The most commonly asked question about Tony Stewart is always the preponderance of which Tony will arrive at a track.

The Tony who showed up at Indianapolis last week has not been seen since the July 2001 race at Daytona, but his presence is all too familiar. Much has been made of his antics around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his physical confrontation with photographer Gary Mook.

As a result of his actions, Stewart was fined ten thousand dollars and placed on probation until the end of the year. "It is imperative that we protect the integrity of our sport," NASCAR President Mike Helton said. "This type of behavior cannot be tolerated and is in no way indicative of the manner in which our drivers, teams, tracks and sponsors interact with the media. We take pride in our accessibility and interaction with the media and we intend to protect that relationship."

Stewart’s behavior with the photographer was such an issue that it overshadowed his parking of his car during this year’s final IROC event. Tony used colorful expletives to describe the cars handling characteristics. "I guess I don’t know what to do behind the wheel. This is the third race that thing has been freaking tight, I cant drive these pieces of #$^@!" Noted Stewart, who finished sixth in the overall series standing, collecting a purse of eighty thousand dollars.

This behavior is nothing new for Tony, in his three years with Winston Cup he has been fined and placed on probation several times for confrontational and un-sportsman-like conduct. The intriguing aspect of his erratic behavior is that he portrays himself as a victim of circumstance, but yet at the same time he is the architect of the pressures that lead to him to the breaking point. Just after winning the pole at the Brickyard 400, Tony met with the media and described his "love hate relationship with the hometown race". "I dread coming here"... "I am so glad when this is all over". Noted Stewart who described his drive to win at Indy, as well as family and sponsorship commitments too overwhelming for him.

This being said let us not forgets that Tony Ran a sprint car at Indianapolis Raceway Park the Thursday before heading to the Brickyard to practice his Cup car, before the final shakedown of his IROC entry. Stewart further compounded his weekend, when as if he was not busy enough with sponsorship commitments, he signed on to do color commentary with TNN as part of its Busch Grand National coverage. All this in addition to owning a World of Outlaws team, participating in a traveling dirt show with Dave Blaney, and running in any race that he possibly can.

Stewart saying that he is having a hard time with the pressure is like digging a hole, and then blaming the shovel.

His problems go well beyond anger management; this incredibly talented driver seems hell bent on pushing himself to the point of destruction. In many ways he runs his life like a driver who pushes the car too hard, except in this case he hit a photographer instead of a wall. The real damage done by these actions is that it leaves little desire to discuss the other side of Tony. The "nice" guy, the one who on his way to watch the Busch race in Daytona, walks over to a young fan and asks if he would like to watch the race with him. Those actions do not make headlines, but are the material for NASCAR television. Remember the advertising campaign, "The sport were superstars don’t act like superstars".

This in no way makes Tony Stewart the ambassador of the sport, or in anyway excuses his momentary lapses in sanity, but maybe it will help to keep him from being the pariah that so may believe him to be.

His problems are not that of pathology, but are indicative of someone who places un-realistic demands on themselves and others. Tony needs to slow down, and figure out where his priorities are. If they’re not with Winston Cup and Joe Gibbs Racing, he needs to make some hard decisions.

Tony has expressed regret for the incidents, and appears to be truly sincere, but as in all things, actions speak louder than words.

Speculation that his behavior will permanently impact his sponsorship status is speculation at best. Home Depot is not happy with their driver’s behavior, and for the first time, a sponsor has shown their displeasure by hitting a driver’s pocket book. A fifty thousand dollar penalty has been imposed on Stewart, and the money is earmarked for the United Way. Home Depot issued the following statement.

"Tony Stewart's actions following the Brickyard 400 do not at all represent the values and beliefs of the over 290,000 associates who comprise the backbone and spirit of The Home Depot," said Hugh Miskel, director of sales promotion for The Home Depot. Although the company is trying to distance themselves from the incident, Home Depot will stand by Tony Stewart.

Home Depot stood by Tony when he spun Jeff Gordon at Bristol, they stood by him when he knocked a tape recorder out of Mike Mullhern's hand and they should stand by him now. After all, they have gotten more press coverage this week than the entire season.

Actions speak louder than words.