Tony Stewart: A temperamental NASCAR driver many fans love

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NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart smiles during qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway on March 13, 2015. (Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart sits in his car during a NASCAR Sprint Cup practice session at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in March 2013. (Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images)

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NASCAR driver Tony Stewart climbs into his car during a practice session at Pocono Raceway on Aug. 1. Stewart hasn’t raced since being involved in a fatal accident during a dirt track race in New York on Aug. 9. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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Tony Stewart walks through the garage area at Kentucky Speedway during a NASCAR Sprint Cup practice session on June 27. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

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Greg Zipadelli, Stewart-Haas Racing vice president of competition, announces during a news conference Aug. 10 that Tony Stewart will not race at Watkins Glen after being involved in an accident that killed dirt track racer Kevin Ward Jr. in New York the day before. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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Flowers rest next to the front entrance of Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Aug. 10, the day after sprint car racer Kevin Ward Jr. died at the track after he was struck by a car driven by three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. (Jared Wickerham / Getty Images)

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Tony Stewart smiles while standing in the garage during a NASCAR Sprint Cup at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 8, 2014. Stewart has won three NASCAR titles since joining the racing series full-time in 1999. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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Tony Stewart looks on after capturing pole position for the 1996 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Tom Russo / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart walks down pit road during a practice session for the 1998 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart climbs out his car during qualifying for the 2000 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

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NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, right, speaks with team owner Joe Gibbs while in the garage at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 11, 2000. (Peter Cosgrove / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart in his car during a practice session at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2002. (Rusty Burroughs / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart walks through the garage area at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sept. 13, 2002. (Sandy Macys / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart puts on his helmet while sitting in his car prior to a NASCAR Nextel Cup practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2007. (Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Tony Stewart jokes with his crew in pit lane before a NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Feb. 25, 2007. (Mark Avery / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart kisses the yard of bricks on the start/finish line after winning the 2005 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Tom Strattman / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart celebrates after winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in October 2009. (Orlin Wagner / Associated Press)

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Tony Stewart celebrates after winning a rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on March 25, 2012. (Nigel Kinrade / Associated Press)

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Danica Patrick, left, and Tony Stewart ride down pit road before the start of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in June. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

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Tony Stewart sits in his car before a race at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7. Stewart did not run in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. (Ralph Lauer / Associated Press)

Aug. 10, 2014 11:38 AM PT

Tony Stewart is perhaps the most temperamental driver in NASCAR, a trait’s that caused him to be involved in numerous run-ins with others during his career yet also has made him endearing to a legion of NASCAR fans.

On Saturday night, Stewart struck another driver who was on foot during a caution period in a sprint-car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in upstate New York. The driver, 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr., was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Nicknamed “Smoke” and often unshaved on race day, Stewart is a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and, earlier, he won an IndyCar series title. He co-owns his NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stewart also is outspoken, brash and capricious. He can be charming one minute and short-tempered the next.

Over the years he’s frequently clashed with drivers and the media, and he often bristles at reporters’ questions. He’s also publicly criticized NASCAR on several occasions.

At the end of a Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana last year, Stewart -- furious at how fellow driver Joey Logano had blocked him -- marched down pit road and confronted Logano, and the two got into a swinging match.

Stewart also was angry at Matt Kenseth at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2012, where Stewart stood on pit road and threw his helmet at Kenseth’s car. And after the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002, Stewart punched a photographer.

Stewart nurtured an “us-against-them” theme that made his followers feel set apart in NASCAR Nation.

He once dedicated a victory to “every one of those fans in the stands that pulls for me every week and take all the bull from everybody else.”

His personality appealed to many fans partly because Stewart was the exception to the notion that too many NASCAR drivers, conscious of protecting their valuable sponsorships, are publicly bland.

Many fans also liked Stewart’s penchant for driving sprint cars -- smaller, open-wheel cars -- on dirt tracks in small towns throughout the country, just as he did Saturday night.

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Tony Stewart: A temperamental NASCAR driver many fans love

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