Stewart's mother sees lessons learned in her child

Well, let's see -- Sunday is Mother's Day. I was wondering what I should write about this week. I guess it would be nice to talk with someone's mother. I have had the pleasure of meeting several women that have a son who drives in the Nextel Cup Series. All of them, the women that is, are amazing people. And while some show the nerves more than others, they are all very strong women.

They don't need me to remind them of the risk involved in racing. It's not something they speak about often. I have found most focus on the courage it takes to be a successful racer. When you talk with the mother of a racecar driver the conversation usually turns to family and children. Most like to talk about how lucky they are to have such a dedicated and determined son.

The best stories are the ones about when their son was a little boy, learning to race. Most of the moms will tell you they believed it was just a phase. Their son was going to be a businessman, a doctor, a salesman or whatever, but not a racer. Maybe they started on two wheels, maybe they started on four, but they all started the same way, dreaming of becoming a professional driver and someday winning the big race, like say the Daytona 500.

Of course, a few grew up dreaming of winning the Indianapolis 500. When you are born and raised in Indiana, that's to be expected. That was Tony Stewart's childhood dream. I think, somewhere, it still might be. But now he is a two-time Nextel Cup Series champion. He is a leader in the sport, a champion of charitable giving, and one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR history. Of course Tony also brings a lot of color with him to the track, and not all of it is orange.

So what is it like to be his mother?

"It depends on the day," said Pam Boas, Stewart's mom. "And it depends on what he has said on his radio show. Being a parent of Tony Stewart, you get to see a lot of the things you taught him coming back to you. We always taught him to be honest. We told our children that kids sometimes stretch the truth and they should not do that. We taught Tony that if you stretch the truth, it will come back to you, or us. And if it comes back to us, it's going to get to you."

See, talk to a mother, and sometimes you can understand her children a little bit better.

"Maybe that's why Tony is so brutally honest," Pam said. "That's the way he was raised, to tell the truth. Maybe we should have spent a little more time on tact. (Continued)