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NASCAR WCUP: Tony Stewart is 'Sears Point Savvy'

21 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Tony Stewart, driver of the #20 Home Depot Pontiac Grand Prix in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, proved to be just as tough on road courses as he was on ovals in 1999.

But before Stewart showcased his road course proficiency, he sought the tutelage of the Bob Bondurant Driving School. There, instructor Chris Cook helped Stewart dust off his road racing skills, as the last time The Home Depot pilot had competed on a road course was in 1987 when he won the World Karting Association national championship.

Stewart took Cook's instruction and promptly sat on the outside pole a few weeks later at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The Home Depot pilot raced just as well, running within the top-three before a cut tire relegated him to a 15th place finish. Stewart punctuated his strong Sears Point performance by qualifying fourth and finishing sixth less than two months later at Watkins Glen (N.Y.).

Despite his solid runs at the only two road course races on the Winston Cup schedule, crew chief Greg Zipadelli thought that the 10-month absence of shifting and making right turns necessitated a refresher course. On Tuesday following their win at Michigan Speedway, the #20 team loaded their orange and white transporter with a brand new road course car and headed north from their Huntersville, N.C., shop to the 3.27-mile Virginia International Raceway near Danville.

How did your test at Virginia International Raceway go?

"We didn't really work on anything in particular. We ran through a couple of sets of shocks, but other than that we had a new Home Depot Pontiac that hadn't been run yet and we mainly just wanted to shake it down. I think Greg's (Zipadelli) approach was just to give me some laps on a road course and get me used to shifting and turning right again. It was a good refresher course."

How did you adapt so quickly to road racing?

"I raced on road courses in go-karts when I was younger. So, I've driven road courses before. I went out to the Bob Bondurant Driving School and had Chris Cook as my instructor out there. He was really good at knowing what I needed to learn to drive a Cup car on a road course. He's run a couple of Busch races, so he really knew what areas I needed to focus on. Having him as an instructor gave me things to think about before we went to Sonoma (Calif.) and Watkins Glen. That gave me the mindset that I could be good on the road courses."

How do you think your crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, adapted so quickly to the road courses in terms of finding the proper chassis setup?

"Well, he's run in the Busch North Series a bunch and run the Modifieds, and both of those divisions have to run at Watkins Glen. He's got some experience from both of those divisions. Obviously, he's been with a Cup team (Roush Racing, #99) in the past that's run road courses. He's got a really good ability to adapt quickly, like I do in some cases behind the wheel. I'm just fortunate to have a guy like that who can adapt so quickly to different styles of racing."

Because there are only two road course races on the Winston Cup schedule, do you feel that that aspect of the #20 team's overall program doesn't receive as much attention?

"Not really. Everybody's kind of in the same boat. We all only run two road course races a year. I feel like that was one of our strong suits. We were running third and had a flat tire at Sonoma. We ran sixth at Watkins Glen and we had some brake problems there that kept us from running any faster than what we were able to run. I feel like The Home Depot team has a pretty good road course program. I feel like that's one of our assets right now. It's just not something that we focus really hard on because we do only have two races on the schedule that are road courses."

Is it tough for a team to justify focusing their resources on a road course program and perhaps neglect an aspect of their oval track program?

"I think we do a pretty good job of allotting the proper amount of time to the road courses. It's not that you neglect the ovals. The road courses pay the same amount of points to win that the ovals do. You've got to prepare in the same way and you've got to prepare with the same intensity. We want to win both of those races just like we wanted to win Dover and Michigan. It's important that you do concentrate on the road courses and not take the attitude that they're not as important as the rest of the races because there's only two of them."

Does NASCAR need road racing as part of its schedule?

"I think we need dirt races but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. It doesn't matter to me. All I care about is that every week I've got to go out and beat all the other guys that are out on the race track when they drop the green flag on Sunday. I enjoy it. To me, it's kind of a nice change of pace. It's nice to do something different twice a year."

Do you feel that, as a NASCAR driver, you're more well-rounded than drivers in other series?

"I don't know. There are a lot of guys who are in the Cup Series who came from different forms of motorsports or have driven different divisions in the past. They've all probably road raced at some point in their careers. You look at Jerry Nadeau (driver, #25 Chevrolet), he's got a good road racing background. There are a lot of guys who have driven road races before they got here. So, I don't think I'm any better than anyone else."

Text provided by Mike Arning

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