Tony Stewart will lead 42 other drivers at the start of the Bank of America 500 in Charlotte Saturday night. Why Tony you ask? Well, simply put, he sits on the pole, and he really enjoys siting on it. “You know there are a lot of other guys out there working their mojo trying desperately to be the one who gets to sit on the pole. It’s so gratifying to know I worked the hardest to sit on it. Hell, it’s just gratifying to actually sit on it”, explained Stewart with a wink. There have been many pole positions throughout NASCAR’s history. But the positioned loved the most by divers is the one where they get to sit on it. Look at Jeff Gordon. Don’t tell me this guy doesn’t like to sit on a pole every once in a while. In his NASCAR career he has done it a total of 63 times. Thats a lot of poles and a lot of sitting. Back in 1992 he set a record for sitting on the most poles in a season. Eleven. This guy loves the pole. He needs the pole. Take Ryan Newman. Now he gets around. The race track that is. Back in 2002 he sat on six different poles. Newman: “It was my first full year in the sport. I was pretty nervous and tense. After I sat on my third pole I really figured out how to relax and just experience the whole act. I mean those poles are really big for me and I really enjoy taking them all in.”

Getting on top that pole is not as easy as some make it out to be. It’s not uncommon to get knocked off the pole as a matter of fact. You can imagine the frustration of sitting on a pole, locked into the feeling of having that pole in your hands only to have someone else steal it and sit on it. It would leave any man frustrated and blue…in the face. But there is an art to pole sitting. Newman and Gordon figured it out long ago. Gordon explains, “You gotta be loose man. You gotta be the loosest guy out there. If you are the loosest you’ll have an easier time sitting on the pole.” Loose equals fast in NASCAR and lately Tony has been loose. Two wins already in this years chase for the championship and now he is sitting firmly on top the pole Saturday night. Stewart concluded shouting on top the pole, “It feels good! oh god it feels good!”