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Jan 31 '18
CHARLOTTE, N. Cody Eakin Jersey .C. - Tony Stewart, walking without a limp for the first time in 18 months, declared himself pain-free and never more eager to start a season.After a tumultuous two seasons that affected him physically and mentally, the three-time NASCAR champion said Tuesday his troubles are behind him and he finally feels like the old Smoke again.When they counted down to the end of 2014, I was never so happy to see that number go off the calendar, he said. I am ready to put the last two years behind me and never look back, not look in the mirror, not talking about it, not thinking about it. I am going back to being me again.His chance to prove it begins next month at Daytona International Speedway, where Stewart will climb back into his No. 14 Chevrolet for the first time since November, when his 15-year winning streak in the Sprint Cup Series came to an end. He failed to win a race for the first time since his 1999 rookie season, and the streak ended on the same day Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick claimed his first championship.Two weeks later, Stewart was back in the hospital for a fourth surgery on the right leg he broke in an August 2013 sprint car crash in Iowa. The damage from the injury has lingered, but he said the last procedure has him almost healed. He will have one more surgery at the end of 2015 to remove the titanium rod in his leg.Most of the pain is gone and I am walking better than I have since I had the accident, Stewart said. Trust me, I can promise you, I am way healed up for what I need to do this year and its not going to be a factor in any race this season.He will start by seeking his first Daytona 500 win in 17 tries. NASCARs crown jewel remains one of the very few things missing from Stewarts resume. Hes got 48 career Cup wins — four in the July race at Daytona — but none in the big show.Stewart also has yet to win at Darlington and Kentucky, the only two active tracks on the schedule where he doesnt have a Cup victory.But dont be fooled into thinking hes chasing those milestones to complete his resume. He was strident Tuesday in how comfortable he is in his own skin again, and how confident he is that he is a contender on the track.Stewart struggled in 2013 before he broke his leg and missed the final 15 races of the season. And his feel was off when he returned last year and struggled with NASCARs new rules package.Then came the Aug. 9 incident at a New York state dirt track, where Stewarts car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. as the fellow driver walked on the track in an apparent attempt to confront Stewart. The incident sent Stewart into a tailspin. He spent three weeks in seclusion trying to deal with his grief, and was a broken man when he returned for the final 12 races of the season.The healing didnt start until September when a grand jury declined to charge him with Wards death, but its been his time away from the track the last two months that have given Stewart his swagger back. Although he claimed his all-black outfit Tuesday was slimming, he appeared to be down at least 15 pounds from November.He was refreshed from a quiet December at home in Indiana, then a week at sprint car races in Arizona with his team, followed by a week in Oklahoma at the Chili Bowl.I dont feel like I have to prove anything to anybody, he said. Its more like what I want to do, not what I feel I have to show people I can do. Im ready to be back. I want to be competitive, I want to be winning races again.At 43, Stewarts clock is ticking. It became more of a discussion last week when four-time series champion Jeff Gordon announced this season will be his last. Stewart is three months older than Gordon, but has six fewer seasons than Gordon in the Cup Series.Stewart said he spent last Thursday texting with his one-time fierce rival about the time they first met, their history together and Gordons contributions to the sport. There is perhaps a spot deep down in Stewart that has been forced to think about his own future, and Gordons decision might have also created some self-reflection.He was adamant Tuesday the end is not near.You look at whats on my plate, I am pretty pot-committed to this sport, he said, before noting the differences between he and Gordon.Gordon is a married father of two young children. Stewart is a perpetual bachelor who considers his pet pig his son, but is also consumed by the race tracks and teams that he owns.Its not comparing apples to apples. Everybodys scenarios and situations are different, what they want out of the rest of their lives, so (Gordon) didnt make me think anything about my career, it made me think about Jeffs career, he said. As much as I always thought in my mind that I would be so excited when Jeff Gordon retired, Im having a hard time coming to terms with after this year were not going to see him in the No. 24. Reid Duke Jersey . He reps the 4-1-6The insecurity of Canadian basketball fans is not what it once was with the home grown talent making its way to the big leagues, but it is still nice to see the local kids remembering where they come from once they make their way south. Vadim Shipachyov Jersey . Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. WASHINGTON -- Doug Fister did the splits while covering first base and reached backward to make a how-did-he-do-that stab of a grounder while on the mound, adding a bit of gymnastics to another pinpoint outing. No one can accuse the 6-foot-8 righty of being either ungainly or inaccurate. He won his fourth straight start Thursday, another walk-free outing of seven innings with just two runs and four hits allowed as the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 to complete a three-game sweep. Fister (4-1) struggled in the Nationals debut last month after missing all of April with a lat strain. He hasnt allowed more than two runs in a game since. In six starts, hes walked only two batters. "Id rather them earn it," he said, "than give it away." And earning it is that much harder with a pitcher as flexible as Fister. The college first baseman did a full split while not quite hanging on to a throw to first that would have completed a double play in the first inning. "Yeah, thats not comfortable," Washington manager Matt Williams said. For the player or the manager? "For both," Williams said. Then there was the play in the third inning, when Fister flipped himself around to rob Ben Revere of a hit up the middle -- a play that proved more valuable when Jimmy Rollins followed immediately with a double. "Hes a cat out there on the mound," reliever Tyler Clippard said. "Hes getting everything." Sounds like hes the teams unofficial "pepper" champ. "I try to do a lot of work with groundballs up the middle and try to work on reaction time," Fister said. "Being able to field my position is something I take a lot of pride in." Fisters start is the latest in whats starting to look like the tough-act-to-follow rotation expected from the Nationals this season. Jordan Zimmermann threw eight scoreless innings in the series opener Tuesday, and SStephen Strasburg fanned 11 in Wednesdays win. Erik Haula Jersey. Overall, the Nationals have won five of six. They have out-scored opponents 38-12 in those half-dozen games, including 19-6 in each of the three-game series against the Texas Rangers and the Phillies. Now comes a 10-game road trip to San Diego, San Francisco and St. Louis. "We have a really hard road trip coming up against some really good teams," Williams said. "Without going too far, were happy with where were at it right now and the way its gone. We have to continue to push." It would be easier if they could keep playing the Phillies, who have lost six straight, are an NL-worst 9-20 since May 5. A team meeting on Tuesday yielded nothing productive, and Rollins can already envision a possible lost season in which key players are traded away. "Its getting out of control now," Rollins said. "Weve got a chance to go out there and change that tomorrow. If not, then thats a decision theyre going to make either way. But wed like to put a streak together going the other direction. Be up in that left column, and find a way to win some games." Kyle Kendrick (1-6) allowed four runs over seven innings and walked a season-high five. He is 1-11 in his last 19 starts, has an 11-start winless streak on the road and hasnt won a day game since 2012, going 0-6 in his last nine starts in the sunshine. But the problems are team-wide. The Phillies are batting .224 over their last 29 games. "Its been time to straighten it out," Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. NOTES: With the matinee following a rain-delayed game the night before, Nationals SS Ian Desmond and Phillies OF Marlon Byrd were given a day off for the first time this season. Desmond had started every game up to Thursday, while Byrd had started all but one. ... Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer, and Rafael Soriano picked up his 12th save for the Nationals. 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