INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Stewart, the hottest young star in today's Indianapolis 500, has this plan: Win the race. Then leave it.
Perhaps forever.
The 27-year-old native of Rushville, Ind. is the defending IRL (Indy Racing League champion) and current points leader, but he will defect to NASCAR for a full-time Winston Cup ride with Joe Gibbs Racing in 1999.
First, Stewart wants to become the first Indiana native to win the Indy 500 since Jim Rathmann in 1960. He has a clause in his NASCAR contract that will let him run Indy until he wins it.
"I've told Joe (Gibbs) that if I win the Indy 500, I'll give up Indy cars," Stewart said. "I really have only one goal left to fulfill in the IRL -- to win the Indianapolis 500."
Experts give Stewart the best chance of getting his face on Indy's Borg-Warner trophy today. He starts in the No. 4 spot (second row) but is known for his mad dashes to the front.
"I think Tony Stewart is one of the finest young drivers to ever come down the road," three-time Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser said. Two-time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyendyk (1990 and '97) has the most Brickyard savvy in today's field, but he's buried in the 28th starting position. Stewart is the most accomplished driver at the front of the field.
Stewart's leadfooted verve and versatility have some calling him the best driver in America today.
"Right now I'd have to say he's the best," said Hamilton native Bill Mullen, crew chief for Indy alternate driver Eliseo Salazar. "Tony is as versatile as A.J. (Foyt) and Mario (Andretti) were. He's run midgets, sprints, stock cars, Indy cars . . . everything."
Young, handsome and daring, Stewart stands only 5-foot-7 but has a swagger bordering on arrogance. He has the racing world by the tail and knows it. He's a guy who floors it first, and asks questions later.
"Start me 33rd (today) if you want, I don't care," he said. "It's a 500-mile race. If I can't get to the front in 500 miles, I wasn't going to get there anyway."
Stewart won national go-karting championships at age 13 and age 17, and was USAC midget champion at age 23. In 1995 at age 24, he won an unprecedented USAC "Triple Crown" with national midget, sprint and Silver Crown championships. In 1996, he started his first Indy 500 from the pole and was named Rookie of the Year after leading 44 laps. Engine problems caused him to finish 24th.
In 1997, he won the IRL season championship and finished fifth at Indy, where he again started from the front row (second). For the 10-race season he led for 812 laps -- no one else led more than 122. In 1998, he leads the IRL season points chase. He also drives in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series, the Triple-A league of NASCAR, while preparing for Winston Cup.
"Tony's won everything and done everything, but he's still so young he could be anybody's kid," said John Menard, owner of Stewart's Indy car.
And the kid is leaving home.
"We're looking for a replacement for Tony for next year," Menard said. "He's a very talented driver, but no one's irreplaceable. The (IRL) series will go without Tony."
True, but the young series also lacks star power. Aside from Luyendyk, the most notable IRL names are '96 Indy 500 champ Buddy Lazier and Indy vets Roberto Guerrero and Scott Goodyear.
"I don't know that racing NASCAR is more attractive," Stewart said. "It's just that I had my feet wet in the Busch series before the IRL even started, so when the opportunity came along to be with Gibbs, I couldn't let that pass."
Stewart validated the IRL series' premise of giving the little guy a chance, with his successful jump from dirt tracks to Indy cars. His father is a purchasing officer at an Indiana University branch, his mother a secretary at a dentist's office. To keep young Tony in go-karts, his parents mortgaged their home.
Yet, Stewart can now live comfortably on the dough he's won racing, having pocketed $1.1 million in 1997 alone. The money is actually secondary to an admitted racing nut, who expects to compete in about 70 races overall by season's end.
"I get frustrated at golf, and I'm too lazy to play basketball," Stewart said. "I would just as soon get into a race car and drive." Stewart is one of few IRL drivers with his own World Wide Web page - http://www.tonystewart.com - but he favors that John Mellencamp smalltown Hoosier thing. He enjoys remodeling the family home in Columbus, Ind.
Even at leisure, he has to be the best. The IRL had an April media tour that allowed reporters to compete with Indy drivers at Stefan Johansson's go-kart center in Indianapolis, and Stewart consistently turned the fastest laps among the pros.
In fact, he is such a regular they often let him race free.
While outwardly cool and hip, Stewart has been tightly wound for weeks.
"This is the one month I lose the most sleep," he said. "How important would it be for me to win Indy? . . . I would give up every win and every championship I've had in my life to win."
Indianapolis 500 coverage from Associated Press
