That day was bit different on my end, too. I had gone to church with my grandmother that day, and then went to brunch too. I came back to her house and sat in her main T.V. chair to watch the race, which was different for me: normally, I would watch them at home.
But there I sat, in a burnt orange polo and khaki pants, and watched the proceedings while the skies above Winston-Salem were just as cloudy and gray as they were at the Speedway.
And if you ever want to talk about a day where “pins and needles” was the accurate expression of my feelings, that would be one. But I suppose it would be accurate for all of us!
“Tony Stewart, a native Hoosier, his dream comes true! Tony Stewart wins the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard!”
Not to say that Bill Weber was all that great in the booth for NBC (he was always best as a pit reporter), but that was one of those few moments where I feel like his call justly conveyed everything that was going on.
I feel like I should have gone nuts when you won. But I didn’t. I just remember taking everything in. You driving over to your dad in Turn 2, you nearly conking out on the frontstretch wall, etc. (That T.V. interview post-race was, and is still, legendary!)
And then there was the fence climb. You, with the whole crew, carbon-copied Helio Castroneves from some three years prior in the Indianapolis 500.
The photo of that that Gavin Lawrence took for Getty Images has been my favorite photo of your entire career. No moment was ever bigger, no moment was ever more special. I’ll stand by my word through my own death that that moment was the single greatest moment of your entire career!
And I just took it all in with a smile. I suppose that was just the first vestige of the wisdom that would be forthcoming from future me.
Oh, and then there was Watkins Glen too! We can’t forget about that, but with the way you were driving, it almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that you would win there even before everybody unloaded.
What a summer that was! The dominance you possessed then was nearly unparalleled. There was a seven-race stretch where you won five races and didn’t finish any worth than seventh. From Michigan to the fall Loudon race, your worst finish was an eighth. An eighth!
And you had cleaned up your act too. You finally stopped trying to pick as many fights with people, stopped trying to be angry all the time and stopped trying to be everyone else’s enemy, including those who were closest to you.
Tom Friend’s article for the September 2005 ESPN the Magazine Issue was excellent in covering all that you had been through. I had no idea how bad it was until my uncle handed it to me. But I read it, and it all made sense in retrospect.
I’m sure glad I read it too. I still have that issue in my closet. And I still think that now, 11 years later, that is one of best features anyone has ever written about you. Kudos to Tom for that.
Oh, did I mention that you also went on to win the title that season? Because you did. Nothing more than what was deserved, I thought. My celebration this time was a bit better than a knee slide; instead, I went for dancing to the full Home Depot jingle of the time. That worked out much better!
That championship also meant I picked up my first 1:24-scale die cast. The color-chrome championship finish from Action, as has become their custom now! I got the Victory Lane Championship hat too.
I’m looking at them both as I write this, and it’s hard not to think back on that time and smile. That season was proof that you had mended yourself, and that when you decided that you wanted to go blow out everyone on the track, you were going to do exactly that. It wouldn’t be the last time either!
It was special. 2005 was definitely a season that I will never forget.
Stay tuned for installment three of this five-part series, coming up tomorrow on Race Chaser Online!
The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, the Performance Motorsports Network, Scorpion Radio Group, their sponsors or other contributors.
About the Writer
James Pike is a multi-faceted reporter for Race Chaser Online and an analyst on the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
He is the lead correspondent for Race Chaser Online’s coverage of Australian Supercars and also covers regional touring series events in the Carolinas. He is a graduate of the Motorsports Management program at Belmont Abbey College and currently resides in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Email James at: RaceChaserJames@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @JamesVPike
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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