Stewart

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Last year, he won the Bud Shootout and finished second in his Gatorade 125 here at Daytona. Then his car blew an engine just a couple of laps into the Daytona 500.

Throughout the season, he made headlines for both his on-track performance and some off-track controversies. He was simultaneously praised and maligned.

No matter. In the end, he won the 2002 Winston Cup championship.

Then came an off-season featuring intense media attention and speculation as to whether he could handle the responsibilities of a Cup champion. Soon after, the series headed back to Daytona, the site of one of his '02 low points.

The Daytona 500 looms. A win here -- along with an Indy 500 win -- is just about the only thing missing from his resume.

So as we count down to green, one must wonder ... Where is Tony Stewart?

Sure, Stewart put together a solid run in his 125 qualifier -- after a solid but unspectacular run in last weekend's Bud Shootout -- and starts a strong eighth on Sunday. But isn't it a bit peculiar that so little focus has been on the reigning Cup champion this week?

After all, there's more to Sunday's race than DEI and RCR, isn't there? Well, the verbal jabbing between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick certainly isn't helping to move the focus anywhere else.

But even Stewart himself is trying not to place too much importance on the 500.

"As much as I'd like to put more emphasis on this race, in all reality it is on of 36," said Stewart. "I'm trying to keep that attitude about it."

But it'd still mean something, right?

"Any win at any big race is an accomplishment. It's big for me, it's big for Dale Jr., it's big for Kurt Busch. It's big for anybody in the series. It's big, period. That's the one question I wish everybody would quit asking, 'What's it going to mean?' Well, shoot -- we don't come here just because we want to ride around and hang out at the beach for 10 straight days. We all want to win because it's a big race. Well, it's a big win for everybody."

For a guy who at this early stage in his stock car career already has a Winston Cup championship to his credit, one particular race win -- no matter how prestigious the race -- can't be the be all and end all of his list of accomplishments.

"There are a lot of races I haven't won yet," said Stewart. "There are still a lot of races I do want to win. If I don't win all the races that are on my list it doesn't mean that I'm going to say, 'I had an unsuccessful career.' I think I've got to focus on the ones that I did win.

"I'm pretty secure in feeling that if it all ended right now, I'm pretty happy with the way my career has been."

Off-focus
Earnhardt Jr. said he enjoys surprising people rather than being a race favorite. In this case, it's Stewart who should relish the role. Not that anyone would be terribly shocked if Stewart found his way to Victory Lane on Sunday, but imagine how well Mr. Happy could perform without the constant scrutiny?

Not that the number of articles or television spots has any direct correlation to Stewart's performance, but he must be enjoying the focus being somewhere other than he and his No. 20 team.

Joe Gibbs isn't sure his cars -- which include Stewart's No. 20 and Bobby Labonte's No. 18 -- quite have enough to beat those in the DEI and RCR stables. But aside from sheer luck, a key to winning at Daytona is not necessarily having the best car, but having a good enough car to be in position to win.

Sure, Derrike Cope was the beneficiary of some luck when Dale Earnhardt handed him the 1990 Daytona 500 victory. But somebody had to be in second place at the time. Cope deserves more credit than he gets.

Nowadays, it's a similar situation. A driver can jump four or five spots in the span of a few laps if enough partners line up, both lines are working and the draft is right. And while Stewart's isn't the strongest car in the field, it is one of the better machines out there.

	“	I'm pretty secure in feeling that if it all ended right now, I'm pretty happy with the way my career has been. ”
		— Stewart

Not to mention Stewart being one of the better drivers -- though even he admits that the DEI tandem of Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip do have the advantage over the rest of the field.

"They're running awfully good. I'd say they probably do have an edge. We just don't know what it is, but that's what we're all here for. We'd be happy if we were in their position. It's a good position for those guys, for sure."

But Stewart's not about to give up on his own hopes of winning Sunday's Daytona 500.

"I've got a pretty nice race car right now," said Stewart. "I think it's probably as good as it's been right now. I don't know if it's good enough to beat the 8 and 15, but it's good enough to run with them."

Stewart realizes that in this race and the three others like it on the schedule, it's anybody's game. ("When you've got 43 poker players at the table, it's a little harder.")

Stewart is one of the better players out there. And as with Thursday's second Gatorade 125, the Cup champ is looking forward to the chance to mix it up with the race favorites.

"If I could've gotten up to the 8 car and the 15 car, it would've been pretty interesting to see how fast we could've run together."

And if the cars fall right in Sunday's poker game, it could be pretty interesting when the white flag drops.