy Racing League. He's been in a position to win in each of his three "Indianapolis 500" starts and I think he's as legitimate a "500" winner as anyone in racing. I hope he gets that win this May!