I’ve been waiting for Tony Stewart to win just to see if I was correct and, as it turns out, I was.  Since my original theory has been somewhat validated, I’ll share it.  First of all, some history.  Back in 2002, I believe, Tony Stewart was accused of hitting a photographer and shoving a fan after a race.  These were two separate incidents, the first of which landed him on probation with NASCAR for the rest of the year.  That was also the year he earned his first championship. 

Reportedly Tony also attended anger management sessions and, for a great while seamed genuinely changed.  I was timid about accepting this change, however, but in 2005, who could help themselves.  Here was “nice” Tony, coming from a non-eventful start of the season to begin winning everything.  Best part, after the wins, he’d climb the fence “for the fans”.  As you probably know, Tony went on to grab his second championship that year.

At the beginning of the 2006 season, Tony emerged as the “elder statesman” commenting on camera about the dangers of “bump drafting” stating that someone was going to get killed.  Over the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Tony sometime seemed mildly annoyed at the media during interviews.  Along comes the 2008 season and, Katie, bar the door.  Tony’s in a Toyota and seems flat out pissed off whenever he’s on camera.  That is except when he’s talking about Stewart-Haas racing.  Now, I don’t understand that because just about everyone else, including his teammates has done very well in Toyota’s this year.  During interviews, he is rough on the media to the point of damn near calling them idiots.  Old Tony is back.

Well, after his win in Talladega last Sunday, he was back to being nice Tony in the post-race interviews.  Now, I don’t want to ding the guy too bad but after the two “big ones” no true competition was left to mount a challenge for the win.  Granted, they all count when they’re in the W column but who else was there to win?

The reason I point this out is, over the history of NASCAR, there have been some true “Class Acts” when it comes to drivers.  The one that comes to my mind first is the King, Richard Petty.  No matter how he run, he always seemed to have a smile and a good word.  Most recently, Carl Edwards seems to subscribe to the same philosophy. 

Fans are the lifeblood of these drivers.  A good bit of their income comes from merchandise and endorsements.  Positive public perception among the fans is paramount to doing well in both.  No one wants to buy merchandise from an asshole and, who wants to buy a product from a company that has a jerk for a pitchman?  Tony really needs to figure this out fast, especially since he’s formed his own team. 

What do you think?  Do you like the nice or the mean Tony or do you even care?