Stewart displeased with draft status

Mike Harris

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 | 2:08 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Tony Stewart doesn't need to prove his credentials to anybody after the sensational rookie year he had in 1999. But the former Indy Racing League champion admits he has a lot to learn about drafting at Daytona International Speedway.

Stewart, who finished fourth on Sunday in the Bud Shootout, a competitive made-for-TV event on Daytona's 2.5-mile oval, was disappointed in his performance.

"We had a car that was pretty decent, but we still don't have a driver that is smart enough on restrictor plate tracks to know what to do and when to do it," said last year's rookie of the year.

NASCAR requires carburetor restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway - its biggest and fastest ovals - to keep the top speeds of the stock cars under 200 mph.

That tends to bunch up the cars during the races, turning drafting into an art form.

"I'm pretty disappointed in myself right now from the standpoint I don't know when it's the right time to move and when to stay in line and just what to do yet," Stewart said. "It's frustrating because it doesn't matter how good a car you've got, everybody else determines your fate.

"I'm just kind of scratching my head trying to figure out what I need to do right this second."

Stewart will get two more opportunities to work on his drafting technique this week, running in one of the two 125-mile qualifying races on Thursday and in the featured Daytona 500 on Sunday.

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STARSTRUCK: Dale Jarrett had stars in his eyes during a quick trip to Las Vegas Monday night to take part in the ESPY Awards.

Jarrett, the defending Winston Cup champion, was named Performer of the Year in the Auto Racing category. Fellow NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt was named Performer of the Decade in the same category.

"It was just an incredible hour's experience in the green room and to have a chance to meet some of my heroes," Jarrett said. "I had time to talk to a lot of different people: Peyton Manning, Joe Torre, Dan Patrick from ESPN, Mark McGwire, Tiger Woods, Ben Crenshaw, Justin Leonard, Juli Inkster ... I could go on and on.

"I'm not one to get autographs, but I could have got a lot. Just the opportunity to stand and talk to these people and be in the same room with them was just incredible."

Jarrett was asked if he believes NASCAR drivers are on the same level as the other star athletes he met in Las Vegas?

"I think so," he said. "It depends on how you look at athletes. But, in talking to those people, they knew who I was and who Earnhardt was and they kept up with our sport. A majority of them congratulated me, before I even said who I was, on the victories we had Sunday (in the Bud Shootout) and winning the (Daytona 500) pole."

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TRUCKIN' AT DAYTONA: The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races on Daytona's high banks for the first time on Friday. Previously, the biggest track the truck series has competed on were the 2-mile ovals in Brooklyn, Mich., and Fontana, Calif.

Ron Barfield, who has driven a stock car here, said, "In qualifying you get on the (floor) mat and kind of look at the people in the grandstand and do whatever you want to do.

"Bill Elliott told me that your grandma could drive qualifying at Talladega, and this is just a little bit harder than Talladega. It will be a little different when you put all of the trucks out there at the same time."