SCR: At this point in your life, have you started to think about getting married and having children, or are you still just concentrating on your racing career?Stewart: I'm probably still more focused on my racing career than anything. I've met a really neat girl from California who I've been seeing and I enjoy spending time with her. She's a little bit younger than me and isn't in a hurry either. So we're just kind of enjoying each other right now and not in a big hurry to do anything.
SCR: If you had a job outside of racing, what career path do you think you would have followed? Stewart: I've never really thought about it because I've always been involved in racing in one form or another. There was one year that dad and I ran out of money and I had to quit my go-kart racing. I ended up being the assistant flagman at the track instead.
SCR: What active driver in Winston Cup racing do you admire the most?Stewart: There are a lot of guys who I really look up to. One of those drivers is Ricky Rudd. I admire him because of his honesty. I admire Mark Martin because of how smart he is during the races. I also admire my teammate, Bobby Labonte, for taking the amount of time that he has taken to spend with me as well as all his work to get me where I am in my career. So there are a lot of drivers I look up to for each of the aspects they bring to the sport.
SCR: When fans think of the name Tony Stewart, what do you want them to think of?Stewart: I want them to think of me as someone who was competitive at everything he ever drove. I've won championships in Midgets, Sprints, and Silver Crown cars all the way down to go-karts. That's how I want people to remember me. Knowing I was competitive and won races in every type of car I've ever driven is probably the thing I'm most proud of right now.
SCR: What do you think you'll you be doing 25 years from now? Stewart: I'll be racing, but it won't be in Winston Cup. There are a lot of things in Winston Cup racing that are going to have to change before it will become tolerable again. I see things getting a lot worse before they get better in our sport. In my conversations with some of the higher powers, it looks like there are a few of us who see the handwriting on the wall and it's hard to believe that they don't. There will be a time when I say I've had enough and I'll be ready to move on. Until then, I'm going to continue to give 110 percent.
SCR: What is the perfect day away from the track for you?Stewart: Being able to go to a Midget or a Sprint car race and not having to answer any questions about Winston Cup racing. That's perfect to me.
Getting PhysicalIn a repeat of last season, Tony Stewart has again found himself in the NASCAR penalty box for a run-in with a member of the news media.
Stewart scuffled with a photographer following the Brickyard 400 in August. For his actions, sponsor Home Depot fined Stewart $50,000, and NASCAR fined him $10,000 and put him on probation for the rest of 2002. Stewart received the same punishment last season for knocking a tape recorder out of the hand of a reporter and then kicking the device.
"This type of behavior cannot be tolerated and is in no way indicative of the manner in which our drivers, teams, tracks, and sponsors interact with the media," NASCAR President Mike Helton said after doling out the latest punishment.
Stewart said he would seek professional help in taming his temper.