Tony Stewart Driven to Win

At no point in its history has NASCAR been more universally popular than it is today. Its roster of drivers, particularly young upstarts such as Tony Stewart -- who won his first Winston Cup points championship in November 2002 -- have captivated fans of all generations. Stewart, an oftentimes volatile competitor, edged another "young gun," Mark Martin, by 38 points for the title with an 18[superscript th]-place finish at the Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Not since Jeff Gordon broke into the Winston Cup Series in 1993 had a rookie excelled as Stewart did in his first season at NASCAR's top tier. If skeptics found it hard to acknowledge the youth trend in the sport, they could no longer dismiss it after Stewart's emergence. "The Rushville Rocket" won three races, and in 1999 he finished fourth in the final standings and easily won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Award. As proof that his first season was no accident, Stewart won six races the next year and finished sixth in the final standings. In 2001 he picked up three wins and finished second in the points race.

Jason Mitchell is a freelance NASCAR writer. He lives in Concord, North Carolina.