Stewart

Two or three years from now when we reflect on this season, I hope we can look at the week between Indianapolis and Watkins Glen and say, "Yep, that was the week Tony Stewart cleaned up his act and grew up.''

Forget for a minute the stellar weekend at the Glen, where Stewart was fast from the time his Joe Gibbs Racing team unloaded the No. 20 Pontiac on Friday.

Forget that he had the car to beat over the last 45 laps of the 90-lapper and scored the second road-course victory of his 15-win career.

What will be remembered over that week was Stewart's assault of freelance photographer Gary Mook -- that and how the Home Depot driver handled the situation.

After NASCAR caught wind of the altercation, it handed out a laughable fine -- $10,000. That fine means nothing to a driver who makes probably three times that much per race, and -- between laughs -- Stewart may have wondered if NASCAR had left off a zero on the penalty.

The probation by NASCAR and the $50,000 fine by sponsor Home Depot were more like it, but still there's no reason that the most recent incident with Stewart reached the point it did.

NASCAR should have taken a stronger stand against him over a year ago when he knocked the tape recorder from a veteran motor sport writer after the Pepsi 400 then had to be restrained from going after NASCAR official Gary Nelson.

So is the incident at Indy any surprise? Judging by past actions, no.

Tony is a fabulous race car driver and competitor, and the skills he exhibits every Sunday afternoon are what legends are made of. Unfortunately, the combative post-race tantrums are what spoiled brats are made of.

If Tony doesn't want the attention or media interaction, then he should just move on. I would suggest the All-Pro or Dash series if he wants to compete, but stay out of the media spotlight. Not that no one cares about those series, but he'll become a media non-story in no time.

His behavior has grown increasingly more boorish, angry, and, on some occasions, downright rude, especially to the people -- the media -- whose job it is to bring Tony and his accomplishments closer to his fans.

But to his credit, Stewart sounds like he wants to change. Don't base it on him dedicating the Glen win to Mr. Mook, which appeared about as a genuine as a politician campaigning for office. Instead listen to what he said before the race.

"This was my heart attack, my wake-up call,'' said a contrite Stewart. "There is no excuse for what I've done. I'm very sorry and I really don't expect anyone to forgive me. He (Mr. Mook) didn't deserve this.

"A hard fall like this will tend to jar you back to reality. This is probably what I needed to make me seek help.''

The Pontiac driver said he will seek professional help for his anger management problem, which invokes an image of a stubbly Stewart, fully clothed in his orange-and-white racing suit and lying on a psychiatrist's couch in mid-town Charlotte, answering questions about his childhood.

Personally, I hope his counselor doesn't go overboard. Just tone him down a wee bit because drivers with a little edge and fire to them are enjoyable; I just don't like them assaulting or being condescending to folks who are trying to do their job.

I certainly don't want Tony's saga to turn into One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

If early signs are any indication, he appears to be headed in the right direction. Like the old saying goes, acknowledging that a problem exists is the first step in solving it.

Mr. Stewart, I think we're making progress here.

Bill Whitehead is an auto racing writer for the Stuart (Fla.) News.