Racing Sensation

May 22, 2000

Racing Sensation Tony Stewart discusses in an online interview racing, NASCAR, and the Indy 500.

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Home Depot: Welcome! Home Depot thanks you for joining our chat with racing sensation Tony Stewart. We're all excited to hear what Tony and his fans have to say about his record-breaking rookie season, his goals for the 2000 season, his team, and much more!

Tony Stewart: Thank you! Just want to welcome everybody to our chat today. I'm looking forward to some interesting questions this evening, so let's get going!

Kiki: Now that you have a year of experience under your belt, what makes this season different from last season?

Tony Stewart: Basically, just a lot of conveniences. Knowing how to get in and out of each racetrack, knowing where the best restaurants to eat are, but on the racetrack, there are not a lot of differences. I'm a lot more comfortable this year than last year. And we just don't have the luck that we had last year.

Fred: Since the Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the Winston Cup schedule, do you do anything differently than you would at a regular 500-mile race to conserve The Home Depot Pontiac for those 100 extra miles?

Tony Stewart: Not really. Basically, we plan ahead and work backwards. We know the last 100 miles are the most important miles of the race, so we basically take the first 100 miles and make it less important than the first 100 miles of a 500-mile race.

Madge: Did you learn anything in The Winston that you and the team will be able to apply in your preparation for the Coca-Cola 600?

Tony Stewart: Yeah, there's a lot of things we learned. Obviously, we practiced in both daytime conditions and evening conditions, so that gives us a database of setups to try for the 600.

MDgirl: Tony, I know that you like to race on the short tracks. Do you have any particular favorite ?

Tony Stewart: Of the short tracks, I probably like Bristol and Richmond the best.

Sid: Robby Gordon is trying to do what you did last year - compete in the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 all in the same day. What advice would you give him?

Tony Stewart: Just make sure that he pays attention to nutrition - that's the one thing that I didn't pay enough attention to last year.

Shelia: Do you alter your pre-race ritual before the Coca-Cola 600 since it gets started so late in the day?

Tony Stewart: I don't know - I might stand on my head this week or something, just to try something different! But basically I'll do the same thing. I'll probably watch the Indy 500 in the lounge in the transporter at Charlotte.

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