By Jerry Jordan, Editor
Going into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Tony Stewart reminisced about his past races at the iconic track and even though he was wrecked out of the race, he admitted he was having a good time behind the wheel.
Prior to getting caught up in a crash not of his own doing, Stewart said his RAM truck was beginning to come around. Earlier in the 250-mile event, that wasn’t the case and since he hadn’t raced in that capacity for some time, he was feeling things out and working on making improvements to the truck. He noted initial issues with the right rear feeling free and the need for adjustments, which improved his control and confidence
“I haven’t ran this package, so I don’t know really what it’s supposed to feel like but it never felt like, early in the race, that the right rear was really underneath it,” Stewart told a group of media gathered at the infield care center when Stewart medically cleared following the wreck. “I felt like a couple of times, it never really stepped out, but it just got really free to where you could feel the steering wheel get light. And you know, that’s when the car is getting free. So, you know, the first time we had a shot to come make a pit stop and make an adjustment, it didn’t really seem like it moved the needle at all. So next time we came down, Alex (Yontz, crew chief) went a different route and it definitely responded to it. It definitely liked it. We probably needed that much of an adjustment again, if not a little more.”
When things went south on the track, it was quick and Stewart explained that he wasn’t really sure what happened at that moment. He just knew being at the care center after getting wrecked wasn’t in his plans. He said he felt like the truck was coming around and he was looking forward to trying to maneuver through the field.
“I knew we needed to make another adjustment so I wasn’t trying to get carried away and get crazy,” he said. “But I felt comfortable being, you know, three wide on the top there and didn’t feel like we were putting ourselves in jeopardy. So the hard thing is, I’m not really sure what happened that got us there. But, I mean, we just ended up on the wrong end of that stick.”
Despite what others might have thought, Stewart said he didn’t really see anyone being overly aggressive during the race. He explained that he watched lots of videos of previous truck races to get a feel for what he might expect on Friday.
“All the years that I raced here and after, you know, even as an owner, on Fridays, we had mobile one events, so we never even got a chance to watch the truck race,” Stewart said. “So, you know, TJ Bell, who spotted for me. I mean, we watched video, and, you know, none of it was as aggressive as what they seem to be tonight, as far as being three wide early. But you know, it didn’t surprise me. I mean, the guys that were doing it. I mean that you watch their trucks and they you could tell they had confidence and felt comfortable doing it. So didn’t feel like anybody was really out of control. The ones that didn’t seem like their trucks didn’t feel the way they wanted to, kind of, they would try it for a little bit and then when they would get uncomfortable. They’d go to the back and take care of it. And that’s kind of what we did at the beginning, too. We just probably, like I said, needed one more real good adjustment with it, and I felt like we would have, may not have been all the way there, but I mean, that same swing, I think, would have got us in the ballpark to hustle and be a little more aggressive than what we were. I really didn’t feel like I was trying to be aggressive. I still needed to hustle and keep pushing the pace to see what the truck liked and didn’t like. And we knew we needed another swing at it. Just didn’t get a chance to do that.
“I don’t get a chance to mix it up wheel to wheel with anybody anymore. On the drag race side, you don’t want to be around anybody running 300 miles an hour. But, you know, it’s fun to come back here.”
So, does that mean Stewart might give it another shot behind the wheel?
“I signed up for a one-off,” he said. “So, I mean, that’s where we’re at so far.”
A “one-off deal,” perhaps but with Stewart’s ties to Dodge in the NHRA, it’s hard to rule out another stint behind the wheel of a RAM truck at some point in his future. For now, he’s getting prepared to race Top Fuel Dragsters when the NHRA season kicks off in March at the Gatornationals.