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NASCAR WCUP: Daytona International Speedway Tesing Notes and Quotes, Tony Stewart

19 January 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

TONY STEWART, DRIVER, NO. 20 HOME DEPOT PONTIAC GRAND PRIX

...how excited he is for the start of the 2000 season:

"I'm tired of talking about it to be honest. Everybody wants to talk about it. Let's quit talking about it and let's just do it. If I wasn't excited about it I wouldn't be here, for sure. It felt really good to get back in the car. This is the third test we've had this year, and I'm still excited about testing, which is unusual for me. That's a pretty good sign that we're ready to go."

...expectations placed on his team:

"We don't worry about it. I worry about getting in the car and doing my job. That's for the media to speculate on and get into the "what if" syndrome. My job is just to get in the car and drive. As long as we keep our focus where it was at the end of the last year - what we were doing at the end of last year was working for us. So, that's one of those deals, if it's not broke, don't try to fix it."

...running in his first Bud Shootout:

"It's a good practice session for the Daytona 500 basically. There's a lot on the line, but it's nice from the standpoint that if something happens, you don't lose any points. There are all pluses to it and no minuses to running that race. It's a good thing for us." (is it like running The Winston?) "It's not quite like The Winston. At least in The Winston, you can control your own destiny, where everything you do here at Daytona all depends on what the people do behind you. It's a 190-mile an hour chess match."

...the rookie class of 2000:

"I think what I did last year is going to get overshadowed pretty quickly by what these guys can do this year. No predictions, other than that."

...whether he likes the new shock rules for restrictor plate races:

"Yeah, I won't have to leave here with crutches or a wheelchair today. My back feels good today, and that's the first time since I've started coming to Daytona that my back has felt good at the end of a practice day."

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