Having that insight from another competitor that was different and probably going to catch me off guard really helped out.” So, to have another guy that I was competing against want to come over and help out like that was really cool, but something you don’t know what you don’t know. “I had two awesome teachers with Leah and Matt, and neither one of those thought about it. “I hadn’t even staged next to anybody, let alone a blower car at that point, and one of the guys who was also driving in the alcohol division that was parked next to us came over and said, ‘Hey, you need to watch this and be prepared for this.’ It’s just things you don’t know. “I think the other part of it that you wouldn’t know until you get a chance to line up against somebody is guys that ran blower cars, they rev the motor up to like 4,000 RPM when they stage and get ready,” Stewart said. It was a big mental and physical test for Stewart learning about how the race weekend flowed and where he needed to be. Along with going through the paces of competition and the details of being a drag racer, he also experienced the adrenaline of being the observing team owner to shifting gears and getting into his Top Alcohol dragster. Stewart got his first taste of what he’ll be in store for this year in Las Vegas. Nor does he want to risk matching up against his wife, fearing his sleeping arrangements. Although Stewart has tested a Top Fuel dragster, he acknowledges he does not have the skills to compete at that level consistently. ![]() Pruett runs in the Top Fuel dragster division for Tony Stewart Racing, and Matt Hagan runs the team’s Top Fuel Funny Car. I am really excited to get back to the track.” Now I want to see our NHRA family and see everybody we haven’t seen since Pomona and the banquet. “I’ve already been to two NASCAR races now and was able to see the NASCAR family. To have a full-time ride with the McPhillips family and have Mobil 1 come on board and want to go on this adventure with us, I am excited. So, I had a blast, I enjoyed my year last year, but I really missed being behind the wheel of a race. But on top of that, I had the busiest year that I’ve ever had. “Last year, I ran a total of 11 races out of the whole calendar year, and that’s the least amount of races I’ve had in a long time. I get to do the entire season and for me that’s exciting for me to be a full-time driver again. ![]() “To have the opportunity to know it’s not just test sessions that I get to run with a team and get to do a one-off race. “This is the most excited I’ve been going into a racing season in a long time,” Stewart continued. ![]() at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (pictured above), where he was the second-fastest qualifier and advanced to the final round of the Top Alcohol Dragster event. Stewart made his competitive NHRA debut in Oct. I tell everybody it’s like being on Fantasy Island. The basics of it fall under the same category until you get to NHRA, and it’s off on its own island. “Even dirt track racing, the sports car racing, the NASCAR, Ind圜ar. “I think that’s what’s so fun about doing this and what we’re doing this year with the McPhillips family - everything I did in motorsports pretty much was all in the same bubble,” Stewart said Tuesday. Stewart built a name for himself on the ovals of open-wheel and NASCAR, but the drag racing bug continues to bite him after falling in love with the sport while falling in love with his wife, Leah Pruett. ![]() Not only does Stewart get to be a full-time race car driver again beginning next month, but he will do so in a series radically different from how he’s spent much of his career. Tony Stewart is bursting with new enthusiasm as he prepares to take on the Top Alcohol tour of the NHRA.
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