But now listen.
"I'm feeling a lot of the love," he said after the race. Then, with a smile, he added, "It's a lot better than dodging grenades."
Stewart led for 83 of 92 laps on Sunday. He started at the pole position because qualifying was rained out Saturday, but quickly established himself as the driver to beat. He had a four-and-a-half-second lead after 50 laps.
Stewart, 34, is skilled as well as canny. Twice in the last 16 laps, with road-course specialists practically hanging onto his rear bumper, he slowed down before restarts to throw off their timing. Then he stomped on the gas to leave them in his jet stream.
"You do everything you can to sucker the competition," said Robby Gordon, who finished second.
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