Go for broke

Stewart's hard-driving style makes for more entertaining racing

Tony Stewart has 17 Cup wins since 1999, and has four top-10 finishes this year. Craig Jones/Getty Images

I have grown weary of the homogenization of Cup racing, so here's a tip for those whose noses are bent out of shape because of Tony Stewart's driving: Shut your yap and race, dammit. Is it not enough that NASCAR has opted for common templates, changed the points race and muzzled the drivers to the point that quotes can be attributed to "Insert driver's name here"?

Stewart's latest on-track rub was with Rusty Wallace, who took umbrage over what he perceived as rough driving early in Sunday's Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway. "I don't know what's wrong with that guy," Wallace said. "He's really been messing up a lot lately.

"He got me in the back at Martinsville. He caused a huge wreck last week at Talladega and then he runs me right through the fence this time. ... Then he pulled up beside me and starts flipping me off on the restart.

"I wanted to get out of the car and whip his rear end," Wallace added. "The kid needs to calm down a little bit. ... He's really frustrated for some reason."

I will not speak for Stewart (he can do that as eloquently as any driver in the garage), but maybe he has tired of the vanilla-style racing for which NASCAR is becoming infamous. Field-freezing cautions. Lucky-dog passes. Races finishing under yellow. It's enough to make a driver bump and grind his way through the pack -- and NASCAR needs that.

"Obviously, that's just racing," said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing. "When you look at the race, there's stuff going on all over the place with people hitting guys. Tony is about as certain as they come on the racetrack. That's just his history."

Still, Stewart defended his run-in with Wallace. "We came off [Turn] 2 and we got together and that put him in the wall, but the corner before that he drove right down into the left side of us like we weren't ever there. So I don't know why he's pointing the finger at somebody else.

"I got underneath him and I got loose coming off of 2. I didn't try to get into him."

Gibbs is right; it is racing -- rubbing fenders, nudging a car from behind. Yet NASCAR reportedly is still exploring common engines, which will further bunch up the field and cause more tightly bunched packs of cars.

This is not to defend Stewart; instead, it's an opinion that his style of driving is a refreshing change of pace from the yawnfests that have become prevalent at any track over one-half mile in length.

Forget trying to stay out of trouble until the end of the race and then hope to be in position to finish with a top 10. No, with Stewart behind the wheel getting there is half the fun -- even if that means ruffling some feathers (and denting some sheet metal) along the way.

And it's a helluva lot more entertaining than anything "Insert driver's name here" has given race fans this year.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com.