Fear pushed Stewart to capture Brickyard pole

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Stewart utilized an age-old motivator Saturday morning to nab the Bud Pole for the ninth Brickyard 400.

Fear.

	Tony Stewart Credit: Autostock

Moments after turning a blistering 182.960-mph lap in 49.191 seconds -- some six-tenths of a second quicker than Brett Bodine's former track record, set in 2000 -- Stewart was queried about where the record-setting speed came from.

"Fear of having to start in the back, to be honest," he replied.

And while he maintains that winning poles means nothing to him, Stewart is well aware the importance of starting out front. Given today's dreaded aero-push, track position -- not strength of car -- is often the key determining factor once the checkers fly.

"The (main) topics of conversation that we've had all year have been aerodynamics and aero push, and track position," Stewart said. "Between track position and aero push, you know you want to be up front."

Though comforting, Stewart admits his effort Saturday is not a significant confidence builder. He learned a lesson in overconfidence last year.

PHOTO GALLERY • Brickyard 400 Qualifying

"I had so much confidence last year that I screwed up and hit the fence on my own and made my own mistake," said Stewart, who finished 17th here last year. "I know the track. I've been around here a lot. But it doesn't really give me confidence because things can change so quick here.

"It seems like every year that we come back here -- like we said before, the topics this year have been aero push and track position -- you never know what you're going to have when you get here."

Stewart knew one thing heading into the weekend: he'd be driving a Pontiac. The team tested both Pontiacs and Chevrolets at IMS earlier this month. And despite the fact that the Chevrolet was faster on the stop watch, they chose the Pontiac.

BRICKYARD 400 • Stewart wins Brickyard pole • Race Lineup • 1st Practice Speeds • Race Facts • Past Winners

"We didn't get to run as many laps with the (Chevrolet) as what we wanted and didn't get to put in as much time," Stewart said.

"The Monte Carlo just didn't feel as comfortable at the time as the Pontiac did and we didn't want to come here and try to re-invent the wheel and try to figure out everything that all these other teams have taken two years to figure out. We didn't want to try to do it in two hours in practice."

The cockpit was Stewart's safe haven this weekend. With Indy being so close to his hometown of Rushville, Ind., Stewart has been pulled in countless directions from the time he arrived in the Heartland.

"This is my hell-week, in all reality," he said. "As much as I love being home, I hate this week. I'll bet my phone rang 400 times last night because everybody knew that it was my only night off and everybody wanted to take me to dinner or go out and ride Harleys last night or do something.

"Between them and family, and being at home and wanting to do well in front of all your friends and family -- that puts a lot of pressure on me.

"It's all fun. I enjoy the week from some aspects. But, for the majority of it, it's more headaches than it is fun -- just trying to get everything done that you want to do and see the people that you want to see and do the things that you want to do in a short amount of time."

Like qualify on the pole.