Tony Stewart Recalls Dale Earnhardt’s Words After His Herculean NASCAR-INDYCAR Double Duty Feat

There are a lot of cool things that the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Tony Stewart has pulled off over the years. However, this 2001 event would definitely make it to the top of that list. In 2001, ‘Smoke’ created history by pulling off a rare double duty. He became the only driver to ever complete all 1100 miles of the Indy 500 and Charlotte 600 on the very same day!

During his recent conversation with YouTubers Rico Elmore and Ken Stout, Tony Stewart reminisced about his cool double-duty stunt back in 2001. Moreover, the Stewart-Haas Racing owner also divulged the details of his conversation with NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, moments after achieving the historic feat.

In a December 2022 episode of the Skinny podcast, co-host Rico Elmore asked Stewart how he felt after completing his second race at Charlotte. To this, Stewart immediately replied, “Terrible. Like literally terrible.” Furthermore, he recalled his encounter with Dale Earhardt a few moments after the completion of his herculean double duty. He shared,

“I remember, you know at that time when I finished the race second through fifth, went to the unical pumps and Dale Sr had run ahead of me. And I don’t remember where I finished…fourth, I guess. And I remember him getting out and coming to the car…and I had the net down.”

What did Dale Earnhardt say?

Following this, Stewart revealed his conversation with Earnhardt. And honestly, it was a fun combination of something sweet yet hilarious. Stewart continued,

“But I just was exhausted and was just sitting in there. And he leaned in the window, he goes ‘You had enough yet?’ So, I said, ‘Yeah, I am done.’ (laughs) So, sat there for a second then he grabbed me and helped pull me up. Get me up out and sitting on the window. And then they got me to the care center and got bags of fluids in me. I was literally exhausted.”

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Why did Tony Stewart have to make some tough decisions during the Indy 500 that day?

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As Tony Stewart admitted in the interview, his double duty was definitely one of the coolest events he has ever pulled off. But that doesn’t make it the easiest of all. Since the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series champion had to travel all the way to North Carolina for his next race, he had to stay tight on his time schedule. However, unfortunately, something unexpected put him and his team in a tough position.

Stewart shared, “We literally had a red flag and we were all out on the cars. We had a time frame that we had to leave Indy by to be at Charlotte for the 600 on time. And that was Chip’s first question. He goes ‘What are you gonna do?’ I said, ‘Well, Gibbs is in North Carolina, we’re here in Indy.”

And of course, Stewart decided to complete his race at the Indy 500. Explaining how all of it had been a lifelong dream, Stewart said that he knew he was taking a big risk.

“We’re gonna finish this. And I’ll just have to deal with the consequences when I get down there (Charlotte 600). Luckily, we got down there. I was pretty good at asking for forgiveness versus permission a lot. But luckily, we finished the race and still got down there in time.”

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Although Stewart did reach Charlotte before the start of the race, he missed the driver’s meeting. And because of that, the Smoke had to start at the end of the grid. But hey, can any of it tarnish the commendable and historic feat achieved by him that day?