| Tony Stewart Interview |
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Tonight I had the pleasure of being one of five people to interview Tony Stewart during a Q & A session at an autograph signing in Tampa Florida. It went as follows:
Myself, my friend Jim and his wife Tammy and their son Joel packed in the car and headed to the convention center. Our mission: Get an autograph from Tony Stewart. Tony was scheduled to be there from 6-8 PM and we knew we needed to get there early. We arrived around 5:10 and wandered around looking for Tony or at least the area he would be. After much confusion, we found his car. next to the #20 Home Depot Pontiac was a small stage with a table and 2 chairs. There were about 5 people standing there in line with Tony attire, model cars, and pictures. Sweet. We were in the front of the line!! Around 5:45 we noticed across the hall there were people going into a conference room and there was a lot of commotion and security hanging out by the door. We asked someone what was going on in there and they said that Tony was about to show up and do autographs in that room. We bolted to the door and they let us in and closed the door behind us. The room was full and we were the last ones let in. Everyone in the room was guaranteed and autograph and everyone in the line outside would be let in if time permitted after we were through. Tony showed up about 15 minutes late and promised he would stay a little extra to make up for it. Tony opened up with a quick little speech. He said that he had tested at Homestead in hopes of a 3-peat and the crowd went wild. He was quick to point out that it wasn't going to be easy because Goodyear brought the hardest tire he has ever seen and "it was going to be like sliding on ice skates out there" when they run. He noted that he was glad to be in Florida as he likes the warm weather and he thanked us all for showing up. Then he opened up the floor to a quick Q & A session before starting with the autographs. The questions and answers were as follows: 1) What was your favorite commercial to film?-- Tony said that we would probably think that the NBC Olympics one was fun, but it actually wasn't the best. He said the Olympics one where he races down a ski slope in his car and runs over a skier wasn't filmed like you would think. NBC approached Tony at California Speedway about 10 minutes before Happy Hour and asked him to say the couple lines that he had; "Maybe I should be in the Olympics?" and "Naaaah!!". Then, he said, they had him sit in the car and move his head around and make his eyes bug out as big as he could. Tony said, "I had no idea what the commercial was even going to look like". "Then, I was watching a tape of a race and saw the commercial and my car flying down the ski slope and thought. Cool!!" His favorite commercial was the Bass boat one for Pontiac. Tony laughed at the fact that the commercial was filmed early in the morning. He said, "I don't get up at the crack of dawn. That's usually when I am getting home". he told us how he almost crashed the boat and was thrown from the boat and lost the radio that the TV crew had given him and had all he could do not to fall out of the boat. He then finished with "And by the way, that fish you see Bobby holding in the commercial was an 8 pound 10 ounce Bass. It made me sad when they threw it back, I wanted to take it home." 2) What kind of car do you drive when you are at home on the road?-- "I'm going to get in big trouble here", said Tony, " I drive a GMC Yukon". "And when I go back to Indiana I have a Jeep Wrangler. My parents would never buy me one so now that I can afford one, I bought it for myself." 3) Do you think Kevin Harvick drives too aggressively?-- "I don't think he does." Tony answered. "I think he is just doing his job." he commented on the issue with him at Bristol with Jeff Gordon and when asked if he thought Gordon made a big deal out of it, he said "Jeff always whines about something. I like the guy, but he is always complaining." 4) What do you think about Head and Neck restraints and are you comfortable yet?-- Tony stated that he felt they were a great idea, but he couldn't find one that he was comfortable with yet and that his "rear end gets so sore from sitting on the straps that I start complaining over the radio about halfway." He told us how his restraint is almost ineffective the way he has it installed and he hopes he finds a new one that works for him soon. 5) MY QUESTION: I asked Tony how the big meeting went today at Joe Gibb's racing with all the Nascar officials, crew chiefs, drivers and owners. I noted to Tony that I was in a hurry because I was off to traffic court. I told him that at least I drove a Pontiac and he laughed. Tony wished me luck in court noting that he had done his share of appearances there and then answered my question. His answer was this: "I didn't go to the meeting." He said he didn't want to hear 42 other guys sniveling and whining when he knew what the outcome would be. He felt that plate racing was "not racing." He commented on how he and a few other drivers "paraded" around the back until the last pit stop and then made a charge to the front. He told us how scared he was seeing Bobby upside down after the race and how terrible that feeling was. He felt that the solution to the plate racing was to eliminate the rear view mirrors. He laughed a bit as he said "all these guys ride their mirror and block." "you can't get enough of a run on someone to pull along side them fast enough, so, they will block you and that's where the problem begins." Tony likened this season to "The Twilight Zone" and said that it has been a strange one indeed. He told us how he remembers nothing of his wreck at Daytona. He said "I must have got knocked out when I hit the wall. I came to and there were 4 sets of hands on me, undoing my belts and stuff and "I remember thinking, who are all these people and how did they get in my race car at 180 miles an hour?" He said, "One of the sets of hands was Bobby and he asked me if I was ok. I said, yeah I guess, what happened? And Bobby replied, "You don't want to know!"" Tony said that the scariest part was when his mom called him at the hospital and asked if he was ok and then she told him he was in big trouble when she saw him. Tony finished by telling us that they were happy to be 3rd in the points and are not concentrating on the guys behind them. "We are going after Ricky Rudd!" And the crowd roared. About then, autographs began and I left for court. Jim got me a picture autographed by Tony. As I left, the line outside the room was at least 500 people deep and growing. For someone who gets booed alot, they all came out to see him. I saw more kids with their faces lit up and a lot of young girls and older women staring and giddy waiting to see their man. Thanks Tony for the laughter, the stories, and your time. |