Tony wants to win every time he straps into a race car and there’s nothing wrong with that. I think he was probably out of line after Saturday’s incident with his teammate, Denny Hamlin, at Daytona, but even Joe Gibbs stuck up for two-time champion. I think he was pretty hasty in making a decision about who was at fault in this melee.

Tony often opens his mouth before thinking about the consquences of what he says, but that’s who he is. He reminds me a lot of Dale Earnhardt Sr., who never caused a wreck in his life on the track if you asked him. It was “just racing,” Earnardt would say.

It didn’t, however, change my opinion one bit about a Hoosier who claims he’s not a politician, but simply a race car driver who just wants to win.

I’ve not given up on Tony’s chances of winning another title although rival Jeff Gordon sure looks like he’s well on the way to another title. Tony is doing what he needs to do to make sure he makes the chase, but he doesn’t need anything similar to what happened Saturday night to occur again. It’s not been that good of a season for Stewart, but he can still turn things around. A couple of wins would do a lot to help the cause.