TOUR: Stewart-Haas Hitting the Season Hard...and with a Laugh

By Ron Lemasters Jr.

CHARLOTTE – Ah, the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway is under way.

That means that news and stuff will be flying over the transom, so you’ll be getting updates and all sorts of other stuff from me here this week.

First up, Stewart-Haas Racing this afternoon, followed by Leavine Family Racing and JTG Daugherty. Tonight, we go out on the town to Strike City in the Epicentre for Nationwide. It’s gonna be a blast!

The Media Tour is akin to the old barnstorming caravans that used to ply the interstates, drumming up interest for the coming season/event. We go around, talk to the players, write stuff, Tweet our butts off and eat as much as possible…not necessarily in that order.

Special thanks to NASCAR, the folks from Sprint and Charlotte Motor Speedway for having this every year. This will be my 22nd such event, and it’s always a pleasure. It means the racing is about to start!

Stewart-Haas Racing has a ton of questions that will be answered as the season goes along.

Chief among them, once you get past how co-owner Tony Stewart takes to his return to the cockpit, is how the now-four-car team will get along, and how the addition of a fourth team will impact the season.

If you ask co-owner Gene Haas, he’ll tell you it’s going well so far.

“It’s gone better than expected,” Haas told assembled media Monday in Charlotte as the kickoff event of the 32nd annual NASCAR Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I was at the shop today and there’s a lot of enthusiasm. I was pleasantly surprised. A lot of people patted me on the back and said it was a good decision, which always feels good.

“Even Tony is starting to see the way, so it’s all good.”

Stewart said he was feeling good and even counting down the days to Daytona, even though he won’t actually be in the car until Daytona 500 week.

“We’re feeling a lot better every day, and the fact that the environment is so great at the shop right now, that’s a great thing. That takes away all the stuff going on on the physical side.”

Kevin Harvick, one of the two new arrivals at SHR, said that the excitement was palpable.

“It’s been a lot of fun for me,” he said. “It’s contagious. You can walk through the shop and everybody is so excited with the changes and the new drivers and all that’s going on. We’ve had three good tests, and I’m excited.”

Harvick had spent his entire career with Richard Childress Racing, taking over for Dale Earnhardt in 2001 on the Cup side. He said later that the minute the checkered flag waved at Homestead, he mentally flipped the page to his new deal at SHR.

“Once I make a deal, I’m committed to it,” he said. “The moment the checkered flag fell at Homestead, my alliance at RCR ended. I thanked the crew after the first test at SHR, too. I told them they just confirmed every reason I came here.

“I didn’t feel like I was making progress, getting closer to a championship,” he continued. “This was intriguing.”

As for Stewart, months of forced inactivity have helped him, even as the pain of being limited raged. He’s lost weight, thrown himself into therapy with a passion and wants to be back in the car as soon as possible.

“We lost so much weight we had to build a whole new seat,” he cracked. “I’m not race-fit like I’m used to being, but that strength comes back quickly once you’re in the car.”

The time away from the cockpit gave him time to consider what he was doing, too.

”I have a different perspective—one I needed to see but couldn’t with all the driving responsibilities,” he said. “I’ll be a better owner.”

That said, he still burns to be back behind the wheel.

“I want to race seven days a week, twice a day, all day every day. If that’s not motivated, I don’t know what is.”

There was some banter, too, as you might expect.

Harvick was talking about liking the new knockout qualifying rules, and Stewart cut him off. “You do know it’s not like fighting, a knockout like that, right? It’s racing. Qualifying.” Harvick paused, then gave one of those crooked smiles that lets you know something is coming.

“If it’s me and you fight, I’ll kick you in the leg!,” he snarked. “Sweep the leg!” 

Stewart did comment a couple of times on how much work he had piled on Greg Zipadelli, director of competition at SHR. “Since I’m not 100 percent healthy, Zippy is sticking to his guns and as soon as I am healthy, he’s gonna kill me. He’s all about finding ways to kill me without you all knowing about it.”

How this season will play out is still anyone’s guess, but it seems like whatever happens, it will have a lot of passion around it.