TAMPA, Fla. — NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Tony Stewart was in Tampa this week to promote the upcoming Gatornationals in Gainesville. It's a signature event that kicks off the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) season schedule.
"Florida’s very passionate about going to Gainesville for the Gatornationals," Stewart said Tuesday night. "Getting the opportunity to go March 3rd and 4th to the Baby Gators, and get a warm-up race before we go to Gators the next weekend- that’s definitely the right way to kick the season off for us."
Stewart was at AMALIE Arena to watch the Lightning's 6-1 win over Anaheim. He's been to a Lightning game before, and he said he has nothing but respect for his fellow champions.
"It’s not about just skating all day. The fact that you’re getting beat up in the process," Stewart said just after puck-drop. "These guys are some of the toughest in the business for sure."
Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Cup champion and current team owner, fell in love with drag racing when he fell in love with his wife, Leah Pruett. Leah's a drag racer who's been lighting up tracks for more than 20 years.
"During COVID, when we started dating, and NHRA started racing again, I got the opportunity to go to some of her events while she was going to some of mine," Tony explained. "Just fell in love with NHRA drag racing."
"Seeing how they get a car with 11,000 horsepower- how do they get it hooked up to the ground and run 330 mph is pretty amazing," Stewart added. "The amount of G-forces you have with the acceleration, and when the parachutes come out at the end, the deceleration, there’s a lot of G-forces involved in a short amount of time. It’s pretty intense, physically."
Stewart, 51, earned the nickname "Smoke" during his racing days. He's driven almost every racing vehicle at top-speed, but he said there's one thing he'll probably never drive: a Zamboni.
"I don’t know if it’s fast enough for me," Stewart joked. "They don’t have soft walls here, so if you hit, it’s probably going to hurt. So I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to drive anything."
The AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals run March 9-12 at Gainesville Raceway.
