HAMPTON, Ga. -- Tony Stewart is winning two battles heading into the NAPA 500.

The fourth-year Winston Cup driver is leading the closest championship race in NASCAR history. He also insists he has control of his famous temper.

"I'm not unhappy anymore," said Stewart, who will start from the pole today at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he won in March. "I've found a way to do the things that I want to do, and just enough to keep everybody off our backs, and that gives me time to do what I need to do."

Stewart's angry outbursts have overshadowed his racing for the better part of the last two seasons. He finished 2001 on probation, and will do the same this year for punching a photographer following a disappointing race in August at Indianapolis.

That encounter cost him $60,000 in fines and prompted him to seek anger management counseling.

At least part of Stewart's problem has been the pressure of simply being a Winston Cup star -- constant media attention, smothering adulation from fans, personal appearances and other demands on his time. Stewart knows there are no easy remedies.

"I don't know if there is anything we've learned except to stay out of trouble," he said. "It seems like when we're not doing some kind of damage control over something stupid that I've done, then it makes the weekend a little more productive."

With some outside help, he has found a way to cope.

"I went home this week, and I'm probably better prepared this week than I've been the last two or three weeks," Stewart said. "I'm going to survive."

His main focus now is holding off rookie Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman -- all within 177 points of the lead.

Last Sunday, in Martinsville, Va., Johnson finished sixth, and shaved 15 points from the lead of Stewart, who wound up 11th.