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16 economist suntribune wheels thursday march 7 2002 york region wheels 50 years one major face lift volkswagen celebrates 50 years in canada this year marks five decades of volkswagen beetle value to celebrate all our prices have gone under the knife so drop by until saturday march 9th our deals are sure to give you a lift drivers wanted c greenbelt volkswagen tfkwuctcg 7997 kennedy road by jason stein for wheelbase communications his way to the top he took kart racing to another level then quickly turned higherhorse power openwheel machines like ony stewart took a break threequarter midgets into a career in for more information visit wwwgreenbeltvwcom the gtas only wolfsburg crest club dealer emblematic of superior sales customer service ij- sy not long ago a brief little fiveday lull in a 52week storm a momentary stop page in his endless stop watch of time and a sudden red flag on a course thats constantly green the bahamas stewart said on a frigid january day about a month before the start of what could be his biggest season you know white sand and beach es and all that it was the first time id actually remembered having a real vaca tion stop the press stewart took a lap off somebody else got a lap closer in the harried world of the columbus ind kid any arnount of time not spent on the accelerator is time wasted when hes not going nose-to- bumper on an everexpanding nascar schedule hes going door-to- door on dirt tracks paved tracks short tracks or long tracks when hes not going racing hes thinking about racing when hes not thinking about it hes buying it like the morning about 19 months back when he went out for coffee and donuls and on his way through the checkout lane picked up a racing collectibles magazine cause it was one i hadnt seen yet and i wanted to see how our die casts were doing stewart says the only problem his picture was on the cover at the checkout stewart placed the donuts on top of the magazine and prayed the cashier wouldnt notice next thing she moves the donuts picks up the magazine stares at the cover and says oh its tony stewart i couldnt figure out who that was for a second stewart says retelling the encounter well i just grabbed everything and got out of there in a hurry i cracked up the whole way home how life has changed these days stewart describes his life as a living zoo exhibit a daily journey that is not only physically demanding but a mental drain most of it brought on himself hes a perfectionist to a fault a racer to the finish line he cant let things be left undone he has to try everything its why his schedule is the way it is its why his personality his fan base and his lifestyle are in full motion in early january there was stewart in the grand american sportscar series at daytona driving an opencockpit prototype thats a cross between stock car and indy car last may it was the indy 500 on the same day as the coca- cola 600 nascar race in between it has been midgets and united states auto club usac and oh and on and on everybody knows that if i get an off weekend and can go race some where ill go race that theme has been lost on no one least of all stewart from his first ride in the seat of a gokart at age 7 to his first karting cham pionship at 12 then a world title at 16 stewart has never wasted time passing profiles automotive legends and heroes usac racing by 1991 he was usacs rookie of the year by 94 he was a usac champion a season later he was usac history a triple crown winner in the national midget sprint and silver crown series and all in the same year after earning the rookie-of-the- year award in the indy racing league irl at 25 stewart won the champi onship the following year when he wanted to move to nascar stewart not only sharpened his skills in the busch series racing in 22 events in 98 but also racing on every other kind of surface in sight a year later he was ready for the big time but was winston cup ready for him fistfights with reporters verbal brawls with nascar and ontrack alter cations with otherdrivers made stewart a household name oh the circuit and that was only his first year despite winning rookieofthe year honors in his first season of winston cup he was quickly labeled tony the tempestuous tony the terrible and tony the tantrumthrowing he has thrown his helmet at passing competitors after being cut off in traffic he has barreled into others in the middle of pit road i dont back down he said if people dont like that there are 50 other driv ers they can root for nascar had its whitehat cowboy in jeff gordon another indiana son tony would wear the black from what ive seen of nascar theyre pretty hardheaded and set in their ways stewart told espn at the end of last year after placing second in points their approach is its our way or the highway i might be driving down the highway pretty soon and despite retiring with a broken car after only a couple of laps of the 2002 daytona 500 driving to a nascar title might be next if last year is any indicator that is after a lateseason push stewart cooled off gave up fighting nascar and drove to three wins 1 5 topfive fin ishes and 22 top1 os had he not strug gled in six of the first seven races stewart might have given jeff gordon who won the championship a run for his money now he just wants his own run albeit with a few extra perks such as a private plane three homes and the world nearly at his feet but first theres a dirt track here a sprint car there if i wasnt racing id probably be lost stewart says i have been involved in racing for 23 years now i dont know what i would be doing if i wasnt driving race cars jason stein is a feature writer and the editor of wheelbase communications speedweek racing page he can be reached at jsteinwheelbasecomcom wheelbase communications supplies automotive news and features to news- papers across north america