STEWART RUNNING ON ANGER.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

FONTANA - Tony Stewart was able to smile after the NASCAR Busch Series race Saturday at California Speedway. After all, he was second, his best showing in a race since the Daytona 500. But when asked to comment on the wild finish that had several drivers make mad dashes down pit road to get gas and return to the track, Stewart said, ``I don't know how wild it was. It was a lot less dramatic than last week's race.''

Last week's race was at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where a list of drivers, led by Kurt Busch, was critical of Stewart's rough driving. Stewart was blamed for causing ``The Big One,'' the inevitable multicar crash that has become commonplace at the restrictor-plate tracks, Talladega and Daytona.

The drama continued Sunday in the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. Stewart had another struggling car and was running in the back of the field, pushing cars into the wall, running underneath cars in front of him and making obscene finger gestures directed at fellow drivers, one of whom was Rusty Wallace.

Wallace was taken out after a front swipe collision with Busch early in the race. Race winner Jeff Gordon got rubbed by Stewart in the early laps as well. But Wallace was more upset with Stewart and his antics than he was at Busch for taking him out of the race.

``It's Stewart. I don't know what's wrong with the guy,'' said Wallace, driver of the No. 2 Dodge for Penske Racing South. ``I like the fellow. He's a good friend. I don't know. He's really screwing up a lot lately. He got me in the back really hard at Bristol (Tenn.). He got me in the back at Martinsville (Va.). He caused a huge wreck last week at Talladega and then he runs me right through the fence this time. I'm on the outside right up against the wall and he comes flying up and drives through and knocks the ball joint off, knocks the side off of it. He completely ruins the car.

``Then he pulls up beside me and starts flipping me off on the restart. I wanted to get out of the car and whip his rear end. The kid needs to calm down a little bit. I don't know what's wrong with him. He's really frustrated for some reason.''

Maybe that reason is his cars haven't been that good in recent races. Or perhaps it's because he's lost his conscious, Joe Gibbs, who turned over operations of the race team to his son to take the job as coach of the Washington Redskins in the NFL.

Yet somehow, Stewart has managed to stay in the top 10 in points. But he's in nobody's top 10 for Mr. Congeniality.

Stewart said he knows he's a target and is willing to take some of the blame. But he's willing to dish some out as well.

``It's easy to point fingers at a guy when he's down right now,'' said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Chevy for Joe Gibbs Racings. ``I'll just take it, I guess, and go on. But if he wants to point fingers, then he can keep pointing fingers. I used to have a lot of respect for him, too. He wants to talk about respect, well, he had the opportunity to show me some respect at Bristol and he didn't do it. So, I don't know what he's complaining about. He's got nothing to complain about.''

It's not as if Stewart's reputation doesn't precede him. He has been disciplined by NASCAR in the past for run-ins with drivers, fans and the media. But it seemed that Stewart turned a corner. He promised a kinder, quieter Stewart. Instead, a reckless Stewart has emerged.

J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, said Stewart wasn't the only driver banging his way through traffic. It's the sort of thing that happens every race.

In response to Wallace's comments, however, he said, ``I didn't hear what Rusty had to say. I have no interest. I'm sure he's frustrated, too. His car's totaled now. I don't know how much Tony had to do with that. Obviously, everyone's going to be upset. It's racing. More often than not you're going to walk away unhappy than happy.''

Drivers are more than unhappy with Stewart right now.

``I had a real good top-10 car,'' Wallace said. ``I don't know why he's driving like that out there. He needs to get his act together. He's a good driver, and he needs to act like it now instead of driving like an idiot and taking a bunch of cars out. I'll talk to him. I'll talk to him right now. He needs a good talking to by somebody. He needs to get his emotions in check.

``He's a good kid, but I'm not respecting him at all right now and half of the garage is not respecting him. He's going to have to get out there and start earning the respect of his peers again.''