Or: Don’t Be “That” Guy

Note: This is part 3 in a 3 part series. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

When it comes to being a Tony Stewart fan – I am fiercely loyal.  Tony could be racing my Mom (Hi Mom- Love ya!) on Mother’s day and I would still root for Tony.I wear my loyalty on my sleeve, on my car and here on my blog.  If you know me, you know I am a Tony Stewart fan. Even my brother’s mother-in-law knows Tony is my driver and asked me if I had seen him on THE GLADES and asked me how on earth he ended up hanging in the tires at Infineon during the 4th of July barbecue that my brother hosted.

That being said, I also realize that while Tony is MY driver, he might not be your driver.  I have always pretty much been a live and let live kind of girl. I have been to many driver appearances and as will happen in any situation where you are standing in a line for extended periods of time around others, you inevitably end up chatting.  My experience as a Tony fan at Tony events have been tremendously positive and always fun.  But as a Tony Stewart fan at another driver’s appearance? Not always so positive. I mean I obviously like the driver enough to stand in a line for ages- otherwise why would I be there?

Most of the time I get a look or even the more prevalent “Oh you are a Stewart fan? Sorry to hear that” reaction as they turn away.  I am not talking about a little ribbing or friendly smack talking here, I am talking downright disdain. Now I feel the need to stop here for a second and tell you that I am NOT that person who goes to a different driver appearance wearing Stewart gear.  People usually have to ask me because I tend to be dressed neutrally- not wearing any driver apparell at all.  I am NOT the shit stirrer who will show up in my Tony Stewart gear just to get a reaction. That is just not me. However? I have been dissed by “That Guy”.  I was actually at an appearance for Driver X and was given the “Oh you are a Stewart fan? Too bad,” diss from a guy decked out completely in the gear of Driver Y. Does anyone else see the irony in that?

My favorite “That Guy” run-in, and by favorite I really mean completely incredulous, happened in Vegas at a Driver X appearance.  Misty was working that morning and the plan was I would hold our place in the line for the wristbands for the autograph session and she would meet me at her lunch hour which was just in time for the wristband distribution. This time “That Guy” and I strike up a conversation and it turns out he is a fan of Driver X.  “That Guy” find out who my favorite driver is and proceeds to go on and on about every negative thing he has ever heard about Tony Stewart. I am standing there in this line, I am hot, kinda thirsty and I kinda have to pee and this guy is ragging on my driver. I am starting to get pissed- my hands are all balled up into fists and I am just generally tense- but I know that arguing with him is futile- so I just stand there and try to let it slide off my back like I am a turtle. I shift from foot to foot contemplating asking the lady behind me if she will hold my place if I run to the bathroom- partly just to disengage from “That Guy” but then I check my watch and realize that Misty will be here soon.  Then he starts in on the “real” reason he doesn’t like Tony Stewart, which happens to be because his uncle’s brothers cousin got turned down for an autograph in the pits right before the race at some esoteric dirt track (by the time he got to this point in his Tony Stewart bashing, my eyes were glazed over and my brain had pretty much melted so exact details are fuzzy) and that Tony really should have just taken the three secondsd it would have taken to give the extended family member an autograph. “Uh huh” I say outloud while my brain is shouting “Dude- have I said anything that makes you think that you are winning points with me by dissing my driver with your anti-Tony tirade? I have heard it all before, it doesn’t surprise me, it’s not going to to change my mind, I am still a Tony fan!” Luckily for me, Misty arrived and the line started moving just in time.

But wait my readers, this story isn’t over yet. Fast forward to the next day- at the appearance for Driver x. We get to Driver X’s appearance with our wristbands on and take our place in line to wait our turn.  We are chatting and trying to decide where to have dinner after the appearance when “That Guy”- the very same one from the wristband distribution the day before, appears. He apparently sought me out in the line to tell me “I saw your boy Stewart at the dirt track last night” and that I shouldn’t worry because “he appeared to be in a good mood” this time. I seriously could not believe this guy. I do not understand poeple who will go out of their way to be “That Guy” and tell you all the negative stuff they can about your favorite driver.  I would NEVEr do that.  But the fact that this guy sought me out kind of creeped me out.

(Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images North America)

Anyway- I guess the moral of this story is to not be “That Guy” because one of the best things about NASCAR is the diversity of the fans. Every driver has someone who pulls for them every week. To quote Wil Wheaton “Don’t be a dick.”

*As a side note I feel compelled to tell you that this is not an experience that is unique to being a Tony Stewart fan.  I know that there are “That Guys” for every driver out there.

Or: Local Stewart Love

Note: This is part 2 of a 3 part series. You can read Part 1 here and Part 3 here.

NASCAR does not have that huge of a following in my particular area of California. We are too far north of Auto Club Speedway and too far south of Infineon for “casual fans” to partake in live events.  Don’t get me wrong- motor sports has its place here but usually it’s motorcycles at Laguna (Hey Laguna Seca- Bring back the Indy Cars!) or grassroots racing at Ocean Speedway. Because of this I am always pleasantly surprised when I see someone displaying their love of NASCAR locally.  There is a lady on the other side of the street and down a block or so who proudly displays a Jeff Gordon poster on her window. Friends who visit someone down the street drives a little truck with a huge Sprint Cup Series logo on their back window. They actually fascinate me because I don’t see anything declaring love of a specific driver.  The people who use to live in the apartment after my brother and sister-in-law moved out would display a huge NASCAR flag every race day.

So there are some fans here. Just not a whole lot.  I aways smile and point them out to whomever happens to be riding along with me fellow NASCAR fans on the road- perhaps in an attempt to justify my love of a sport that is a HUGE part of who I am. Usually they are, no surprise here, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans.  Even in our litle part of the country, Junior nation is well represented. Is it any wonder he wins anything with a fan vote. Jeff Gordon is also quite prevelent.  Ocassionaly I will see the hold out Senior fan or the odd Matt Kenseth fan. Once I even say a proud Denny Hamlin plate frame adorning a newish Toyota.

Where are my fellow Stewart fans? I know they exist. How? Because I always catch sight of them at the same place- a particular grocery store in town. It is downright bizarre to me that I only see other Stewart fans at the grocery- what is even more bizarre is that it is only at one particular grocery store in town.

Tony in the middle of a story at the 2010 Stewie Awards. (photo Credit: Amy Marbach)

The first time I noticed a fellow fan there I nearly gave myself whiplash.  She pulled into the parking lot in a Tony Stewart edition Monte Carlo. I  had never seen one before but I knew what it was the moment I set eyes on it. I remember staring at it kinda dumbfounded and watching the lady walk across the parking lot into the store as I was leaving.  I have only seen that car that one particular time and this is one of three different grocery stores I bounce between so I am not sure if I just keep missing her, she got rid of her car, or she was perhaps just passing through.

In 2009, after the season had been going about a month, I saw a person strolling around this very same grocery store in an Office Depot race jacket. You know those nice heavy ones? I followed this poor unsuspecting woman and her grocery entourage (which appeared to be her three grandchildren) into the meat depeartment. She was in a deep discussion with the butcher at the seafood counter when I approached her. I had to know if this was a misguided Carl Edwards fan or a Stewart fan.  Nope- closer inspection of her jacket revealed to me that it was indeed a brand spanking new Tony Stewart one. Part of me wanted to approach her but she was still taking the butcher and I wasn’t at the store alone. And who am I kidding? I am really actually kind of shy and not likely to approach a perfect stranger in the meat department to discuss her fandom of Tony Stewart.

Most recently, the Sunday after the race at Kentucky my mom and I had been making a large batch of apple hand pies when we ran out of some of the ingredients. I grabbed my keys and took off to the store.  I parked, did my shopping and was pulling out of of my parking stall when something caught my eye. Was that? Yep- a brand new Tony Stewart License plate frame on a fairly new looking Tahoe that was parked next to me.  I wondered if they parked there on purpose- noticing my plate frame, 14 sticker and Vanity plates. Or was it just because it was a spot that was open? Or maybe they had already been there and I just didn’t notice it on my way into the store.  I actually stopped right there, basically double parking behind them and momentarily contemplated leaving a little note on it to say hi from one Stewart fan from another. I refrained because I know I HATE it when people leave flyers and crap on my car so I wasn’t about to do that.  But it leaves me wondering…who are all these local Stewart fans?  Well at least I know where they like to hang out- the grocery store.

Or: I Should Come With A Warning Label

Note:This is the first post in a three part series of related posts. You can read Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I, Amy, am a Tony Stewart fan.  I know, I know, it’s a huge shock right?  Go ahead and go splash some cool water on your face and gather yourself together- I’ll be here when you get back.

Feeling better?  Good. Most NASCAR fans have one thing in common- they pull for a specific driver.  Don’t get me wrong- it’s very possible to like and respect multiple drivers, but when push comes to shove their driver is their driver.  I have tried to figure out why fans are fans of whomever their driver is. I gave up on that a long time ago because I decided the reasons are as varied as the fans themselves.

I think I started wondering that because I was trying to pinpoint why exactly I am a Tony Stewart fan.  I can’t even tell you exactly when I became a Tony fan.  I can tell you it was quite early in his NASCAR career.  Yes I know I have mentioned I went through a stage where I loved Indy car racing…and I did. My first race was an Indy car race- but that was back in the CART days before Tony drove in the series. My affination for Indycar waned right about the time Cart was broken up into CHAMP and IRL. There were even some years where I didn’t really follow with racing at all.  It was sometime early in Tony’s NASCAR career that I went back to my first auto racing love: NASCAR.  Part of the draw I suspect was his IRL background.  Another part was Tony’s propensity to say the first thing that popped into his his head- whether that be regarding another driver, NASCAR or the media. Also there is his willingness to stand up for what he believes in (like his recent drawing of the line in the sand regarding blocking).  All of those things, plus some unseen, unrealized affination are why I am a Tony Stewart fan. Well that and the boy can DRIVE!

All that being said, I feel like I should come with some sort of warning sticker.  CAUTION STEWART FAN! or maybe STEWART FAN PROCEED WITH CAUTION!  Why? Because once the NASCAR season starts? It’s on. Any given week I can tell you where Tony is in the standings, what race is coming up, etc.  Who I root against changes weekly (Oh come on you know you root against people too- it’s only natural) and is directly dependent on who is ahead of Tony in the points or who may have “wronged” us the weekend before. I am an equal opportunity anti-fan when it comes to rooting against someone- it’s nothing personal.

If you happen to be watching a race with me- be prepared.  My mood will reflect what position Tony is currently running in. The higher Tony is in the race- the better my mood I am likely to be in.

(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images North America)

If you have delicate feelings- be prepared. It is not cool with me for you to smack talk Tony.  Don’t flop down next to me mid race and say things like “Where is Tony at? Last Place?” or if on the very rare occasion I flip a race on a little after it started (like the Daytona Nationwide race earlier this month) say “Don’t bother- Tony’s already wrecked out.” These things are NOT funny in the least- even if you think they are.  As I said the other day- nothing can make me go from zero to bitch-with-claws-and-fangs faster than naysaying my driver during a race.  That is not to say that I can’t and won’t say some negative things during a bad run. I have and I will- but it’s okay if I say them, not if you do.

If you have sensitive ears- be prepared. I may curse and it might not be pretty.  It might be done in exuberance and in public- like that one time my mom and I were at Chilis several years ago when Tony was running the nationwide race at Daytona.  I don’t remember the year but I am pretty sure it was down to him and Junior and it was close and we were sitting near the bar but not in it.  When Tony won? I jumped up, pumped my fist and said “HELL YEAH that’s what I am talking about!” Needless to say I am pretty sure I embarrassed my mom that day.  Heck I think I even embarrassed poor Misty with my tirade about Evil Brian Vickers (and yes I still call him that) at Infineon and that included some not so ladylike vernacular.

If you happen to be with me when we see a race in person- be prepared. If Tony suffers a heartbreaking loss- like he did in Las Vegas earlier this season…I will likely be heartbroken for him. It really didn’t help matters that we spoke with him earlier in the week about what a win would mean for him and then for him to have such a powerful car, and a devastating penalty- well let’s just say I left directly after the checkers were flew- so I guess you could say I was a sore loser. But if we are at a race and Tony wins be prepared for me to become so excited I can’t figure out how to work my own damn camera. Be prepared for me to rue the pictures of the win because all I got were blurry pictures of parts of the car during the burnout (not to mention tons of pics of people’s heads and hands) because I was so excited I forgot to unzoom the camera and you know…focus.

So consider yourself warned. I am a proud Tony Stewart fan. I might embarrass you sometimes, but I am not apologetic. I wear my loyal fandom on my sleeve. It is part of what makes me me.

(Instead of giving you my usual spin on what happened during Tony’s race at Michigan (you can read the official race report here for information on Tony’s run) I think I am going to break things up a little bit and wax on about how this season is really starting to concern me as far as Stewart-Haas Racing and Tony Stewart in particular is concerned.)

I am starting to enter panic-mode when it comes to Tony Stewart making the  chase.  This slump or whatever you want to call this string of bad (winless) luck that Tony Stewart and SHR seems to be having is giving me total and complete fits.  Tony is now 11th in points with no wins. I am in fits because of this new chase format where only the top 10 in points are guaranteed chase spots, with the last to spots going to the wildcards with the most wins.  And us having NO WINS? That right there makes Amy a panic-stricken Tony Stewart fan.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not going to abandon ship or hop a bandwagon mind you.  I am a Tony Stewart fan through good and BAD.  And while I tend to be an optimistic sort of fan (oh it’s early…oh at least he finished in the top five, ten, fifteen…oh at least he finished better than he qualified…there are still x races before the chase- he’ll pull himself up by his bootstraps and get some wins) I am having an increasingly difficult time talking myself off the “OH NO TONY’S NOT GOING TO MAKE THE CHASE” ledge that I find myself sitting on more and more often recently. It is definitely not a fun place to sit, let me tell you.

You can try telling me Stewart always heats up with a winning streak in the summer- I have tried telling myself that too. Honestly? That fact doesn’t sooth my panic addled brain right now. Misty is always telling me “You can’t keep a Tony Stewart down!” And while the Tony Stewart fan in me is proud she thinks that…my brain still quietly says “Well remember that one year he didn’t make the chase?” Yeah…thanks for that reminder brain- like I needed that.

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 17, 2011 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (June 16, 2011 - Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images North America)

I have to blame it on something and really the only thing I can blame it on is the new points system.  Bad days in this new points system are more devastating to the overall points pictures and harder to rebound from in this points system than the old system.  And while I was all for changing the points system in the chase last season, I still thought that the regular season points should remain the same.

Now I am definitely no mathematician that is for certain.  I don’t understand how people can say that this new points system emphasizes wins.  I don’t see that really thought because if it emphasized wins wouldn’t Kevin Harvick be the current series leader? Wouldn’t someone like Jeff Gordon who has two wins be above Tony in the points then? I don’t like this new system of points- if only because it doesn’t reward consistency enough but punishes for lack of it far too harshly.  As I mentioned I am not good with numbers and math- so I can’t really come up with an alternate solution to the points.  My only thought was to make it more like golf- and make the object the lowest score possible.  But I am not sure if that would make that much of a difference overall when compared to this new system. I don’t have an answer and that too frustrates the daylights out of me.

So yeah- lately Tony’s points situation has been stressing me out- well that and the  horrifying thought that Tony might not make the chase this year.  And yes I know that Tony says they focus on wins and the points take care of themselves. But ACK the win column is a bit empty right now.  And as Misty states- what would Champions Week in Vegas be without crowding around Tony to watch The Stewies?