Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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I saw a short twitter video of Stewart referencing himself as a Cup team owner and later the Chili Bowl track prep manager.  Ive seen video of him being quite the comedian at media events, hard nosed to stupidity, i recall a few punches thrown at a 410 race and read of charities and foundations he has in place. He speaks well of his staff and sems to give credit where credit is do. He apologized publically for the Ascoc screw up when many cars were dq'd last summer. Seems to have a variety of characterisitcs. But what made me think was the humility of a Cup team owner working the track at the Chilibowl, what other Cup owners would do that? From those of you who have met him or do know him, how do you describe him, what sticks out in your mind?

Thanks

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

I met him a few years ago at the HoF while we were at the Nationals.   He was just walking around looking at stuff that was up on the walls with a friend of his.   He was friendly and receptive towards us, took pictures my brother and I, and was pretty fun to talk to for a few minutes.    As far as punches being thrown and things of that nature, every driver out there has acted like an @$$ at one time or another.  With most drivers that is multiple times.   I don't really think anything about it.   That competitive fire is part of what makes them successful racers.   

I got to meet Tony 2 times.  The first time was at Michigan Int'l Speedway his rookie year in Cup.  That was back when they had 2 days of qualifying and only 20 cars were locked in on day 1.  I had purchased a T-shirt from his souvenir hauler on Friday morning before the 1st round of qualifying took place because he was going to be there signing autographs later that day.  When we got to his trailer, the line was very long and I remember thinking Tony was probably in a crappy mood because he did not make the cut in round 1 that day and was going to have to qualify the next day and start in the back half of the field.  To add to that, one of his security came back into the line and told us we were so far back in the line, there was no guarantee he would stay long enough for us to meet him and get an autograph---he was only going to be there for his hour and leave. 

Well, we decided to take our chances.  The hour passed.  Then 90 minutes.  We were pushing 2 hours and the line was still moving and he was still signing.  We finally got up there and I expected a pissed off, annoyed Tony Stewart.  Despite the fact that I was wearing a Gordon hat and shirt, Tony was very friendly and thanked us for coming out and waiting in line so long.  I asked him if he was going to run Indy and the 600 again on the same day.  He started explaining the day to us and how he was so drained he would likely not ever do that again.  With even more of a line behind us, 2 hours in, he carried on a conversation with us for over a minute.  We walked back by about 1/2 hour later, and the line was down to about 10-15 people and he was still in there-----signing and smiling.  I'll never forget that and he has a fan in me for life.  I have that shirt hanging in my basement----never worn.  

(Much different than the Rusty Wallace episode we witnessed at his trailer----that made me a Rusty hater for life)

When people ask me about Tony Stewart, I tell them this story...

We were broadcasting the ASCoC at Bubba Raceway Park a couple of years ago. The racetrack supplied a camper for us to stay in at the track and it was parked adjacent and perpendicular to Tony's camper & hauler, so while sitting at the table we overlooked his camping/pit area. It's early in the day and very few people were out and about, Tony's car is unloaded and he and a couple of friends/family were hanging out back by his camper. Their vehicles were parked so that you could not see back into where they were standing and chatting next to the camper but I was sitting at the table working on my laptop and could see the entire area. I was facing more towards the pit gate and watched a father and his young, wheelchair bound son came back into the pit area and make their way straight to Tony's car where they began pointing and talking, the father taking a picture of his son next to the Sprint Car. Tony was facing the pit area as well, hidden by their pedestrain cars and I saw him lean sideways to look through the car windows, no doubt because he saw motion back by his Sprint Car. As soon as he noticed the father and son, I saw him hold up his finger in a "wait a minute" gesture to one of the guys he was talking to and he immediately made his way out to the fans where he shook hands, spent some time talking to them, taking pictures with the kid and giving him some apparel from his hauler. No one prompted him to do this, he just saw some fans and went to visit. If he wouldn't have walked out, they'd have never known he was back there. He's a solid dude.

Any "anger" you see from him is his extremely fierce competitive nature which is what it takes to win championships at the highest levels of racing. You show me a driver who doesn't get his ire up on occasion and I'll show you a driver who may win races but will never have the drive to win a championship.

As a side note; Tony's dad Nelson still races Legend cars and is an extremely nice gent to visit with if you ever see him around. 

Great story, Chet.

Thanx,
Bruce

"support your local track and stay positive"

This isn't specifically about how great a guy he is (he is).  This is more about talent and character.  I saw Tony put 4 different types of  vehicles up on 2 wheels within approximately 24 hours.

First up was a Midget at PCR in Australia, next a winged Sprint car, followed by a Golf Cart and finally to keep the streak going, a rental junker Toyota Sedan and I was sitting in the back seat.  All of them seriously up on two wheels with only the last one on purpose....