Q. Tony, last week Johnson rode around in the back all day, ends up finishing sixth, while the guys that still had a chance to win it all did not finish so well, even though they ran well. Does that type of day break another competitor’s will in the big picture, just tear their heart out?
TONY STEWART: I don’t think so. I mean, the thing that you always know going into a race at Talladega is that it’s a wild card race. I mean, you guys have all wrote about it, all spoke about it. That’s what happens when you go. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. You know, 98% or 99% of the day is out of your control. It’s all scenarios and situations that are going on around you, not necessarily what you do with your car.
You know, like I said, I mean, you sit there and you ride around for 173 to 178 laps, and then you race the last 10 or 15. You hope when the problem happens, you know, the big wreck happens, you hope that you can get through it. If you get through it, a lot of times you’ve kept yourself in a situation where you can get that top five.
So it doesn’t really do anything because of what somebody else does; you feel so bad because you don’t have any more control over your own destiny.
Q. Tony, from a car owner perspective, team owner perspective, even perhaps a driver perspective, with the economy the way it’s been, it’s eventually going to rebound, the money is going to come back, is there something that NASCAR maybe should consider in shortening some of these races, aside from maybe the Daytona 500, a couple of the premiere races, to save the teams some money, shorten the fans’ attention span to bring up the ratings and make it more interesting?
TONY STEWART: I don’t know what the solution is. I mean, obviously I’m a driver more than anything. I don’t see what the fans are doing during the race. I mean, I heard there was a point in the race where a lot of the fans went walking around the souvenir area and stuff in the middle of the race because they know we’re all logging laps, logging miles at that point.
You know, my opinion probably wouldn’t be a popular opinion, and some would agree from the logistical side, but some on the practical side, emotional side wouldn’t agree, thus it puts me in a bad spot. So it really doesn’t matter what my opinion is.
Q. I know your Nationwide racing is pretty limited. I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the new car, what impact you think it will have on that series.
TONY STEWART: I have no idea, honestly. You know, my plan next year is to run the race at Daytona, and that’s all the Nationwide stuff I’m going to run next year. I really haven’t thought about it. I haven’t really paid attention to it too much, you know, because I’m only going to run that one race.
Q. Speaking of Nationwide, you are involved in one team somewhat with Morgan Shepherd. He hasn’t been here the last few years to this track. Why are you involved in his program? What is it about him that inspires you?
TONY STEWART: What inspires us is that he’s so dedicated to what he’s doing. He spends every dime he has to come and support NASCAR and support the Nationwide Series. A lot of times, he’s his own crew chief. His own family is part of his crew. He’s learned how to do a lot with very, very little. You know, it was a situation where Kevin and myself saw the effort he was making, wanted to try to help. It grew larger than what I anticipated doing actually.
You know, it’s hard not to fall in love with Morgan, what he’s doing. He’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever been around. I mean, it doesn’t matter how bad your day is, when Morgan comes around, is talking to you, you kind of forget about how bad your day is and you realize that, you know, you’re helping somebody that truly deserves the help.
You know, I’d love to see a good sponsor come along that can help him and help support him, help him get the people that he needs. I mean, he’s got the talent; he’s got the desire, drive, the will to do it. He just needs the support right now. If Kevin and I helping him out this year can help generate some excitement, get some people to come onboard and help out, it would be awesome.
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