Watkins Glen, N.Y. ? Tony Stewart’s spirits were about as low as they could get the last time he arrived at Watkins Glen International.

But he left on a high last August after the most emotional of his 16 career victories, and rode the momentum to the Winston Cup championship.

Stewart quickly put behind him the punchout of a photographer a week earlier in Indianapolis — an act that nearly cost him his job, resulted in fines totaling $60,000 and season-ending probation from NASCAR.

Now he’s back to defend his title Sunday in the Sirius at The Glen, but doesn’t care to talk about his temper even though he has done better job controlling it this year.

“I’m just looking forward to the day when interviews are talking about driving the race cars rather than all this other stuff,” he said.

Even that might prove a bit distasteful, because Stewart has won only once since he left here last year.

Accidents, mechanical failures and poor pit stops have ruined dominant efforts this season in five other races. Stewart led for 60 laps Sunday in Indianapolis but didn’t win. A week before that, at Pocono Raceway, he moved from the 33rd starting position to the lead before blowing his engine.

He’s 13th in the series standings — a whopping 732 points behind leader Matt Kenseth — but is taking a less-intense approach to his misfortune.

“There’s no point getting worked up over it,” he said. “I think we’re just looking at it with a little less emotion than in the past.

“We’re not going to set any records this year, not going to turn any heads with some dazzling performance unless we win six or eight races in a row.”

That probably won’t happen, but the 2.45-mile Glen road course is a perfect place for Stewart to start a turnaround. He has victories on both of NASCAR’s serpentine tracks — the other win coming in 2001 in Sonoma, Calif.

Stewart has no problem getting up for races on this 11-turn layout where the talent of the driver is at a premium. Nowhere is that more evident than on the frontstretch approaching the first turn — a hard right.

“It’s more exciting because it’s downhill,” he explained.