Stewart stays quiet during Nextel Cup off-season, not good for the competition
Quote selected text Published February 4th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Tony Stewart didn’t crash a race car, fall from a golf cart or announce pending fatherhood during the offseason.
No, the two-time NASCAR champion let his Nextel cup rivals grab all the headlines, choosing instead to fly way under the radar during his brief winter break.
Stewart used his time to work on his race teams and put the finishing touches on a new shop in Indiana. He continued improvements at Eldora Speedway and the other two race tracks he owns, and settled into his new gig as weekly host of his own Sirius Satellite Radio show.
The end result? A kinder, gentler, media-friendly Stewart?
Not so fast, his car owner cautioned.
“He’s fooling you,” Joe Gibbs joked. “He’ll turn on you in heartbeat, that’s what I found. You never trust Tony — Tony goes pretty good as long as it’s all going Tony’s way. Just don’t ever say ’No,’ and you’ll get along good with Tony.”
Joking aside, the softer side of Stewart is slowly creeping through as he prepares for the 2007 season and a run at this third Nextel Cup title. Shut out of NASCAR’s Chase for the championship last season, Stewart wound up a career-worst 11th in the final standings.
He’s still sarcastic and easily irritated — and he was both during a brief interview session earlier this week in Las Vegas — but after eight seasons on auto racing’s biggest stage, NASCAR’s bad boy is learning how to chill out just a bit.
While Greg Biffle crashed in Las Vegas, Jimmie Johnson broke his wrist while horsing around in a golf tournament and Jeff Gordon revealed he’s expecting his first child, Stewart did his own thing far away from the spotlight.
“We’ve been very, very busy this winter. I just did stuff that I am supposed to be doing at home,” he said. “Just because we didn’t break something doesn’t mean we weren’t doing stuff.”
Bookmark to:
- Stewart to run Sprint Car race in Washington
- Mark Martin Could Run Partial Cup Schedule in 2007
- Stewart not happy with Gilliland after happy hour tangle
- Stewart cools off after Daytona wreck, says he’s ok with Hamlin
- Matt Borland moving to Stewart Haas next season
Tony is a great guy. He doesn’t need his name in the spotlight during the off-season. All those idiot drivers just want attention. Tony deffinatly has better things to do with his time than to fool around on a golf cart, crash a car, or get his girlfriend pregnant. He’s a smart guy.
Anything against him?
STFU.
Amanda, you;re the one idiot.
well said amanda, Tony is a great person. He brings alot of attention to sport just like everyone else does, and he does it in a positive manner and other drivers should look up to him for doing so.
I sense some ignorance in jimmie. I’m guessing your favorite driver is listed in the ‘idiots of the 06-07 offseason’ ?
Don’t post a negative comment if you have nothing to back it up.
I don’t understand the problem. Tony is being put down because he was quiet and DIDNT cause any uproars during the off-season? That doesn’t make any sense to me. The media just needs a reason to bash Tony. Like I said, he doesn’t need to be revered to as a “headline-seeking nascar driver”, because he’s not. He minds his own business. Isn’t that what the off-season is about? Getting personal matters and team matters underhand?
I agree with Amanda & Gene.
jimmie, learn how to punctuate before you start slamming other people.
Idiot, indeed.
I agree with Amanda and Gene as well…Jimmie if you can;t say anything nice do not say anything at all…didn’t you Mom teach you that!!! And hey I did not see anyone bash your Jimme!!