Stewart Just Might Smoke 'Em in Hotlanta

Tony Stewart doesn't like coming in second. And for the past two years at the Kobalt Tools 500, that's what he's been. In 2008, Kyle Busch beat him to the punch. And in 2007, Smoke was bested by current champ Jimmie Johnson.

I'm thinking that '09 could be his year.

Stewart sure could use an early season win. Much to the surprise of his fans and critics alike, Smoke only went to Victory Lane once in 2008. And now that he's a new Sprint Cup team owner, he's got a heap more than pride invested in the success of his #14 car.

"There's 150 people at the shop that I'm responsible for and it's not only them. It's their spouses, their girlfriends, their children, so that number easily turns into 450," Stewart said recently. "Everything that you do you try to keep in mind how it's going to affect yourself, but how it also affects the other people in your organization."

Unfortunately, in the past year, Stewart has made the news more often for getting hot under the collar about the state of his Goodyears than for getting hot on the track.

But look for all that to change in Hotlanta. I predict Stewart will give "Wild Thing" a run for his money.

After all, they don't call him Smoke for nuthin'.