MILLER: If You Knew Stew
Written by: Robin Miller Indianapolis, Ind. – 1/19/2007


If you know Tony Stewart, then you understand he’s probably the most versatile driver of the past 20 years whose talent is only equaled by his passion. He’d race anything, anywhere, anytime against anybody.

Watching him work his magic last weekend in the annual Chili Bowl midget race at Tulsa reinforced why racers hold him in such high esteem. He hops in a midget on the dirt once a year and manages to beat the full-time bad asses from sprints and midgets in this country.

Then he signs autographs for three hours.

It’s impossible not to like that Tony Stewart.

Of course you know he can also be petulant, moody, nasty, irrational and irritating for no apparent reason regardless of your level of friendship.

It’s impossible not to want to strangle that Tony Stewart.

“Everybody that likes Tony has been mad at him,” reckons Pat Sullivan, veteran motorsports announcer/writer who is close enough to be included in Stew’s invitational poker games in Indianapolis. “But the bottom line is that he’s got a lot more good than bad in him.”

And what I’m about to share is the kind of good that warms even heartless journalists on a cold Indiana day. It’s things very few people are aware of yet everyone can appreciate, because it shows a compassionate side of this 34-year-old enigma who truly remembers his roots.

Publicly, he gives a big check to Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction Gang every year and privately he’s done a lot of really nice things for old friends and racers. This isn’t a Nobel Peace Prize recommendation, just a glimpse of a kid that’s hit the jackpot and spread his wealth.

None of this goodwill happened recently, it just came to light last weekend in Tulsa during various conversations or when old racers were spotted.

In the public eye or not, Stewart insists on a hands-on approach. (LAT photo)

* Like when Bob Higman rode by on his motorized wheelchair. Higgy is a legend in midget racing whose generosity to people for 40 years was unfortunately seldom returned. He lost his home and his health but not his friends. Former drivers Larry Rice and Gary Irvin bought him a wheelchair a few years ago and when it pitched, Stewart stepped in and purchased a new one.

* When Davey Hamilton suffered severe foot injuries in a 2001 IRL race at Texas, Stewart sent him video games and a computer to help pass the time in rehab.

* In his initial Chili Bowl victory in 2002, Stewart had a memorable duel with Corey Kruseman and Kevin Doty. After Doty lost his life while racing in 2005, Tony flew his autistic son to Talladega to spend the weekend and stays in touch with the family.

* When Larry Curry, who convinced John Menard to put the USAC star into an Indy car in 1996, was serving jail time for stealing from Menard, his personal pictures, trophies and rings had to be auctioned off in 2004. Stewart sent a bidder to buy them all, then returned them to Curry.

* Crocky Wright is one of those great characters who’s always been around racing, first as a competitor, then as a writer and always as a fan. He had first championed Stewart way back in quarter midgets. But he never made much money and lived in an old trailer by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Frail and in his 80s, the former IMS tour bus driver commented to friends he had grown tired of all the hooligans during May and August but couldn’t afford to move. Last spring, Stewart bought a couple of houses across from his original home in Columbus, Ind. and, when he learned of Crocky’s situation, he moved his old friend into the neighborhood.

“He told Crocky you’re paying no rent, no utilities and you’re not mowing the grass,” said Sullivan. “Crocky said that he’d had coffee at the IMS Museum every morning and wondered if there was any place in Columbus, so Tony called up Pete Willoughby (an old midget racer) and asked if it was OK if Crocky came by the shop every day. Of course Pete said yes.”

* When he expanded Tony Stewart Motorsports (his USAC midget and sprint team with Chevrolet backing), the two-time NASCAR champion kept it in the USAC family. He hired USAC champions Tracy Hines and Levi Jones to drive, recently retired USAC champ Jay Drake to manage the team and sprint-car legend Bubby Jones to oversee Levi Jones in 2007.

To say Stewart has given back to auto racing is obviously a huge understatement since he now owns three tracks and three teams. He joked that he can’t quit NASCAR yet because he’s got too many bills.

But what really rings true about Stew is his loyalty.

And while there’s no telling whether he’s going to be good, bad or ugly at a racetrack, away from that NASCAR circus is a small-town boy with a big heart who has never forgotten the people who befriended him or helped his career before he was a star.

That makes him every bit as special outside a race car as it does inside.