Such was the case last week when RPM.ESPN.com called Tony Stewart for a lengthy conversation. Instead of talking about the weekend's race in Martinsville, Va., the topic quickly became the state of NASCAR and its heavy-handed tactics.

	Tony Stewart has often raised the ire of NASCAR by being too critical of the sanctioning body.

Ever since Stewart came on the NASCAR scene a few years ago, he has been one of the most honest and vocal drivers on the circuit. He talks straight and gets to the point … consequences be damned.

ESPN.com: You're now in your third full season in Winston Cup. Look down the road over the next three to five years for both you and the series as a whole. What do you see?

Stewart: "I don't know. I'm worried about both, to be honest. There's a lot of things about the way our series is going right now that I'm not very happy about, to be honest. The style of racing, with some of the rule changes this year, it's starting to look like Indy car-style racing, where you can't race wheel-to-wheel like you used to. Guys don't run side-by-side for four or five laps like they used to in the past. That's a big disappointment, especially when that's one of the reasons why I got into this series in the first place, where you could run so close to each other for so long and out-race a guy. Nowadays, it's about aerodynamics and grip. It's the same things that we talk about when we talk about Indy car racing.

"There's just a lot about the politics in our sport nowadays. This country, there's freedom of speech -- well, freedom of speech doesn't apply to Winston Cup racing, unfortunately. Luckily, the good part is I have a sponsor that lets me express myself more openly and freely than most drivers' sponsors do, and I'm very happy about that. But there are other corporate people in our business that aren't that willing to let drivers speak their minds, have honest opinions and be open about that. It's a very censored sport nowadays."

ESPN.com: In your relatively short tenure on the circuit, you've become one of the most successful drivers, one of the series' most high-profile personalities and a fan favorite. What are some of the things you think can be done to improve the series' structure?

Stewart: "I don't know. I can't change it, I know that. The race fans are the only ones that can honestly change it. Their voice has to be heard. If they want cookie-cutter answers, then that's where the direction of things seems to be going more of.

"The fans are the ones that have to speak up and tell us what they want, tell NASCAR and corporate America what they want. If it's acceptable for (the fans) to hear those answers, well, that's the direction it's going anyway. But if they want something different, corporate America listens to the race fans, and NASCAR listens to the race fans, so the only thing that's going to change it is the race fans, in my opinion."

ESPN.com: There have been minor movements the last couple of years where certain drivers have wondered aloud why a formal group has never been formed. Some say a true driver's union would offer a stronger and collective voice when lobbying NASCAR about changes in its structure, complaints about the series, etc. Yet, those efforts quickly come up short. Why have they failed, in your opinion, and do you think we'll ever see a formal union?

	“	(NASCAR's) approach is, 'It's our way or the highway.' I might be driving down the highway pretty soon. ”
		— Stewart

Stewart: "I don't think it'll happen. I've been told this story, because the topic has come up and been brought to me. A guy by the name of Curtis Turner tried to organize drivers in the past, and basically, NASCAR ran him out of business, ran him out of the sport.

"If you look at things in the realistic world, as race car drivers we make more money in the Winston Cup Series than in any other series than Formula One right now. I'm in a different position. I don't have a wife and family to support. The majority of these drivers do. Who wants to be the person that organizes a union like that, or tries to be a driver's representative and speak our mind to NASCAR and put themselves in that position, where NASCAR can run you out of the sport and you find yourself out looking for a job? Nobody wants to do that. There's always other drivers waiting to come back to this series.

"To lose a driver, to NASCAR, they don't care, because they know there's other drivers in the wings waiting. In a way, NASCAR is kind of like the mafia. They can do it anyway they want to do it. They know we make a better living doing this the way it is than we could anywhere else, and whether we have an opinion or not, it doesn't seem to matter -- they're going to run it they want to run it.

"Unfortunately, in this day and age, it's about dollars and sense, not what's good for the race fans, what's good for the competitors, not what's good for everybody else involved, just what's good for them."

ESPN.com: A new professional stock-car series -- TRAC -- is slated to debut in 2003. While its organizers have said they don't plan to go head-to-head with NASCAR, they obviously could have an effect. Do you see TRAC making any kind of impact to force NASCAR to open its eyes and mind more and give drivers more freedom, particularly in expression or organization?

Stewart: "I don't think so. From what I've seen of NASCAR, they're pretty hardheaded and set in their ways. Their approach is, 'It's our way or the highway.' I might be driving down the highway pretty soon."