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Two down, only rest ahead Stewart's double-dip top-10s a study in exhaustion
Posted: Monday May 31, 1999 02:38 PM
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- One double is probably going to be enough for Tony Stewart. So he made sure he made it a good one. Fighting sickness for about the last hour of the race, Stewart charged to a fourth-place finish in Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600, becoming the first driver to complete the NASCAR race and the Indianapolis 500 in one day. He finished ninth at Indy. "This has been an experience I'll never forget," said an exhausted Stewart. "To come in here and see the reaction from the crowd and to hear the applause at the driver's introductions at the 500, I wouldn't trade it for anything. But 600 next year." After climbing out of his car, Stewart's legs collapsed and he sank to the ground. He sat on the ground next to his car, a wet towel wrapped around his head for about five minutes, occasionally drinking fluids. He was also given oxygen, and then put on a stretcher and taken to the track hospital. He didn't say anything, and he wrapped the towel around his face as he was put on the stretcher. He was given fluids, and released about 15 minutes later. "I'm ready for a nap," he said. "I'm ready to lay my head down for the night." That Stewart was exhausted was no surprise. The former Indy Racing League champion, now NASCAR's hottest rookie, raced 1,100 miles in 10 hours. That's the equivalent of driving from Los Angeles to Denver. It's 596 laps and a mind-numbing 2,384 left turns. John Andretti is the only other driver to race in Indy and the Coca-Cola in the same day, but he crashed in 1994 and didn't finish the 600. Robby Gordon's bid to do the double in 1997 was rained out in Indianapolis. Stewart was supposed to start 27th at the Coca-Cola, but he was banished to the last and 43rd spot when he missed the drivers' meeting. He worked his way up quickly, weaving through the field just like he did in last week's Winston Open, when he went from last to second. By the 62nd lap, he was in 10th place. He moved into third on lap 251 and took the lead on 268. He battled Jeff Burton and teammate Bobby Labonte for the lead the rest of the race. "Once we got started, the car was great and we just tried to take our time and tried to be methodical about how we got through," Stewart said. But on the 80th lap, Stewart told his crew he wasn't feeling too well. The biggest problem was hunger. He had two mini-bagels before Indy, two Power Bars on the plane and a few bites of another energy bar during the Coca-Cola. With about 80 laps to go, he was getting sick and feeling light-headed. "I never use the head rest in cars and I used the head rest the last 60-70 laps," he said. "I felt like I was about 90 percent and leaving 10 percent on the table. I was just trying to make sure I didn't make a mistake and could bring the car home." Still, Stewart still managed his sixth top-five finish in his first 12 races. The first half of the day wasn't nearly as tough. After his finish at Indy, four laps behind winner Kenny Brack, Stewart raced back to his trailer, changed into a red T-shirt and blue jeans and returned to his garage to say goodbye to his crew. They waved and cheered as Stewart was whisked away in a golf cart to a helicopter, waiting on the infield near the third turn. It was a three-minute ride to the Indianapolis airport, where The Home Depot, his sponsor, had its private jet waiting for the 65-minute flight to North Carolina. Aboard the plane, Stewart changed into his NASCAR racing suit, ate a Power Bar and guzzled some Powerade and water. He didn't have intravenous fluids, and aside from a couple of blisters and some muscle fatigue, said he was in good shape. Then he settled into a couch in the back of the jet to relax. "I'm really excited," he told The Associated Press aboard his plane. "I thought I'd feel a lot more fatigued. I think after an hour's sleep, I'll be fine." Stewart got his catnap and looked refreshed and ready to go by the time the plane landed about a half-hour before the 600 was scheduled to start. He laced up his racing shoes, got off the jet and hopped on fellow NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace's helicopter for the 2-minute ride to Lowe's Motor Speedway. As the helicopter flew low around the speedway, fans stood and cheered Stewart, who waved to the crowd. "That's awesome," he said. The helicopter landed on the track infield, and a huge roar went up as Stewart got out. Then he got into a white Camaro and was driven around the track as part of driver introductions. Stewart, who switched to NASCAR's Winston Cup circuit after three years in the Indy Racing League, had said all along the Coca-Cola was his priority. But Indy is still special to Stewart, who grew up 45 minutes away in Columbus, Ind., and he didn't want to give up his chance to win it, even if it meant driving 1,100 miles in less than 12 hours. He started off strong, moving from the 24th spot to the top five. Then the handling problems kicked in, made worse by a mistake in the pits. While working on the Dallara Oldsmobile Aurora, the crew released the jack too soon and slightly damaged the car. The lack of practice time didn't help. With Stewart shuttling back and forth between Indianapolis and Charlotte the last couple of weeks, the team never got to test the car on any long runs. If it had, Stewart said the handling problem might have been discovered. After the race ended, Stewart climbed out of his cockpit and dropped his head. Waving to cheering fans in the stands, he raised his index finger and told them, "One more." "In all honesty, I'm not as disappointed as I thought I'd be," he said. "Obviously, I wanted to win the race and anything short is a disappointment. But we did everything we could. We fought hard all day."
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