Stewart cutting teeth in Busch Series

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 1:21 a.m.

At the tender age of 26, Tony Stewart is on the fast track to carrying the NASCAR Winston Cup Series into the 21st century.

Having already established himself as a champion on the open-wheel short-track circuit, the reigning Indy Racing League champion is preparing for his Winston Cup career by driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Busch Grand National Series.

The plan, according to Gibbs, is to get Stewart comfortable in the Busch Series before moving him full-time into Winston Cup -- perhaps as early as next season.

Although he has won championships in Go-Karts, Three-Quarter Midgets, Midgets, Sprint Cars and Silver Crown cars, Stewart realizes he must pay his dues in NASCAR's "triple-A" division, the Busch Series, before he steps up to the big time.

"The Busch Series is not a series that you can expect to go in with the attitude that you're going to go in there and clean house, because they're going to clean your house," Stewart said. "It's a tough series and you've got to take your tough knocks."

Stewart learned that all too well last week in the Goodwrench 200 Busch Grand National Race at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. Leading the race on the final lap, he had a victory snatched away from him when he was tapped from behind by Matt Kenseth coming out of turn four.

Stewart's Shell Pontiac got loose. He had to get off the gas and Kenseth passed him to take the checkered flag. Stewart finished second -- his best finish in seven Busch Series races dating to last year.

"We had (Kenseth) beat until turn four," Stewart said. "It's just part of the deal, it happens a lot. I'll have my day where he might be in that same position and I might lean on him a little bit. I think it's pretty much kind of expected down here to a certain degree."

Stewart, who drove five Busch races for Gibbs in 1997, will run both the IRL and Busch series this year, but has made a promise to Gibbs.

"I told him if I win the Indy 500, I'll give up Indy cars," Stewart said. "I really have one goal left to fulfill in IRL -- to win the Indianapolis 500.

"I've kind of been one of those guys that once we've conquered something, we always seem to pick up and move on and try something else. I'm not going to say that it would be the last time I run (Indy), but it would take a lot of the pressure off me in trying to win another 500."

Gibbs said he believes he has found the right man in Stewart to drive his second Winston Cup car, teaming with Bobby Labonte, in 1998.

"Tony impressed me by requesting that we go Busch Racing before we looked at Winston Cup," Gibbs, the former Washington Redskins coach, said. "It is the first time he had driven a 3,200-pound car and he wants to spend time in the Busch Series getting ready for Winston Cup.

"When I heard that, I thought it was a smart approach and felt like that would fit our program perfectly."

Stewart, who drove three Busch races for Rainier/Walsh Racing in 1996, said teaming with Gibbs has been a perfect match and has allowed him to exceed his expectations with the new race team.

"It has kind of surprised me because when I was with Rainier a couple of years ago, I didn't feel that comfortable in the car and now going into Gibbs, it has been an 180-degree turn," he said. "I felt really comfortable right off the bat.

"It has helped having Bobby Labonte as a teammate and to be able to ask a lot of questions whenever I've had them. He always spends as much time as he has had in his schedule to help out, and it has meant a lot to me."