Stewart Maintains A Great Passion For His Indiana Roots In Dirt Track Racing

Wednesday, October 17th 2007, 1:01 pm

By: News On 6

UNDATED (AP) _ The intense, often irritable Tony Stewart who races in the Nextel Cup series is very different from the Tony Stewart of Columbus, Indiana, who shows up as often as he can at some of America's grass-roots dirt ovals.

This Stewart is the owner of two-car teams in the World of Outlaws sprint car series and the U.S. Auto Club's National Sprint and Midget Car series, as well as Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. And he's more a fan than competitor.

He says he's passionate about the sport, especially dirt racing.

Early in his career Stewart became the first Triple Crown Champion in USAC history, winning all three of its major series in the same year, then went on to win the IndyCar Series title before heading for NASCAR.

Now, he's locked in a tense battle for another his third Cup title. Heading into Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway, Stewart is fourth in the standings, 198 points behind leader Jeff Gordon, another driver with Indiana roots.