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Ready for a busy day Stewart set for Sunday's double duty
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- The car ran well, the backup driver got to turn some laps and the trainer tinkered with the race-day menu. Everything went smoothly Saturday for Tony Stewart as he prepared to try to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. The day was so routine that Stewart -- making his second attempt at completing 1,100 miles in roughly 12 hours -- was getting antsy. "It's just a matter of going out and doing the job right now," he said. "We're at the point where we've talked about it long enough. Now it's time to go out and do it." Stewart arrived at Lowe's Motor Speedway early Saturday for some quick morning practice on the 1 1/2-mile track. He briefly got in the car again during the "Happy Hour" session, but cut out early so that Busch series driver Mike McLaughlin could get about 45 minutes of seat time in the car. Stewart then headed to Indianapolis to wait for Sunday's noon EDT start. "I'm excited," he said. "We've got great race cars at both places and that's exciting because it gives me two chances to win." McLaughlin has been approved by NASCAR to be the backup driver should Stewart get held up in Indy and not be able to start the NASCAR race here later Sunday. But as far as Joe Gibbs Racing is concerned, McLaughlin is not really an option. Stewart has promised to leave Indianapolis with enough time to catch a waiting plane and take the roughly 90-minute flight to Charlotte and be ready for the second race's 5:45 p.m. EDT start. The vow stands even if Stewart it leading in Indianapolis when the deadline falls. Indy car owner Chip Ganassi will have driver Richie Hearn on standby should Stewart have to give up the wheel. But very few of Stewart's NASCAR rivals actually believe that Stewart will jump out of the car if he has any chance at all to fulfill his childhood dream of winning the Indy 500. "I told somebody the only way he was getting out of the car if he was leading with 10 or 20 laps to go was if Joe Gibbs has a kill button on that car," said Jeff Gordon, who starts second in Sunday's NASCAR race. Meanwhile, Stewart's trainer was making some last minute adjustments to Sunday's menu. Al Shuford -- who used to work for the NFL's Carolina Panthers -- has been with Stewart all season but stepped up the regime over the last few weeks to get the driver into the best possible shape to physically handle both races. When Stewart tried the Indy-NASCAR double in 1999, he suffered from cramps and exhaustion during the 600 and that might have cost him a chance to win the race. He finished fourth in the NASCAR event after a ninth-place finish at Indy. But Shuford has had Stewart on a strict diet and is having second thoughts about the turkey sandwich he planned for Stewart to eat on the plane on his way to the 600. "My instinct is to get some more carbohydrates in him," Shuford said. "I'm thinking he's going to win the Indy 500 and is going to be on a pretty big high. So I'm looking to keep him on that high and leaning toward some pasta right now." Stewart doesn't really care what he eats on race day. Shuford promised him a pizza for dinner on Saturday night, and Stewart planned to savor every slice while watching sprint car races on TV. Stewart owns a sprint car and his driver has a shot to win both races at the dirt track across from Lowe's Motor Speedway. His driver, Danny Lasoski, was leading Friday's event when it was stopped because of rain. So Lasoski was going to finish the race Saturday, then compete in the second event. Two wins from Lasoski, then two wins by Stewart ... could Stewart be a four-time winner this weekend? "We could actually pull that off," Stewart said. "That will keep me pretty excited by myself."
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