Tony Stewart indicated Wednesday he is likely to put on his hold his dream of winning the Indianapolis 500 so long as he remains in the Winston Cup series. Since joining Cup in 1999, Stewart has twice run the 500, which is held the same day as the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “I’ve thought about it and I decided even before I left Homestead (last season) that I wasn’t even going to try it again,” said Stewart, who won the Winston Cup championship in 2002. “As much as my heart wants to do it, I need to take care of what I signed up for here.” Stewart, the reigning Winston Cup champion, said he had not received any pressure from team owner Joe Gibbs or crew chief Greg Zipadelli to end his INdy 500 quest. “It’s a strain on Greg and the guys on the team,” Stewart said. “Every day that I’m up there they worry about a tire blowing out or an engine blowing or something that is out of my control … (and) screw something up to where I can’t do my job here. This is what I do. I’m a stock car driver.”( ThatsRacin.com )(1-8-2003)
