Stewart relaxed, ready to defend title

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- He's back and ready to roll, the 2002 Winston Cup champion.

Making his first laps during this week's three-day 2003 test session at Daytona International Speedway -- "Preseason Thunder" in NASCAR's new lexicon -- Tony Stewart appears relaxed, reenergized and, perhaps, resurrected.

"I've eliminated all the brain tumors over the offseason, so I'm 'tumor free' right now," Stewart said during a Wednesday morning media session.

	Tony Stewart is still seeking his first restrictor-plate win. Credit: Autostock

It was a quip, a gentle jest. Speaking for almost 40 minutes, he addressed a grab bag of topics -- his upcoming title defense, Joe Gibbs Racing's switch from Pontiac to Chevrolet and the Daytona 500, a race that's been unkind to him.

Just a month and two days removed from his official coronation at NASCAR's Dec. 6 awards ceremony in New York, Stewart was thoughtful and verbally generous. He said he'd benefited equally from rest, victory and introspection.

Wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and battling a post-holiday cold, he kidded crew chief Greg Zipadelli as they sat side-by-side, holding microphones. Zipadelli was asked if he'd driven his championship spoils, the cherry-red Corvette given him by Stewart in New York. Zipadelli hemmed, hawed and promised to drive the 'Vette this weekend.

Stewart said he'd ordered "Zippy" to put at least 100 miles on it by the next time they met. Then he pounced.

"I get home Sunday night, Pops," said Stewart, waving his mike at Zipadelli. "Just so you know. Sunday night. One-hundred on it by Sunday night."

Publicly at least, the 31-year-old Stewart hasn't always prompted laughter. But Wednesday, he said he'd learned much during last year's tortuous and triumphant season. From the first-lap engine failure in the Daytona 500 to several highly-publicized garage confrontations, Stewart juggled emotional peaks and valleys, a hot-cold relationship with the media and occasional image backlash en route to his first Cup title.

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He said he's learned that damage control can never be all-encompassing, and future mistakes are likely. He's also accepted the fact that if he trips in the garage, it'll be front-page news, yet, unlike other seasons, in 2003, he won't fret about it.

"You ask yourself, 'When is that going to end?'" Stewart said of the media microscope. "When are people finally going to let it go? I don't know. I don't worry about it."

Now that he's shouldered the champion's mantle, Stewart is applying several of last year's hard-learned lessons. He's editing his obligations -- no 2003 International Race of Champions, Indianapolis 500 or any unnecessary activities.

A hardcore racer, Stewart loves to compete any time he can, flying hopscotch to sports car events or midget races in his free time. Like most NASCAR stars, he's also besieged with fan, sponsor and media requests, and last season, amid a championship drive, it all proved an energy and time drain.

This year, Stewart says he's "just trying to streamline my schedule a little bit more to where it gives me some time to get away and hit a reset button a little more often and try to do a little preventive maintenance this year."

He's also mindful that some of his own travails wore on his team.

	Greg Zipadelli (left) has been with Stewart since 1999. Credit: Autostock

"I'm just trying to look outside my circle and say, 'There are more people involved here, and what can I do to help the race team?'" Stewart said.

On Wednesday, he was passionate only when asked whether he was happy (he'd said last season he wasn't, a subject that's dogged him). Stewart said he'd be happiest when he no longer had to answer the question. But as his No. 20 team flexes its first muscles in preparation for the Feb. 16 Daytona 500, Stewart admitted he's experiencing one of the significant byproducts of his championship -- professional peace.

"I don't feel that I have anything else to prove anymore from that standpoint," he said. "So I guess I'm just a little more relaxed going into this year than I was in previous years."

He's also looking forward to a little non-NASCAR fun. On Thursday, following the conclusion of this week's test session, Stewart will head for the 17th Annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. It's the Super Bowl of midget racing -- one of the series where Stewart cut his racing teeth -- and he actually won the four-day competition last January for the first time.

"To go back and run a form of racing that I truly enjoy running all the time, when I get a chance and race against the best in the country at it on dirt -- it's neat," Stewart said.

A bonus is that no one sees him as the Winston Cup champion. He's just a guy from Indiana who loves racing, and he actually turns a wrench or two.

"Zippy won't let me touch the car here," said Stewart, kidding Zipadelli. "He'll let me touch one little small area, and that is where I sit, but other than that, he won't let me work on the car here."

Reaching out and retouching one's roots, is the best part.

"At least for a small period of time, I get treated just like everybody else, and that's all I want to be," Stewart said of the Chili Bowl. "I'm not different than anybody else in this room. I'm no different as a person. We're all the same, and I like being that way. I don't like being any different than anybody else.

"I've just got a really cool job on the weekends."