Today could be the day for Tony Stewart

There’s not a lot of middle ground when it comes to Tony Stewart.

While Jimmie Johnson — despite winning four consecutive Sprint Cup titles and becoming arguably the best driver on the planet — is often met with indifference by fans, that’s hardly the case with “Smoke.”

His aggressive style and abrasive personality make him either endearing or despicable, depending on which side of the fence you’re standing.

He’s by no means a media darling.

He doesn’t like stupid or pointless questions, and he’d rather have a root canal than sit through an interview. He views sports writers in much the same way that Bob Knight does, and we all know what ‘The General’ thinks of the press.

That’s never bothered me. I always figured if I didn’t ask Stewart a stupid question I was pretty safe. Besides, his fans don’t give a hoot what guys like me think of him. They just want him to race hard and win.

And that’s what he does.

I gained a new level of respect for Stewart several years ago when he was still considered an up-and-comer in the sport. He gave an interview to a foreign magazine and made a remark about Talladega having the most “obnoxious” race fans.

I was working in Talladega at the time and a lot of citizens didn’t take kindly to the statement.

Stewart explained that he didn’t mean it as an insult, but most folks didn’t buy it.

When he came to Talladega Superspeedway for a race an entrepreneur had created tee shirts that had “Obnoxious Talladega Race Fan” emblazoned on the front.

Thousands of fans bought them, wore them and prepared to boo Stewart mercilessly.

During driver introductions they did just that — until Stewart pulled up one shirt to reveal another that proclaimed, “Obnoxious Talladega Driver.”

The boos died down and now he’s greeted with far more cheers when he comes to the track once dubbed “The World’s Fastest Speedway.”

In a world where many sports governing bodies want robots, Stewart is definitely a factory reject.

And I mean that in a good way because the factory mentality has not served NASCAR well.

I’d much rather hear Stewart say what he thinks — even if I disagree with it — than listen to some guy give an answer pulled from the NASCAR textbook.

He’s refreshing, and now that series officials promise to let boys be boys this year (and girls be girls — Danica Patrick has a temper, too) Smoke should be in rare form in 2010.

Stewart has two series championships, 43 Cup checkers and logged a Nationwide win at Daytona on Saturday, but has never finished first in “The Great American Race.”

With 15 victories at NASCAR’s most storied track, it’s only fitting that his next one comes in the biggest race of all.

Valentine’s Day 2010 could be the day.

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