Post by dalejrfan on Feb 11, 2006 1:58:12 GMT -5
Reigning Nextel Cup champ driving for wins
The start of the 2006 Nextel Cup Series is less than two weeks away, and defending cup champion Tony Stewart is anxious to get behind the wheel.
Stewart made a pit stop Tuesday afternoon at the Timken Company for a reception announcing Timken's official partnership with Stewart's NASCAR racing organization, Joe Gibbs Racing.
The Indiana native knows he has to maintain that winning edge right from the start.
``That's easy,'' a relaxed Stewart said. ``I'm too lazy to work a real job so I want to be really good at what I do. I don't want to sit in a cubicle all day.''
On defending the championship, Stewart, who owns a race track in Indiana called Eldora, said: ``It's hard (to defend a championship) in this sport. It's hard enough to win a championship and that much tougher to repeat. You can't just decide this is the year I want to do this. If we can do it, it will be an even bigger accomplishment than winning the championship last year.''
The upcoming season will be Stewart's 27th in professional racing, and he's hoping his No. 20 will have a good showing in Daytona on Feb. 18.
In his career, Stewart has 24 wins, 149 top-10 finishes in 248 starts and has won two Cup championships.
And Stewart has put himself in position to make a run in the Daytona 500 with his recent finishes there.
Two years ago, he led 97 laps but eventually finished second behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. Last year, he was seventh behind Jeff Gordon.
``I'm just as hungry to win races now as I was when I was an 8-year-old kid winning races and going around the neighborhood showing off my trophies to family and friends,'' he said. ``I still have that same hunger and the day I don't have that hunger and passion and desire is the day I retire.''
It's easy to see that Stewart is enjoying his success and the popularity of NASCAR.
``I came into NASCAR at the perfect time,'' he said. ``It's neat to see a sport that started in the Southeast has grown into the mainstream. I mean everywhere I go, people recognize me. Every time you think the popularity is going to stop, it just keeps growing.''
Prior to appearing at Timken's reception Tuesday, he was in Tampa for what he referred to jokingly as a vacation.
``Offseason? What offseason? The last three days was my offseason. I was down in Tampa where it was not doing this,'' said Stewart, referring to snow.
With the success that Stewart has had, he admitted that it was tough making the metal adjustment to the Cup Series.
``The hardest thing to explain to people when you make that transition from whatever series you were in to the Cup series is that your life changes,'' he said. ``And it's not how you change, it's how the people around you change.
``Like in my hometown, how they looked at me before I was a Cup driver and how they look at me now is totally different. There's no manual or instruction video explaining how your life is going to change and how you're going to handle it.
``A good friend of mine, Rusty Wallace, loves being in the spotlight. I'm just the opposite. I'm a tennis shoes, blue jeans and T-shirt kind of guy.
The start of the 2006 Nextel Cup Series is less than two weeks away, and defending cup champion Tony Stewart is anxious to get behind the wheel.
Stewart made a pit stop Tuesday afternoon at the Timken Company for a reception announcing Timken's official partnership with Stewart's NASCAR racing organization, Joe Gibbs Racing.
The Indiana native knows he has to maintain that winning edge right from the start.
``That's easy,'' a relaxed Stewart said. ``I'm too lazy to work a real job so I want to be really good at what I do. I don't want to sit in a cubicle all day.''
On defending the championship, Stewart, who owns a race track in Indiana called Eldora, said: ``It's hard (to defend a championship) in this sport. It's hard enough to win a championship and that much tougher to repeat. You can't just decide this is the year I want to do this. If we can do it, it will be an even bigger accomplishment than winning the championship last year.''
The upcoming season will be Stewart's 27th in professional racing, and he's hoping his No. 20 will have a good showing in Daytona on Feb. 18.
In his career, Stewart has 24 wins, 149 top-10 finishes in 248 starts and has won two Cup championships.
And Stewart has put himself in position to make a run in the Daytona 500 with his recent finishes there.
Two years ago, he led 97 laps but eventually finished second behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. Last year, he was seventh behind Jeff Gordon.
``I'm just as hungry to win races now as I was when I was an 8-year-old kid winning races and going around the neighborhood showing off my trophies to family and friends,'' he said. ``I still have that same hunger and the day I don't have that hunger and passion and desire is the day I retire.''
It's easy to see that Stewart is enjoying his success and the popularity of NASCAR.
``I came into NASCAR at the perfect time,'' he said. ``It's neat to see a sport that started in the Southeast has grown into the mainstream. I mean everywhere I go, people recognize me. Every time you think the popularity is going to stop, it just keeps growing.''
Prior to appearing at Timken's reception Tuesday, he was in Tampa for what he referred to jokingly as a vacation.
``Offseason? What offseason? The last three days was my offseason. I was down in Tampa where it was not doing this,'' said Stewart, referring to snow.
With the success that Stewart has had, he admitted that it was tough making the metal adjustment to the Cup Series.
``The hardest thing to explain to people when you make that transition from whatever series you were in to the Cup series is that your life changes,'' he said. ``And it's not how you change, it's how the people around you change.
``Like in my hometown, how they looked at me before I was a Cup driver and how they look at me now is totally different. There's no manual or instruction video explaining how your life is going to change and how you're going to handle it.
``A good friend of mine, Rusty Wallace, loves being in the spotlight. I'm just the opposite. I'm a tennis shoes, blue jeans and T-shirt kind of guy.