Drag racing fans get excited at the prospect of new teams coming into the highest levels of the sport. However, when those new teams are fronted by motorsports icons not associated with the straight-line sport, it takes the euphoria to another level.

When Tony Stewart announced in October 2021 the formation of Tony Stewart Racing's two-car nitro racing team, it took the excitement factor to a peak. Drag racing fans knew the residuals would be huge, and they are proving to be.

Stewart has more than shown his value in other forms of racing, and already in a short time is showing this in drag racing. Recently, CompetitionPlus.com founder and editor Bobby Bennett caught up with the man nicknamed Smoke to discuss his foray into drag racing.

BOBBY BENNETT: WHAT WAS IT THAT ATTRACTED YOU TO DRAG RACING BEFORE YOU BECAME A MAJOR MOTORSPORTS ICON?

TONY STEWART: It probably was around, want to say '96 or '97, I got the chance to go to night qualifying for the U.S. Nationals at Indy. And Ron Burton, who was the painter and had the helmet collection there at Union Jacks, and George Snyder were there. I got passes, and we met up in the staging lanes.

I went up there [in the starter's box], and I remember it like it was yesterday, which is hard for me to do. They were standing in that Armco V, and I'm like ... "Oh, we're right over here, right in between, right behind the cars. "I'm like, "I can't go over there." He goes, "Yes, you can." He goes, "Just come on." So I stood up there with him.

Was up there for a while, then watched a couple of pairs go. And then the next pair was Bernstein and Amato, and [Rick Stewart] grabs hold of me and drags me forward toward the tree. And where he stopped me, I was in front of both of those guys' heads, in between the tree, and they couldn't see me because of the bodywork and stuff. But they lit off; it scared the crap out of me.

I knew Rick Stewart. And I had met him and his grandson in Sacramento, California, in '95. We were there to do a radio show, I was there for USAC, and he was there for NHRA promoting junior dragsters.

He and his grandson were on the show first, and then we passed in the hallway and met each other. Well, Rick's the one that grabbed me. I didn't even know who grabbed me until after they fired off there. I was really impressed that night. And then, fast forward to '09, and we had our partnership with the U.S. Army when we went to [Stewart-Haas Racing] and started the team. And I got invited to go to the Nationals and hang out with Tony and his team. So, you get there on race day, a whole different experience. The biggest race of the year, so I'm just trying to stay out of the way.

But thoroughly, I had a blast, and I was hooked then, but just never had the opportunity with everything that we had going on in motorsports. That's the time when I was getting into NASCAR and IndyCar at the same time, so I didn't have an opportunity to go to the drag races at all. And then, obviously, when Leah and I met, and I got to go again. Even before that, we would sit there when I retired from NASCAR, and I was running my Sprint Car on the weekends. On Saturdays, you'd always see the Xfinity race would go off, so we had a car in that. We'd always watch the Xfinity race. Right after that was NHRA qualifying, so we always watched.

We watched Austin Prock because Austin ran his midget out of our shop in Brownsburg. So I was into it anyway, just didn't have an in with the industry. And then, obviously, when Leah and I met, I had the opportunity to go for a whole race weekend and then go to multiple races. I already had one hook in my mouth that put the treble hook in my mouth. It was fun for me because I'd kind of been in the same box for quite a while with oval track racing. Then you get to come over here, and it stimulates your brain and gets you thinking about new things that you hadn't thought about before.

BB - NOW, FROM TIME TO TIME, I KNOW YOU HAD TO SEE SOME OF YOUR NASCAR COUNTERPARTS COME OVER AND GIVE DRAG RACING A TRY. THERE WAS KURT BUSCH AND THEN CLINT BOWYER. NOT SURE IF YOU COULD SAY KENNY WALLACE ... BUT DID THAT INSPIRE YOU TO JOIN THE GROUP?

TS - No. And obviously, when we go to Charlotte and especially with this year and last year, having guys that were able to come out to the track because it was one-day shows and they had the opportunity to come out before they had to fly to the NASCAR race. To see those guys interested, it was pretty cool. When I got to test last year after the four wide, Kyle Larson came out. But just to see those guys be able to come out, and see how excited they were, their expression on their faces was exactly what mine was when we went to the U.S. Nationals in '09.

BB - THOSE GUYS DABBLED WITH THE PRO STOCKS, BUT NOT YOU. YOU WENT STRAIGHT TO THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN. I GUESS IT WAS ALL OR NOTHING FOR YOU?

TS - Well, it's what I was exposed to. Met Tony when he was driving the U.S. Army Top Fuel car, and then obviously, Leah was driving for Don. And so it's something that. That's where, obviously, in the sport, you don't just start at the top like that. But, when it came to coming around and being around it, that's what I was around because I was around with her. So, trying to do something outside of the nitro stuff, I haven't even hardly been through the pits in the rest of it. Haven't had the opportunity to even look at a Pro Stock car or a Pro Stock Bike. Been around Leah's Factory Stock team a lot and got to know those guys. But yeah, all my involvement has been around, obviously watching her drive the Top Fuel car.

 

 

 

BB - I'M GUESSING THE STRAIGHTAWAY WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE OVAL TRACK?

TS - No, the corners. It's easy. On the straightaways, you're thinking about what you want to have for dinner at night, but not in these things.

BB - YOU BROUGHT OUT NASCAR-RELATED SPONSORS TO THE NHRA VIRGINIA NATIONALS. ANY CHANCE WE MAY SEE AN EXPANSION OF YOUR TEAM IN THE FUTURE?

TS - Well, from our side, GearWrench coming on board, we signed them on the NASCAR side, and they were already participating with [Ron] Capps but decided to participate with us on our two teams. Mobil 1, the same thing, having their involvement. So I think it's great that we have the opportunity to bring both of these partners, and that's two perfect examples; GearWrench and Mobil 1 are both involved in NHRA Drag Racing, but for us to be able to have our partnership with them and have that cross-promotion and cross-pollination, so to speak. I think it's a good thing.

I think it's great for our partners to see the value of not just one form of motorsports. We're involved in so much. Our motorsports portfolio is so wide and big that it's nice to show them different avenues because it gives them areas they may not have opportunities that I think they do have an NHRA, but some of the other forms of motorsports, what we don't have with NHRA, we have over there. So I think it's good to be able to show our partners that and give them a well-rounded view of what the options are for them.

BB - FROM MY RESEARCH ON YOU YOU'RE NOT ONE TO GET INTIMIDATED.

TS - No.

BB - ANYTHING ABOUT DRAG RACING INTIMIDATE YOU?

TS - Driving them. Driving them does. I think ... The one thing I tell everybody and that I think is super important for fans to know is, I love what I do with NASCAR, I love what I do with Sprint Car racing, what we do with Eldora. And every form of motorsports has a different experience to it, and NHRA is one of those sports that you can watch it on T.V. and be entertained. If you get to the racetrack one time and see it, it is a 50 times better experience than what it is on TV.

To get there, and to see the smells and feel the vibrations, and things that you do not get that sensation watching on TV, I think that's something that is just ... It's a draw that I don't think a lot of fans truly understand until you get them there the first time. And we've got sponsors here this weekend that have never been to drag races, and they're like, "This is insane."

Well, that's the reaction you want them to have. That's what this is. The part about it to me to have cars that accelerate that hard. All the cars I've ever raced in my life are relatively in the same realm. This is on its own island. There's nothing that accelerates like these cars do. So, I think that's a huge draw and something that makes NHRA really unique.

 

 

 

BB - I THINK YOU PRETTY MUCH ANSWERED MY NEXT QUESTION. WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY?

TS - I think there's multiple things. I think it's, A, the experience at the track. I think it's different than any other form of motorsports. You buy a ticket to a drag race; you get to come down and be 15, 20 feet away from the car when they're rebuilding in between rounds and when they do the warmups. And smell the nitro fumes and feel the vibration. But I think what NHRA has is that there isn't any other form of motorsports that has what NHRA has in this category, and it's the diversity. You look at how many females, African-Americans. The diversity in this form of motorsport, there is not a form of motorsports in the world that matches up to what NHRA has to offer from that.

BB - YOU'VE PRETTY MUCH BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, AND HAVE THE T-SHIRT FOR ANY OTHER FORM OF MOTORSPORTS. HOW MUCH LONGER CAN YOU WITHSTAND THE URGE TO JUMP IN ONE OF THESE CARS AND BE A DRAG RACER?

TS - Well, if I ever really was serious about competing in it, you couldn't just do it by just jumping in one. The laps that I've ran at test sessions, it is crazy to me how far behind your brain is, trying to keep up with what's going on in the car now. Seat of the pants feel is right in time, but your brain processing the information. Leah and Matt can tell you they can pick 100 things that happen in that run that happens in 3.7 or 3.8 seconds. I can just tell you it went down there, and that I got the chutes out, and that it stopped. And that I was happy it stopped at the end.

So, if I were ever to want to do this, I would have to not start at this level and run other divisions in NHRA to work up to it. You have to respect them because a lot happens, and a lot happens very quickly. And if it goes wrong, it can bite you pretty hard. So, I think I have too much respect for these guys not to take it that seriously if that was something that I truly wanted to do at the end of the day.

BB - I'M GOING TO DOUBLE BACK ON ONE QUESTION. YOU SAID NOTHING INTIMIDATED YOU, AND THEN AMENDED THAT TO SAY DRIVING A DRAG CAR DOES. WHAT ABOUT THE THOUGHT OF DRIVING A FUNNY CAR?

TS - I have zero desire to do that. I sat in it and steered it up to the staging lane, and I said, "Yep. I'm never driving one of these. No way." I don't want anything to do with it. Hagan is wearing me out about doing it. He goes, "Ah, just make a hit in it." He goes, "You won't want to run that dragster anymore." I said, "No way, no way." So I think the Funny Car guys are crazy. I'm a tad bit claustrophobic, but man, the Top Fuel car, if it blows up, you're going away from it. Funny Car blows up; you're going right into it. And I've seen enough. I've seen enough in my time here, and I've seen enough watching NHRA events over the years, to know that when the Funny Car goes wrong, the driver has a lot of extra work to do that he or she was not anticipating having to do on that run.

BB - SO LET'S SAY YOU DECIDE ONE DAY TO EXPAND. WHAT KIND OF DRIVER ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? I COULDN'T HELP BUT NOTICE YOU TOOK A LIKING TO THE BOBBY BODE KID.

TS - Well, I like that passion. That's a team that hasn't had a lot of success; obviously, his father had some success. But for a kid like that to make it to the finals and be frustrated like that. I like that; I appreciate that. That's a kid that wants to win; it's not just a kid that's just happy to be here. That's a kid that wants to win races. So, that's what I appreciated about him. But I got to pay for these two teams first before we worry about expanding anything.