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Multiple commitments keep Tony Stewart moving

By SceneDaily.com

Jun 3, 2008

SceneDaily.com is a Charlotte-based media outlet that covers NASCAR on a daily basis. Their reports will run on WRAL.com this year.

Tony Stewart is a busy man these days. In addition to his Sprint Cup duties, he has been managing an ownership role as his Eldora Speedway in Ohio is gearing up to host the 4th Annual Prelude to the Dream Wednesday night.

A field boasting drivers from NASCAR, World of Outlaws, the National Hot Rod Association and other series highlights the event.

And Stewart is the man putting it all together, the one bringing the talented group to the half-mile dirt oval.

How impressive is the field? Six former Cup champions (Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are scheduled to compete. Four Daytona 500 winners (Elliott, Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman) will be on hand as will drag-racing standouts Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon. The field has combined for 639 wins in NASCAR, Indy-style, NHRA and International Race of Champions competition.

Stewart is in charge of pulling it off while also fulfilling his regular NASCAR duties.

Stewart's week started with a crash in the Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway Sunday, a race followed by a scheduled appearance on a television show. Monday he was at Eldora all day, and today he is scheduled to be testing at a road course. He joked that this would be a big day for both he and crew chief Greg Zipadelli.

"I think Zippy is expecting a baby on Tuesday, and my big baby, the half-mile, is expecting me on Tuesday afternoon," he said. "Between Monday and Tuesday, hopefully I’ll be able to go there and help out. We have a great staff at Eldora, and that facility runs every week whether I’m there or not. It doesn’t need me to exist. It’s more peace of mind for me knowing that everything is all right and everything is ready to go when I can see it. If they tell me to get on a lawn mower, then that’s what I’ll be on Monday and Tuesday afternoon. Whatever they need me to do is what I do."

The stressful part, Stewart admits, is the weather. That's the one thing he doesn't have any control over as he prepares for the event. He claims the Weather Channel is his best friend right now - though it could turn into his enemy if rain comes and disrupts his race.

"It’s not like a pavement track where you can dry it in a couple hours," he said. "If we get big rains, it can affect it two days later. The big thing is just hoping we have decent weather right now. It’s big - I’m losing sleep now because we’re close enough to it that it’s that time. If the weather is not right then it makes you lose sleep.”

Others may be losing sleep as well, but that would come from the anticipation of the event.

Cup stars spoke glowingly of the race throughout last weekend. Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards is the most recent winner of the event, but Stewart and Kenny Wallace have won it as well. Gordon says he loves the chance to slide on the dirt once more. And others have found themselves bonding over the event.

Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer is fielding a car, as a team owner, for two-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Bowyer, who races on dirt tracks in his free time, says he's actually more worried about Johnson's car than his own effort.

"I've got a lot of confidence in the equipment," he said. "… I'm more nervous about Jimmie running than I am. I've got a two-time champ in my seat. As a car owner you don't get that opportunity very often so I better make sure I take full advantage of it and give him a good ride."

He joked about helping out one of his prime Cup competitors, though.

"I was joking with [Johnson's team owner,] Rick Hendrick," Bowyer said. "I said, 'Hey man, I'm going to take care of old two-timer. This time you're not going to have to worry about him in the Chase because I've got a quarter-inch bolt and a pair of vice grips holding him in his seat. I think it's safe.' "

In all seriousness, Bowyer points out to how safe the equipment is for these races. While he's confident of his equipment, Johnson is a little worried about his own potential in the race - and the possibility of damaging Bowyer's car.

"I drove a dirt car at Texas after a Busch race," said Johnson, a newcomer to the Prelude. "I think I ended up getting like six laps in it, so this is a whole new experience. I’m really excited to do it. I’m not sure what to expect. Clint Bowyer built me a brand-new car, so I’m afraid I’m going to destroy his brand-new car. I didn’t test, I haven’t sat in the car, so I’m just going to show up and have a damn good time.”

While they are going to have a good time, these are competitive men chasing another trophy.

With such an elite field, a victory in the Prelude offers huge bragging rights for these men. Edwards knows all about that.

“Eldora, to any dirt racer, that’s the same as Daytona or Indianapolis," Edwards said. "That’s an amazing race track, so to be able to go there and race was huge. To win that race was great because it’s Eldora, and I got to race against Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch – that was huge."

Still, there's even more to this race that adds to the prestige. The goal of the race is to raise $1 million for construction of the Victory Junction Gang Camp-Kansas City and the Tony Stewart Foundation.

"The true thing that makes that so special and the reason all of us go do it is because it’s benefiting Victory Junction Gang Camp," he said. "I think that just puts the icing on the whole deal. It’s fun because we race, and then it’s really fun to realize that we’re raising almost a $1 million for such a great cause. So, for me, that ranks very, very high on my list of accomplishments in my life.”

Stewart is aware of that. The two-time Cup champion admits that he's surprised it has grown into such a prestigious event and that he's flattered drivers find a way to work it into their own schedule. He's happy that he has the chance to host the race and help raise the money to be donated to the camp for chronically ill children and his own Foundation. The foundation raises money for organizations that help care for chronically ill children, drivers injured in motorsports activities and to support other charitable organizations in the protection of various animal species.

He understands why the drivers come, though. Not only are they racing for a good cause, but the drivers get a chance to compete in a lesser spotlight, have time to spend with their competitors surrounding the event and just enjoy being together for the night.

“I think what we’re doing that night makes it a distraction from what we do here every weekend and the fact that you get to race with all your Cup peers, but you get to do something different that’s no stress, and it’s all about having fun," Stewart said. "It doesn’t mean that you don’t take it serious - it just means that there’s not all the pressures and the strains and everything we have to go through for three days here. We get to do and have a fraction of that in a five-hour period and have the same amount of fun.”