| | Associated Press
Tony Stewart wasn't content with his record-setting rookie
season. So, he went out this year as a sophomore and did it again,
taking one checkered flag after another.
With a victory Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway, he will
turn the best rookie season in Winston Cup history into the most
productive ever by a second-year driver.
Nonetheless, Stewart isn't concerned about his place in history.
|  | | Between Stewart and teammate Bobby Labonte, Joe Gibbs racing has nine wins this season. |
"I don't think we're even looking at that," he said. "We want
to go out and win every week, but it's not that we're in a
competition to see who can win the most races."
A victory would be his sixth this season, one more than Dale
Earnhardt had when he set the record for second-year drivers in
1980. It also would guarantee Stewart no worse than a tie for the
most wins this year, which no sophomore driver has ever done.
"Winning is great," he said. "But this is all about
consistency and points and championships. I'd rather have five
top-fives than a win."
With three races remaining, only Rusty Wallace and Bobby Labonte
-- with four victories apiece -- loom as reasonable threats to win
more than Stewart. But his position appears solid because the race
Sunday and the one a week later in Homestead, Fla., are on tracks
where Stewart won last year.
So, for the first time since 1994, someone other than Jeff
Gordon- - who remains a distant contender with three victories --
should lead the circuit. Could it be the start of a roll for the
29-year-old Stewart?
"We just want to go out and get the best we can out of our car
in every race," said Stewart, who also would have to lead the next
four years to match Gordon's series record of five in a row. "I'm
not thinking about that. This is all about focusing on the next
race."
Crew chief Greg Zipadelli doesn't see many problems with the
team, but he also doesn't know if that means a championship is in
its future.
"Last year, we said we had to grow in some areas," he said.
"This year, we'll look back on the season and say we have to grow
in some other areas in order to be a championship contender."
In 1999, when Stewart set rookie records with three victories
and a final standing of fourth in the points, he was running at the
end of all but one of the 34 races.
He got behind in points because of accidents and mechanical
problems early this season and is sixth in the series despite
leading in victories.
"Our consistency is what has hurt us this year," Zipadelli
said. "We haven't had many boring days. We're always battling back
from something."
The team's ability to overcome problems is what impresses
Zipadelli the most. He says Stewart often has come from a lap or
more down in his two seasons to finish in the top five.
Zipadelli knows leading the circuit in victories is great, but
he is driven in part by the ones that got away.
"We probably had chances at five or seven other races that we
weren't able to capitalize on," he said.
Joe Gibbs Racing is at the top with Stewart and teammate
Labonte, who's closing in on his first series title. Stewart says
Gibbs, whose Washington Redskins won three Super Bowls, is a great
motivator, especially in the down times.
"We'll have a bad race and Greg will be throwing things in his
office and I'm destroying my house," Stewart said. "Joe can get
us calmed down and look ahead rather than back to a bad day."
But Gibbs' easygoing demeanor isn't a given, Stewart insists. He
knows what some of the Redskins might have heard during a few of
the coach's tirades.
"I've only seen him mad about three times, but he was justified
every time," Stewart said. "When he does get mad he gets
everybody's attention in a hurry. It just doesn't happen that
often."
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