John Stewart admitted his confidence took
a beating during the last couple of months. Released from the Morgan Lucas team
earlier this year, he bounced around a few teams before finding a home within
the Evan Knoll stable of race teams.
Following the Chicago event, Lucas
and sponsor Knoll made wholesale changes to the two-car team by moving Melanie
Troxel’s tuner Richard Hogan and a portion of the crew over to the Lucas car.
That opened the door for Stewart to move over following a stint on Knoll’s
personal dragster, assisting Mike Kloeber.
Confused yet?
Stewart
was living in a whirlwind, but recent successes working with Scotty Cannon and
Kloeber proved encouraging. The end result was another shot at tuning. This time
he’s assisted by veteran Lance Larsen.
“I was excited for the
opportunity,” Stewart said. “This was a good move and I am reunited with my
former crew and Melanie is a good driver. I’m happy with this.”
John Stewart admitted his confidence took
a beating during the last couple of months. Released from the Morgan Lucas team
earlier this year, he bounced around a few teams before finding a home within
the Evan Knoll stable of race teams.
Following the Chicago event, Lucas
and sponsor Knoll made wholesale changes to the two-car team by moving Melanie
Troxel’s tuner Richard Hogan and a portion of the crew over to the Lucas car.
That opened the door for Stewart to move over following a stint on Knoll’s
personal dragster, assisting Mike Kloeber.
Confused yet?
Stewart
was living in a whirlwind, but recent successes working with Scotty Cannon and
Kloeber proved encouraging. The end result was another shot at tuning. This time
he’s assisted by veteran Lance Larsen.
“I was excited for the
opportunity,” Stewart said. “This was a good move and I am reunited with my
former crew and Melanie is a good driver. I’m happy with this.”
Troxel
qualified 8th, handing Stewart a berth in the top-half during his
debut.
“Lance asked me if I had butterflies going into this weekend,”
Stewart said. “After working 35 years in this business, I just do the best I
can. I’ve learned that you cannot show your emotions out here. Sure, I felt a
bit of it out there. I just go out and do the best I can and it just usually
works out.”
Stewart admitted his confidence resembled a rollercoaster
since his release from the Lucas team earlier this season.
“Oh yeah,”
Stewart said. “It was pretty tough early on and then I went over to Clay’s and
we did well. Then I helped Scotty and he did well, and before I knew I was back
feeling confident again.”
Stewart holds no punches when stating his
strength is primarily in the clutch can.
“If I have a strong point, it is
in reading the track and adjusting to it,” Stewart said. “In the old days, that
was my forte. When the hot weather came around I licked my chops. I struggled
with night back then but now I have equaled it out. The night is for qualifying
but the day is for racing. You get that hot weather tune-up.”
Stewart
credits time with Dick LaHaie for this trait.
“He taught me a lot in that
area,” Stewart said. “I learned early that you use the Friday night to get in,
but Saturday is for preparing for Sunday. That’s the day you gun for if you want
to win on Sunday.”
