Tony Stewart calls it just being honest, the many comments he's made about other drivers, NASCAR, and anything else that stands in his way. Stewart says he's learned that some things are best left unsaid, but in this interview with Stock Car Racing he has much he wants to talk about.
SCR: At times in your career, you've been labeled as one of the sport's bad boys mainly because you say what's on your mind. Then again, some of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, such as Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, have done the same thing. Do you feel like that adversity fires you up?Stewart: I didn't realize speaking my mind made me a bad boy. That's what kind of confuses me about that labeling. Just because I speak my mind makes me a bad guy? I thought that's what our country was all about. It's kind of odd because people should be honest. I guess it's getting more and more like wrestling every day because people don't really take things for what they are anymore. When I go to a short-track race and watch those drivers, I see fans who are respectful of their time and let them do their thing. After the race is over, they can come down and talk to the driver and get autographs. It's kind of a weird era now because our sport is turning into the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) to a certain degree. I guess if speaking your mind makes you a bad boy then there are millions of bad boys in this country. There are so many penalties and negatives that go along with speaking your mind in this series, that's why you don't see that with a lot of the other drivers. It's like freedom of speech doesn't really exist when it comes to NASCAR.
SCR: During driver introductions before the start of a race you're, hands down, one of the three or four guys that get the biggest response, whether the fans are cheering or jeering. Does hearing people boo when your name is called bother you, or do you believe that as long as they're making some kind of noise, that means you're getting the job done behind the wheel?Stewart: That's exactly right. There are 42 other drivers who start each race and, like you say, we're one of three or four guys that 100-percent of the people, whether they like or dislike you, will make some type of noise for. It seems like now I'm about 50-50 as far as the fans go. I don't think hearing the fans booing me is such a bad thing anymore.
SCR: You made the comment a couple of years ago when talking about some of your past mistakes that there was no guideline of how a Winston Cup driver was supposed to think and act. As you've matured, what have you learned from that aspect of things?Stewart: I don't know if it's maturing so much as just seeing the handwriting on the wall. That goes against everything your parents taught you growing up as a child. When you get in my position, you learn that honesty is not the best policy. Even if you're right, some people don't want to hear it. They've got a picture of how they think things are, and that's the way they want it to be.
SCR: If there is one thing that you've done in Winston Cup racing that you could take back, what would that be and why?Stewart: It would be a lot of the things I have said as well as some of the actions I've done. It has really taken away from what I was trying to do in the car. With our sport as clean as it is, anytime you do anything just a little bit off par, it really gets blown out of proportion. If anything, I would have learned in 1999 to roll with the punches and do like most of the other drivers in giving out vanilla answers instead of waiting until 2002.