Q&A: Tony Stewart.

Saturday, 11th February 2006

As he prepares to defend his 2005 Nextel Cup Championship, Tony Stewart talks NASCAR, his holidays, or lack thereof, Daytona, the Bud Shootout, if he can remember when it starts, sprint cars, cell phones and girls.

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TONY STEWART:
That's why I go run Fort Wayne in a midget, that's why I still run Chili Bowl, and 24 Hour races here. You got to do things like that to keep yourself in that frame of mind. It's getting easier and easier to get consumed by all that. I mean, the percentage of driving the car, that part of the job, is getting smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller every year.

You know, it's like I said, I've done more work -- the amount of driving that I'll do during Speed Week will be less time I spent doing media alone this year up to this point. That answers it right there almost.

Q.
You talk about sprint cars. Are you getting where you can enjoy this more now, the NASCAR racing?

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TONY STEWART:
Yeah. I think so. I mean, we had fun last year. You know, it's getting busier and busier each year. If we were able to have that much fun last year, I don't see any reason why you can't continue to keep having fun with it.

You get creative and you find ways of reminding yourself why you're here, what brought you here in the first place. Yeah, I think you can make it to where you can have more fun with it.

Q.
Do you enjoy working with young drivers?

TONY STEWART:
Oh, geez. I'm working with enough kids to make me feel like I'm a senior citizen at this point. You know, we got kids in motorcross. We got kids in go-karts, quarter midgets, all the way through the young guys that drive for my USAC teams, so on and so forth.

Yeah, I mean, at 34, I almost feel like a senior citizen on some days when I'm talking to these eight-year-old kids that still don't even like girls yet. I tell them, that's the best advice I give them, is to stay away from the girls, you're better off hanging around with the race cars instead.

Q.
Any reservations about having two rookies in Cup this year at teammates?

TONY STEWART:
No, there are reasons they got to this level. There are definitely no reservations. I know JJ really well because he won a championship for me in USAC in the sprint car series. Obviously, obviously Denny did a great job for me last year. It's fun, because everybody can see our personalities are a lot alike. I'm excited about it. There's still the side of me that's still sad that Bobby is not with us this year. But, you know, at the same time it's just another chapter in the book now. It's interesting to see how it's going to unfold now.

Q.
In light of Earnhardt's crash here, how confident are you with the safety improvements?

TONY STEWART:
Yeah, I mean, it just keeps getting better and better. I mean, every year it keeps getting better and better. You know, every year when you know it's getting better and better, obviously the confidence goes along with it, makes you feel better in the car.