June 15, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

I first posed this question several months ago when it became apparent to me that Tony Stewart's public persona had undergone a dramatic transformation.

Stewart has always been considered one of NASCAR's "bad boys", and proudly so. After seven years as a Cup driver, he had earned legions of fans - and many detractors - with a hard-driving style on the track and a reputation for brutal honesty off the track.

Stewart's forceful personality has always been a double-edged sword. His intensity led him to championships in several racing series including Kart, USAC, IRL, and, of course, NASCAR. But he has also been accused of numerous tussles with fellow drivers, members of the media and even with fans, at one point prompting his semi-voluntary participation in anger management counseling.

For years, Stewart seemed to embrace this bad-boy persona. Last July in Chicago, when his #20 Home Depot car made contact with the #9 of rookie driver Kasey Kahne just after a restart, the question of Stewart's combative style was front and center once again. While Stewart defended his actions, critics accused him of being impatient and overly aggressive.

After the race, Stewart was asked about his bad-boy image. "I think it's what adds character to our sport," he responded. "You look at wrestling and you had all the 'popular guys' and 'the good guys' in the sport, and you had them wrestling each other each week. I'm not sure it would be as appealing to the fans as if you got somebody that people like and somebody that they dislike. So I think that adds flavor to the sport. I don't really take it personal. I don't think it's a personal deal. It's just a title that's given to many of us. I guess I lead the pack of the bad-boy group. I think there are fans out there that are looking for that guy. Dale Earnhardt didn't get his reputation or popularity by being a good guy. He got it by being aggressive and he was probably the bad boy in his era. So I don't think it's such a bad thing after all."

Then, Stewart was asked whether he intended to make any changes in order to become more popular with the fans. Referring to himself in the plural as he often does, Stewart replied, "I think we already have a fan following that likes us for the way we speak our mind, and we're aggressive on the racetrack. That's the kind of fans that we attract nowadays. I think there's plenty of them out there. If you look out there on Sunday, you look at the amount of orange [the color of Stewart's racecar] in the stands, I think that speaks for itself and tells the story."

But the story doesn't end there. Stewart's public comportment has changed over the past season or two. After the last few racing incidents involving the #20 car, Stewart's comments have been subdued, even reticent.

The most recent conflict involving Stewart occurred at Dover two weeks ago, when Stewart's car touched the left rear bumper of Gordon's on Lap 41, sending the #24 spinning into the wall and out of the race. Gordon was infuriated after the incident and immediately put Tony Stewart on notice: "All I can say is that the next time Tony's holding me up, it won't be very long for him to be out of my way."

In the past those would have been fightin' words, and fans could have anticipated a spirited and colorful response from Stewart. This time, he was uncharacteristically reserved: "That's fine. We can get into a car-crashing war - it doesn't matter to me," Stewart said flatly. And by week's end, Stewart was all but apologizing for even those mild comments. "I know the stuff he (Gordon) said after the race was harsh, and then it kind of got me wound up, too. But I think that's heat of the moment stuff. Jeff is a professional and I don't think Jeff would ever take anybody out intentionally anyway. So after I got home, I didn't think there was too much truth to that, anyway."

Some of Stewart's new-found self control may be attributed to the process of maturing or even to learned anger management techniques.

But many fans find themselves clamoring for a return of the "old" Tony, and wondering why he changed.

So the question remains, who tamed Tony Stewart?

The answer was disclosed by Stewart himself in a brief but telling exchange between the driver and a phone-in caller on Speed TV's "Wind Tunnel" program, when Stewart was a guest on the show a few weeks ago.

Caller: I thought it was going to be such an honor to talk to Tony tonight, but then I've been sitting on hold for an hour and a half and all of a sudden he turns into this nice guy! He's turned into the NASCAR vanilla bean. What's up with this? Please, Tony, go back, be the real person, give us the emotion, give us everything that we've learned to love about you! Bring it back!

Stewart: I'll make you a deal. You get Corporate America and NASCAR to follow the lead with that and you can have me back. But right now, I'm happy being me. I'm happy not having to wake up on Monday morning and justify something that I said or something that I did. I'm honestly just much happier not having to be so angry about so many things all the time that I can't control. So, you may have to just get over it.

Well, there you have it. Stewart has been muzzled by NASCAR and "Corporate America," presumably the multi-million dollar companies associated with the sport. He tells the caller that he would go back to being the "real" Tony if not for the demands of those two entities.

NASCAR admittedly has a vested interest in presenting a family-friendly image of stock-car racing's elite series. But by holding the reins too tightly, they run the risk of creating robotic drivers who no long stir the passions of the fans. Drivers are being forced to walk a fine line between controlling their emotions and being emotionless; between maintaining their cool and becoming robotic.

It would be in NASCAR's best interest to let loose the reins and give the drivers the freedom to be themselves. Without the colorful personalities and fiery passions of its competitors, the sport runs the risk of becoming what it's critics have always claimed it is: just a bunch of guys driving in circles.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.