Stewart off to a good start minus the controversy

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tony Stewart was standing in the Oval Office when President Bush looked at the Winston Cup champion and asked, "Aren't you the bad boy of NASCAR?"

Stewart responded affirmatively during that meeting last December. He couldn't deny his reputation.

After all, Stewart finished the last two seasons on probation, last year becoming the first NASCAR driver to win a title while on probation.

The driver was fined $60,000 and had to undergo anger management counseling after he punched a photographer at the Brickyard 400 in August. He also was accused of shoving an EMT worker and pushing a fan.

Six races into the 2003 season, Stewart is off to his best start ever, ranking third in points. He is also clear of controversy and trying to show people the real man behind the visor.

"I'm really making a conscious effort to change who I've been," Stewart said Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway. "Not change who I am as a person, but just change how I deal with things.

"I think that's the perception that people have got, they think I'm a different person than who I am because of those actions," he said. "It'd be nice if we can really show them who we really are as a person, and not do destructive things and be productive this year."

So far so good, even after some trying moments.

At Rockingham in the second race of the season, he had a pit road collision with Jimmie Johnson, an on-track collision with Kyle Petty and had his front end damaged when he ran over debris. Instead of letting his temper get the best of him afterward, he sounded satisfied being able to salvage a 20th-place finish.

Keeping cool

Last week at Bristol, Stewart was involved in three different accidents, the last of which finally knocked him out with 27 laps left. It's the only race he hasn't finished this year.

There was an on-track bump with Ricky Rudd after being pinched against the wall, but again no temperamental outburst from Stewart at a track where tempers are known to get even the mellowest of drivers.

"It doesn't do any good to be ballistic, and that doesn't mean that somewhere along this year I won't," Stewart said. "I wanted to pull somebody else's hair out, but I went to the bus and took a shower until the water got cold."

Stewart brings the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Chevrolet this week to the 1 1/2-mile Texas track, where he's never been a strong starter, but has three top-10 finishes. In his four Texas races, he has improved an average of 21 places from start to finish.

Qualifying is today, and the seventh NASCAR race at Texas will be run Sunday.

After starting 29th in last year's Samsung/RadioShack 500, he finished fifth. That moved him the top 10 of season points to stay.

This is the first year that Stewart has gotten to Texas two months into the season already in the top 10.

"It seems like the first seven or eight races have typically been the weakest part of our season," he said. "Being able to be able to just get through those first seven or eight right now in the position that we are at, we are heads and shoulders above where we typically have been."

His intensity level hasn't changed, but Stewart says there isn't any pressure on him to repeat as Winston Cup champ. He said winning the title last year took away the pressure.

"Once we locked that championship down, it was like dumping a pickup truck off your shoulder," Stewart said. "There is no pressure on my mind. I can go out and just try to win races again. The stress level is almost nonexistent."

Stewart set some clear-cut goals at the beginning of the year.

He wanted an uneventful, unemotional season in which he could defend his championship, improve his win total of three from last year and have some fun.

"Things are right on schedule. It's working better that I ever could have hoped for," said Stewart, 31. "I'm happier than I've ever been in my life right now, and it's perfect timing for me."