NASCAR-WCUP: The Home Depot #20 Pontiac Bristol Prerace Driver Quotes and Stats
3 April 1999
FOOD CITY 500Bristol Motor Speedway - .533-mile oval
Race 7 of 34 - NASCAR Winston Cup Series
April 9 - 11, 1999
Race time: Sunday, April 11,1999 1:00 p.m. ET
Live television coverage: ESPN Live radio coverage: PRN
Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the tracks on the Winston Cup circuit a driver either loves or hates. Races on the high-banked, fast one-half mile oval are action-packed and exciting. The Home Depot Pontiac driver, Tony Stewart falls in the "loves Bristol" category. The track has some similar characteristics to tracks he ran in his USAC open wheel days. He enjoys the close action and side-by-side racing.
Coming off his second consecutive sixth place finish last week at Texas Motor Speedway, Stewart and The Home Depot Pontiac team are excited about the first short track race of the season. The team gained valuable knowledge at their recent test and feel they will have a good setup for both qualifying and the Food City 500. The test was Stewart's first look at the popular track through the windshield of a Winston Cup car.
Tony Stewart, Driver
On racing in Bristol: "Bristol is definitely one of the most challenging tracks on the series, it is like racing in a blender. Tire conservation is critical, but more importantly, you have to race smart and concentrate for 500 laps to finish the race. The track is very fast; we will be racing at laps in the 15-second range. On a half-mile track, things happen in a split second. Patience is one of the most important tools a driver can utilize at Bristol. "The Home Depot Pontiac team tested last week at Bristol and were extremely pleased with the results. We had a good car in both qualifying and race trim. I've only raced Bristol in a Busch car so the test was critical to The Home Depot team. It will be up to me to stay out of trouble and bring home a solid finish. "Qualifying well for a Winston Cup race is always important but at Bristol it is very critical. If you don't start closer to the front, you can get a lap down in a hurry and will have a struggle on your hands all day to try and make it up."
On the start of his rookie season:
"The success this team has attained so far this season would be considered a major achievement for a veteran team much less a new team. It is a testimony to how important it is to have the right chemistry between the sponsor, team owner, crew chief, team members and drivers. We have all of those things on The Home Depot Pontiac Team. We continue to remain focused on our season-long goals and to approach each race with the same intensity and dedication we began the season at Daytona. "We feel it is important not to vary from those objectives and to keep everything in the proper perspective. We are determined to bring home the Rookie of the Year title for The Home Depot. They are a key reason to our success. It is really a pleasure to work with a sponsor that has such a high level of enthusiasm and gives unconditional support. It makes everyone's job that much easier and exciting. I have never had this situation before. It truly makes a huge difference in our program."
STEWART 1999 NASCAR WINSTON CUP STATS:
STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 TOP 15 WINNINGS 6 0 0 0 2 4 $372,559STEWART BRISTOL NASCAR STATS:
STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 TOP 15 TOP 20 3 - (BGN) 0 0 0 0 0 0
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