Stewart in chase for IRL championship

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 11:16 a.m.

It has been said that race-car drivers are a rare breed, and Tony Stewart is no exception.

In what other sport would an individual be more comfortable going into the final event of the season in third place in the standings than in first?

Stewart trails Kenny Brack by 41 points for the Indy Racing League championship heading into Sunday's Las Vegas 500K at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year, Stewart was the points leader coming into the race and eventually clinched the title by six points over Davey Hamilton.

Although 41 points is a lot of ground to make up in one race, Stewart said he likes the view from there.

"I guess the difference between the scenario from last year to this year is that I'm a lot more comfortable with the scenario I'm in this year even though it's not as favorable," Stewart said. "All I can do is go out there and work as hard as I can to get the pole, work as hard as I can to lead the most laps and try to win the race.

"That means I get to stand on it the whole weekend versus trying to take it easy and be careful in the race. We're going to throw caution to the wind."

This time last year, Stewart had to play it safe and drive a conservative race with only a 10-point lead over Hamilton.

"It's a lot harder to try to be cautious than it is to just go out there and do what you're used to doing," Stewart said. "For 19 years, I've been standing on the gas and to have a race like we had last fall and have to take it easy, that's not my style of driving.

"It seemed a little bit awkward and it was a pretty intense race last year having to do that. This year, there's nothing really for me to be nervous about."

Stewart, who will leave the IRL at the end of the season to run a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup schedule for team owner Joe Gibbs, said it is important for him to at least win Sunday's race if he can't catch Brack for the championship.

"Every series I've ever been involved in, I've always left on a high note," Stewart said. "The last go-kart race I ever ran, I won that. When I left my USAC career, I was on top of it, too.

"It's real important for us to finish strong this weekend and leave here on a high note. What you do at the end of the year is always the start of your momentum for the next year."

Stewart, who has won three IRL races in two seasons, has been splitting the year between the Indy cars and the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. Beginning next year, the 27-year-old Stewart will only complete in the IRL at the Indianapolis 500.

While stock-car racing might not always have been the native Hoosier's first choice, he said the opportunity to work with a team such as Gibbs' was too good to pass up.

"Before the IRL was started, if you wanted to move out of sprint cars, the only big-time racing was CART or NASCAR," Stewart said. "I really don't have that much interest in road racing as far as running street circuits and all of that, so it wasn't something that wasn't real interesting to me as far as running CART."

Stewart ran nine Busch Series races with Rainier Racing in 1996, but left the team when it became clear driver and owner didn't have the same objective. When Gibbs came calling last year, it was an offer Stewart said he couldn't refuse.

"At the beginning of last year, Joe Gibbs contacted us and really, when he called us, that was the call that I had been waiting for," Stewart said.

"It wasn't that I was unhappy with the IRL and wanted to leave, I just didn't want to let the opportunity pass to be with a top-notch NASCAR team and at least give it a shot."

While he certainly wouldn't be considered the favorite this weekend to capture the IRL crown, Stewart isn't about to bet against himself.

"We're a long shot ... but anything can happen in Las Vegas," Stewart said.

"This place has been fairly good to me. Last year, we won the championship and a week later, I won my first ever Silver Crown race out here so I feel like I've got a little bit of luck on my side going into this weekend."