Tired of his Bad Boy behavior, Stewart's crew was ready to walk away from one of the most talented drivers in history. Team owner Joe Gibbs intervened, ordering Stewart into an offseason heart-to-heart meeting with them to iron out their issues.

``Sometimes bad things have to happen for good things to come out of it,'' Stewart said. ``All of the guys sat down and we got to air everything out. It was one of the most stressful meetings I've ever been in because when I went into it I didn't know what it was going to be. I didn't even know if I would have a job after it was over.''

His crew hung with him and together they began a march toward the Nextel Cup championship that ended Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It capped an uncharacteristically calm season for Stewart.

He won races, kept his temper in check and avoided every major incident long enough to cement himself as one of the greatest drivers of his time.

Needing only to run clean at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he hovered just outside the top 10 and away from any potential danger. Stewart ended up 15th, winning the title by 35 points over Greg Biffle, who won the Ford 400 for the second straight year by besting teammate Mark Martin in a door-to-door finish.

Stewart became just the 14th driver in NASCAR history with more than one championship and joined four-time winner Jeff Gordon as the only active full-time drivers with multiple titles.

``I don't believe the trophy makes the man,'' Mark Martin said. ``Tony Stewart, in my eyes, is the greatest race car driver I've watched drive in this era. A.J. Foyt might have been that when I was a little boy, but Tony Stewart is my driving hero.''

But it was not his spot among the elite that earned Stewart praise from his fellow drivers. It was the attitude adjustment that helped him get there.

``Either the therapy is working or he's learned through experience,'' Gordon said. ``He finally started to get the fact that this is a sport that has media involved, fans involved, sponsors involved and it's great that we get the privilege to go out there and drive these race cars ... but sometimes you forget about the big picture and I think it took Tony a little while.

``He gets it now and it's showing in his personality.''

For Stewart, it was the perfect finale to what's been a perfect season both on and off the track.

He had a tortured run to the title in 2002, punching a photographer the lowest point of a rollercoaster season pocked by bad behavior and blowups. So he'll treasure this title, a gift to the team that stuck with him through thick and thin.

After an emotional embrace with crew chief Greg Zipadelli -- interrupted by chants of ``Climb the fence!'' from his fans -- he dedicated the win to his Joe Gibbs Racing crew members, who showered with bottle after bottle of Coke from the risers above.

``I put the team through a lot of hell ever since I've been with them but they never gave up on me,'' Stewart said. ``Zippy didn't want to win it the way we did in 2002. It was nice to do it and do it right.''

The championship was the third for Gibbs, now coach of the Washington Redskins, and first for his son, J.D., who took over the leadership role when his father went to the NFL.

``Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate,'' Joe Gibbs said over a telephone line while Stewart accepted the Nextel Cup trophy, ``and I'm picking up the tab!''

``You're darn right you're picking up the tab!'' replied Stewart, who won at least $5.8 million with the title.

To get to this point, Stewart needed Gibbs' team intervention.

He moved back to Indiana into his childhood home, surrounding himself with family and old friends who helped temper his frequent mood swings. It showed in his personality and in his performance, especially during the summer -- when he turned it up a notch to become the hottest driver in NASCAR.

Reeling off a string of five victories in seven races, nothing could beat Stewart, not even his old nemesis -- Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The track had tormented him his entire career, denying him time after time in both stock and Indy cars.

But not even Indy could derail Stewart this season. He finally scored a win at the Brickyard in August.

``This is the icing on the cake for sure,'' Stewart said. ``To win at the Brickyard was a race and a win of a lifetime for me, and to finish it off with a championship. I don't know how to ask for a better year. This is perfect.''

Only Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Biffle had a chance to beat him, and Johnson saw his hopes squashed 126 laps into the race when an apparent leak in his right rear tire finally gave out. The tire exploded and sent him smashing into the wall.

A two-time runner up for the title the past two seasons, Johnson desperately wanted to avoid falling short yet again. But as the cars raced around him and he stood dejected in the garage, Johnson would have traded anything to be back out there with a shot at second. Instead, he dropped all the way back to fifth in a frustrating end to his season.

``I look back at the season and we did everything we could,'' he said. ``So I'm disappointed. I lived my whole life for this ... I'll be back next year.''

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September 04, 2005

German star Michael Schumacher acknowledges 2005 title is out of reach

MONZA, Italy (AP) - German Michael Schumacher conceded the 2005 Formula One title Thursday.
The seven-time world champion finally acknowledged what everyone already knew - even himself, as it turned out. That after five straight years of Schumacher winning, Spain's Fernando Alonso or Finland's Kimi Raikkonen will claim the Formula One overall title this year.

MONZA, Italy (AP) - German Michael Schumacher conceded the 2005 Formula One title Thursday.
The seven-time world champion finally acknowledged what everyone already knew - even himself, as it turned out. That after five straight years of Schumacher winning, Spain's Fernando Alonso or Finland's Kimi Raikkonen will claim the Formula One overall title this year.
"It's not something that happens overnight. I kept saying that until mathematically things are impossible, I will keep fighting," Schumacher said. "But then at the same time I'm a realist, and some races ago I pretty much knew that it's not possible anymore to fight for the championship.

"Nobody expected this and now that it's there we will work very hard to fight back again. It's not a big surprise and that's the way it goes. It is honestly a surprise it did take that long before it happened."

Schumacher is third overall, trailing Alonso by 40 points in the drivers' standings entering this weekend's Italian Grand Prix. After this event, only four more races remain, meaning Schumacher will be mathematically eliminated Sunday if Alonso gains more points than he does. Wins are worth 10 points each.

Jacques Villeneuve of Iberville, Que., enters the race tied for 14th in the driver's standings with Portugal's Tiago Monteiro and Austrian Alexander Wurz. All three have six points.

Schumacher, whose future at Ferrari remains in question, made it clear he does not believe he will finish ahead of Alonso here, pointing to Ferrari's slow test times here last week.

"The fact is we were too slow here and we did not look too competitive," said Schumacher, adding that "unless it rains" he does not expect that to change in the race.

Alonso has a 24-point lead on Raikkonen, but Raikkonen's McLaren team was faster than Alonso's Renault squad in last week's tests.

"We'll try to win even though in the tests McLaren was faster," Alonso said.

Raikkonen's teammate, Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, clocked a Formula One record 372 kilometres an hour on Monza's main straightaway last week.

"Our maximum speed is 367, 368 kilometres an hour," said Alonso, adding that Renault will try different aerodynamics in practice Friday.

Alonso, 24, could become the youngest ever world champion and he does not need to win every race to claim that title.

If Raikkonen wins each of the five remaining races, Alonso could still take the championship if he finishes third in each race.

"We need to keep the momentum going and do a better job than Renault over the remaining five races," McLaren team chairman Martin Whitmarsh said. "However, we are aware that Renault need to make some errors."

Schumacher added his competitors' hunger had contributed to his poor form and that he would not lack incentive to contest next season.

"If you imagine how many years the other guys have been in my position I'm in now, they have been motivated to get back and challenge the leaders," Schumacher said. "There's no reason not to be motivated and I look forward very much to challenging again."

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July 17, 2005

'Danica-mania' moves to Nashville - with a few limits attached

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The time apparently has come for a few limits on the travelling Indy Racing League show known as "Danica-mania."

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The time apparently has come for a few limits on the travelling Indy Racing League show known as "Danica-mania."

TERESA M. WALKER
On Thursday, the IRL arrived at the Nashville Superspeedway for Saturday night's Firestone Indy 200, and getting to the rookie driver who's been making history almost everywhere she stops this year is getting tougher.

Danica Patrick, fresh off an appearance at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, attended an autograph signing at the headquarters of Bridgestone Firestone with a police officer in tow. Her schedule limited her to 30 minutes, most of which were spent signing for employees who rushed to get the must-have signature of the day.

Seeing the lengthy lines she has attracted in her previous stops, and with Patrick poised to contend for a second straight pole in qualifying Friday, track officials decided last week to hand out 400 free passes for Friday night's autograph session. They were snapped up quickly.

Not bad for an event sold out for a third straight year.

"When you add Danica to the equation, it has taken this event to an entirely new level," track general manager Cliff Hawks said. "The Indy Racing League is experiencing, I believe, a level of star power that they have not had since the inception of the league. She's probably the most significant addition to the series that they've had in a long time, and we're feeling the positive effects."

And for people not swept up in the Danica excitement, the Firestone Indy 200 has a little something for everyone.

Defending champion Tony Kanaan is looking for a second straight victory, and the defending series champ is trying to chase down teammate Dan Wheldon in the points race. Kanaan isn't ready to cede the season title despite trailing by 76 points. Wheldon is trying to tie the series record with his fifth victory this season.

But Kanaan thinks his team is ready to build off its victory at Kansas two weeks ago.

"Obviously, momentum, it's everything. It's a big part of racing, so I think the guys are pumped, and we're coming to a race track that we had success. I don't think we had the best car here last year to win the race. We got in a situation where we ended up winning," he said.

"If we can carry this momentum ... it will help us a lot."

Buddy Lazier, who won the inaugural race here in 2001, is back in a car for the first time since finishing fifth at the Indianapolis 500. He will be racing for Panther Racing this weekend and at Michigan, with the possibility of more to come after Pennzoil joined on as a primary sponsor Thursday.

Dario Franchitti would like to win at the track he considers his home because it's a short drive from the home he shares with his wife, actress Ashley Judd.

If that weren't enough, there's the fact that this 1.33-mile oval features the only concrete track on the IRL's 17-race schedule.

The concrete sections make for a bumpy ride, and the surface shreds the Firestone tires, leaving rubber marbles that make the track slick late in the race and away from the racing groove.

With Patrick being new to the tracks this season, she has been tapping her Rahal-Letterman teammates for inside tips before practice and qualifying. Buddy Rice won the pole here last year and only a late tie-up with Wheldon knocked him back to a fifth-place finish.

"I don't think it's any secret that Rahal-Letterman has been strong on all the mile-a-half tracks. It's a mile-a-third, but it's still the same. It's a high-banked, big track, and with the Honda power, I think it puts us in a very good position to win anytime we come onto one of these tracks," Rice said.

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July 01, 2005

Danica Patrick falls off pole pace early; Kanaan wins Argent Mortgage Indy 300

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - The pole and the crowd might have belonged to Danica Patrick. The trophy - and the last word - went to Tony Kanaan. "You guys wanted Danica to win? Sorry," Kanaan said after his Indy Racing League victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway. "You got to wait until next time."

A 1-2-3 qualifying effort by Patrick and Rahal Letterman Racing teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira led some to believe the team might dominate the Argent Mortgage Indy 300 - as it did here last year, when Rice edged Meira in the second-closest IRL finish in history.
Instead, Patrick's first career pole proved to be the highlight of her day. The 23-year-old rookie, only the second woman in league history to start from the pole, struggled with mechanical problems all day and finished ninth on the 1 1/2-mile tri-oval.

Kanaan edged Andretti Green teammate Dan Wheldon by .012 seconds - the sixth-closest finish in league history - for his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career.

"I don't hear anybody talking about Rahal Letterman now, so who cares? They can talk all they want," said Kanaan, the defending series champion. "The race is finished when the checkered flag drops, and now they're going to have to talk about us."

Patrick said she did everything she could to win.

"It would have been nice to finish up front, where I think the car was fast enough to finish, but I worked so hard today," Patrick said. "I basically raced side by side for 200 laps. I did all that I could."

With only three cautions and the last 61 laps of the 200-lap race under green, Wheldon's strategy of pitting earlier than the rest of the field appeared to have him headed to his fifth victory in eight races this season.

The points leader and Indianapolis 500 winner took the lead with three laps to go, when Rice had to pit.

But Kanaan, who pitted in the 190th lap, went ahead on the next lap and then held on to deny Wheldon, who needed a win to tie Sam Hornish Jr.'s record for most victories in a season.

"I love Tony to bits. I'm glad he beat me instead of somebody else, but losing like this is difficult to take," said Wheldon, who led 111 laps after struggling to find speed all week and starting 11th.

"I don't know that we found any more speed," said Wheldon, whose points lead over Kanaan shrank from 83 points to 75. "I think other people lost some speed today."

Meira, running just behind the leaders, made a last-second dive to the inside, crossing below the white line, but still came up third.

"If I could keep my foot down and on the inside, it's a little downhill, so that was my only shot," Meira said. "I tried outside on Wheldon when it was only me and him, but I couldn't make it."

Dario Franchitti, another Andretti Green racer, was fourth, followed by Tomas Scheckter, Scott Sharp, Darren Manning, Helio Castroneves, Patrick and Rice.

"We tried to save fuel for the end and hoped for a yellow flag," said Rice, who beat Meira by only .0051 seconds in the 2004 race. "With one yellow lap, we could have stolen the race."

Patrick Carpentier of Joliette, Que., was 14th.

"I must have the slowest car in the field," Carpentier said. "I was proud of the work I had done up to the last stop, but unfortunately, when I came back on the track, I was not in the right place."

"It's quite a frustrating result," he added. "During the race, I had the opportunity to set myself up with several cars and that's how I made my way up the field. But with 10 laps to go, it was mission impossible. Let's hope that things can improve from here."

Carpentier said he is returning to Joliette to rest before the next race.

Patrick, who joined Sarah Fisher as the second woman to win a pole after qualifying first Saturday, lost the lead to Rice on the opening lap and dropped to fifth on the second. She got as high as fourth late in the race, after falling as low as 15th, but never challenged for the lead.

"On the start, there's nothing I could have done," Patrick said. "It was foot to the floor. I couldn't run fourth gear, and fifth gear was so long that everyone passed me."

Patrick's engine also cut out on her once, and she had problems getting away from pit stops because her crew had her traction control turned off.

But winning the pole was the latest in a string of firsts for Patrick. In May, Patrick became the first woman to lead a lap at the Indianapolis 500 and placed fourth, the best finish by a woman in the 89-year history of the race.

Rice led for 12 laps, the first time he has been out front all season after winning three races and finishing third in the points last year.

"We didn't have the best car today," he said. "It was just pushing too much in the corners. I had to leave a lot in the corners or I was going to hit the fence."

Posted by admin at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2005

Clint Bowyer gets first Busch Series win in rain-delayed event in Tennessee

GLADEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Clint Bowyer raced to his first NASCAR Busch Series victory Sunday, beating Kenny Wallace by 2.386 seconds in the rain-delayed Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway.
"It's great to finally get the deal sealed at Nashville," said Bowyer, who has five top-five finishes in five starts on the 1.3-mile concrete oval. "It all started for me here two years ago in an ARCA race and Richard Childress saw me.

"It's great to finally get the deal sealed at Nashville," said Bowyer, who has five top-five finishes in five starts on the 1.3-mile concrete oval. "It all started for me here two years ago in an ARCA race and Richard Childress saw me.

"I absolutely cannot believe it. I've been in position before where I thought we had it and I spoke too soon. But I didn't speak too soon today."

The 26-year-old driver for Richard Childress Racing became the sixth driver to race to his first series victory in nine races on the track. He averaged 122.141 miles an hour. The race was slowed by eight caution periods.

There was a precarious moment on the final lap, with Johnny Benson spinning to bring out the yellow flag, but Bowyer had already taken the white flag, and easily held off Wallace for the victory.

Rookie Reed Sorenson, who raced to his first Busch Series victory at the track in April, finished third to take the series points lead.

Tony Raines was third, followed by Martin Truex Jr., David Stremme, Denny Hamlin, J.J. Yeley, Johnny Sauter and Paul Wolfe.

The field started according to owner points after qualifying was rained out Saturday, putting then-series leader Carl Edwards on the pole. However, he had to skip the race to run in the Nextel Cup race Sunday at Pocono in Pennsylvania.

By rule, Edwards' backup, Hank Parker Jr., had to start at the end of the field. He finished a lap down in 20th place.

Sorenson has a 51-point lead over Bowyer and defending champion Truex. Edwards dropped to fourth, 96 points off the lead.

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June 02, 2005

Rookie Danica Patrick Becomes the First Woman to Ever Lead a Lap at the Indy 500

INDIANAPOLIS May 29, 2005 — Add another first to Danica Patrick's racing resume. The 23-year-old rookie, the highest-starting female driver in Indianapolis 500 history, became the first woman to lead the race when the three drivers ahead of her made their second pit stops before she did.

Patrick, driving for the Rahal Letterman Racing team, started fourth, on the inside of the second row directly behind pole-winner Tony Kanaan.

She stayed among the leaders and was still running fourth when Sam Hornish Jr., Dario Franchitti and Kanaan came in for pit stops on the 56th lap. That put Patrick in front briefly, but she came in for four tires and fuel the next time around and dropped back to fourth as she came onto the track.

INDIANAPOLIS May 29, 2005 — Add another first to Danica Patrick's racing resume. The 23-year-old rookie, the highest-starting female driver in Indianapolis 500 history, became the first woman to lead the race when the three drivers ahead of her made their second pit stops before she did.

Patrick, driving for the Rahal Letterman Racing team, started fourth, on the inside of the second row directly behind pole-winner Tony Kanaan.

She stayed among the leaders and was still running fourth when Sam Hornish Jr., Dario Franchitti and Kanaan came in for pit stops on the 56th lap. That put Patrick in front briefly, but she came in for four tires and fuel the next time around and dropped back to fourth as she came onto the track.

The only woman to start from the pole in a major open wheel race was Sarah Fisher, who led the first 26 laps at Kentucky Speedway in 2002 and finished eighth. In five races at Indianapolis, Fisher's best start was ninth and her best finish was 21st.

The only other women at Indy were Janet Guthrie, whose best finish in three races was ninth in 1978; and Lyn St. James, whose best in seven races was 11th in 1992, when she was rookie of the year.

Patrick, who drove in the developmental Toyota Atlantic series for Rahal Letterman the past two years, moved up to the IndyCar series this season. At the series' most recent race at Motegi, Japan, she started second, led 32 laps and finished fourth.

Patrick went into Sunday's race in 12th place in the IRL series points.

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May 17, 2005

BARCELONA (AP) - Narain Karthikeyan has Fernando Alonso as his role model.

Not a bad choice. The Formula One season leader after five races, Alonso didn't score a point with Minardi as a rookie four years ago. Since then, he's won four times and finished second in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Karthikeyan finished ...

Not a bad choice. The Formula One season leader after five races, Alonso didn't score a point with Minardi as a rookie four years ago. Since then, he's won four times and finished second in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Karthikeyan finished three laps behind Alonso on Sunday, far out of the points, driving a car that was 4 to 5 seconds slower per lap than Alonso's. But he finished, which is almost as good as winning for drivers on some of the also-ran teams.

The first Indian driver in F1, Karthikeyan doesn't expect to score a point in his rookie season with Jordan. He just hopes to get noticed, keep learning and justify his sponsorship from the Tata Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, and state-run Bharat Petroleum.

"The driver is only as good as his equipment," Karthikeyan said at the Spanish GP. "Alonso didn't do that much at Minardi, but people knew he was talented and he got the right opportunity."

So far this season, Karthikeyan has finished 15th, 11th, 14th and 13th. He's only failed to finish one race - in Bahrain, his car went out after two laps with electrical problems.

It's unclear if Karthikeyan has Alonso's talent, but he did have 12 years of driving experience before moving to Jordan in February shortly after the team was bought by Canadian billionaire Alex Shnaider. He made a quick impression, completing the Australian Grand Prix a few days later with barely any practice in his new car.

"It's been hard, I've had a lot to learn," said Karthikeyan, 28, who drove last season in the Nissan World Series, a top feeder circuit for F1. He also had test drives with Minardi and Jaguar (now Red Bull) before joining Jordan.

"With what I have, I'm trying to do the best I can," said Karthikeyan, who is hoping for a faster car from Jordan this summer. "The learning curve is pretty high. So it's one step at a time, but it's going OK."

The Tata Group signed Karthikeyan several years ago, hoping to capitalize on the face of a young Indian sportsman who is not a cricket player. Cricket in India dominates sports coverage.

"There are few international sports stars in India," said Karthikeyan, who was born in Chennai and now lives in Coimbatore. "Only cricket is big, and now to a certain extent tennis, is coming up. We've never had a Formula One driver, so to represent India I feel happy."

Karthikeyan says he was never any good at cricket. However, at the Spanish GP it was India's No. 1 cricket star, Sachin Tendulkar, who was the team's guest in the paddock.

"I know him very well," Karthikeyan said of Tendulkar. "He likes racing and he follows Formula One. I'm India's top racing driver, so we got to know each other. It's great for me because he's such a big hero in India."

Asked to compare his profile to Tendulkar's, Karthikeyan laughed.

"The gap is huge," he said. "Everyone knows him."

In signing an Indian driver, Jordan was aware of the potential market of 1 billion people. Formula One's commercial director, Bernie Ecclestone, has said he expects India to have an F1 race within three years - probably in Bombay, although Calcutta and Hyderabad also have been mentioned.

If it gets a race, India would join other nontraditional F1 nations that have been awarded races - Bahrain, China and Turkey most recently.

Weighing only 140 pounds, Karthikeyan is probably the smallest driver in F1. "I think the weight is just right," he said. "And I think my strength is very good."

He acknowledges he has no hope of winning this season. Even finishing on the podium - top three - "would take a lot of luck, to be honest," he said. His goal is to crack through to the top 10, and wait until Jordan enters a new car this summer. The team is now running last year's Jaguar model, which is unsuited for new engine and aerodynamic regulations introduced this season.

"My dream was to be the first Indian Formula One driver, and now the dream is to be the very first Indian to win a Formula One race," said Karthikeyan, who was coaxed into the sport by his rally-driving father.

"I see my future in Formula One if it's with Jordan or somebody else, but I know I will be here for a couple of more years."

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