Stewart

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tony Stewart's goals for 2003 are simple: Defend his Winston Cup championship, win more than the three races he won in 2002 and have some fun.

There wasn't much fun for Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing team as they won NASCAR's most prestigious title despite nearly constant controversy swirling around the often volatile driver.

During a stop on the fourth and final day of the UAW-GM Motorsports Media Tour sponsored by Lowe's Motor Speedway, Stewart appeared relaxed and bantered easily with reporters who were often the object of his anger last year.

"It's the most relaxed I've been coming into a race season," Stewart said. "I think a lot of it is because I don't feel like there's any pressure to try to prove anything this year.

"I just enjoy being a regular guy and being a race car driver. I don't want to be a politician, I don't want to represent anything. I just want to go out and drive race cars and try to win races."

Stewart said he hopes to eliminate distractions in 2003.

"I have to quit letting things get to me so easily," he explained. "If somebody writes something in the paper that I don't agree with, I let it eat at me for weeks. That was part of the reason I quit reading the papers and the magazines and watching TV.

"That's been a thorn in my side as far as my performance on the track because I carry stuff emotionally inside of me so much that I let it get to my work. If I can eliminate that stuff and focus more on the work, that will automatically make me a better race driver."

Stewart said he is hoping 2003 will be a "very uneventful, unemotional year."

"All I care about is how I do each week on the racetrack and entertaining the fans that were there to support me that day."

Coach's choice
As much as his focus these days is on his NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs still pays close attention to what's going on in the National Football League.

The former coach of the Washington Redskins, who took the team to four Super Bowls and won three of them, is looking forward to watching Sunday's game matching Tampa Bay and Oakland.

Asked who he thinks will win, Gibbs said, "I told everybody I vote with my heart, so it's always been hard for me to pull for the Raiders. I'm forced into the box; I have to go with Tampa."

"I used to always say that defense leads you to a championship. Offense may be the heart of the team and gets you points and special teams is the heart of the team, but that defense is going to lead you and both these teams have good defenses."

Gibbs said it will be interesting to see how Tampa Bay's defense handles Oakland's powerhouse offense.

Referring to Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, Gibbs said, "Monte is a friend of mine and I'll tell you, you have to go a long way to beat that guy."

Still learning

	Busch

Kurt Busch was the hottest driver in NASCAR at the end of last season, winning three of the last five races and earning the status of a legitimate title contender in 2003.

"Last year exceeded my expectations just because of my dismal rookie year," Busch said. "Nobody really knows what's going to happen because there are so many variables, but I feel like we're a top-five team and, if you're in the top five, you are a championship contender."

Busch said he learned a lot during his sophomore year.

"The most valuable lesson I learned in 2002 was when to go, when to apply pressure and when to back off," the 24-year-old driver said.

"At Homestead last year, I let (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. go early in the race and just waited to get the car right and take my shot when the time was right. In the past, I'd probably raced the heck out of it, got bumped around and had no chance to win."

The race in Florida was one of his late-season victories.