July 21, 2007
By Andrew Brookman

To borrow words from Tony Stewart, “I’m glad this is over”, and one can only hope it is. With so much focus stemming from the Stewart-Hamlin incident at the recent Pepsi 400, I began to wonder who some of the news was being written for. And while some fans will overlook or even outright fire off at anyone offering a different opinion, there are some that found this past incident stung a little more than others. So in that spirit I decided I would take a look at something even bigger than the Chase itself, the true NASCAR fan.

While there are many different behaviors among true NASCAR fans, there are certain qualities shared among them all. Perhaps the most valuable of these is the relentless loyalty given to the drivers and teams they admire most. This unwavering loyalty is the backbone that keeps a fan coming back week after week to support their teams through the good, the bad and even the ugly.

It became obvious this was asking a lot of the fans, as fans of Stewart themselves had also become fans of the Tony Stewart – Denny Hamlin combination. Fans hit their web blogs fast, feeding the next morning’s coffee, breakfast and newspaper joint it’s topic of the day. After reading, emailing and chatting among the fan community in my own routine, it became apparent that some wished Stewart would drop by their neck of the woods for a heart to heart.

“I've been a Tony Stewart fan for a very long time and I've gone through some of the criticism that comes with it; I'm not a fair-weather fan.” Going on to say, “I'm not about to give up on him just because he can't restrain his aggression -- but I'll be much prouder when he does.”

The kind of response evoked by the Stewart / Hamlin incident, coming from a fan that spent an entire season studying drivers in NASCAR before giving his complete devotion. The kind of fan anyone would want to have.

Another fan offering, “I wish he knew how much we appreciate him. I wish there was a way to just tell him knock it off, putting microphones in his face makes me feel like they are trying to push fans away. He’s not Jekyll and Hyde, he’s human. He’ll always be my guy though. Denny’s just trying to do the whole team right you know, we like Denny.”

A common thread that’s very apparent among all those I chatted with, nobody was going away from the Gibbs drivers.

For a true fan, undivided loyalty is the foremost show of appreciation; a thank you for letting them share in victory lane from their living rooms, dens and venues across the country. A pride that is the foundation of Monday mornings at the water cooler, lottery numbers and email accounts; not to mention the extensive wardrobes of colored, numbered and often autographed shirts, hats, jackets and more. It seems that because each fan thrives on something unique about the sport, it’s likely that inside every true fan is the drive to personify that which makes them Champions in their own lives. That is likely the ground it comes down to, and it’s not to be taken for granted by any driver, team, sponsor or media.

Given this depth of loyalty in NASCAR, it’s no wonder some hurt was being felt. Perhaps it’s the Hendricks amalgam of teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson that make Stewart and Hamlin feel so good together?

Could Denny Hamlin be the next Champion housed at Joe Gibbs Racing? It certainly doesn’t seem unlikely sometime in the future and it wouldn’t be the first time JGR had two NASCAR Champions in their garage. There is one thing for sure though, while not all Stewart fans embrace Hamlin so tightly, - a lot of them do.

There is hope even in Stewart's driven passion he can get back to that happier, passionate racer that won his second NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. Stewart’s commitment to charity, going back to his childhood home and buying Eldora Speedway only brought him closer to the same Earth the rest of us are on. The more pressure applied to him like any other man, or household pressure cooker, only results in pressure being let off. Is he searching for something, and if so what could it be? The answer to that lies within’ Stewart himself, but I wouldn’t doubt a few fans could answer that question as well. Being human is sometimes not easy, and Tony Stewart is indeed human and for that matter Denny Hamlin is as well.

Regardless of where the year's first wins came, the teammates continue their bid next in Indianapolis; it’s a good bet that together they mean more trouble for the current leader than they do apart.

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.