Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is probably one of the most versatile drivers. He has been affiliated with Sprint car racing and the IndyCar Series apart from his successful stint in NASCAR. However, no one expected him to take up drag racing in NHRA Top Fuel at the age of 52.

Stewart himself was shocked to find himself in the seat of an 11,000-horsepower dragster. The upside of racing in the premier drag racing series is that he still gets the adrenaline rush he had in his prime racing days. While many of us would like to believe that he enjoyed NASCAR racing above all, Smoke dropped a surprising verdict that puts NHRA racing above all in terms of enjoying the racing experience.

Tony Stewart enjoys the challenging aspect of racing in Top Fuel over NASCAR Cup races

Starting on his next adventure, Stewart hopped in his first NHRA Top Fuel racing event at the Gatornationals. He did have the initial struggles of trying to get into his new role, but after the early hiccups, he is looking forward to the next challenges. Surprisingly, he is digging the experience of competing in the premier drag racing series. So much so that he prefers the adrenaline rush of the dragster when compared to his racing days in the NASCAR Cup Series.

However, some of his peers in the NASCAR community have labeled him insane for trying to compete in Top Fuel. A tag that he proudly embraces, as Stewart said via CompetitionPlus, “It’s like they all think I’m insane now. So I’m like you guys knew that before I left sprint racing and stock car racing”. Moreover, he even explained how the thrilling four-second dash in NHRA events is better than the long and exhausting Cup Series events.

“You get in the car at Martinsville or Bristol, and your heart rate doesn’t even get up hardly. You’re going to be in there for three and a half hours… The whole complexion of the race is constantly going to evolve. Whereas here, it’s in a four-second window that whatever’s going to happen is going to happen, and it’s either going to go right or it doesn’t go right.”

Balancing his views, he also went on to explain how the adrenaline rush affects the body of a racecar driver and how exhausting that feeling is while competing in NHRA events.

Stewart explains the mental and physical toll of getting an adrenaline rush while competing in NHRA races

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Getting into a Cup car and racing for three or four hours straight is indeed incomparable to the 4-second feature of NHRA drag racing events. However, the jittery feelings and nerves during the NHRA races are far more complex and taxing on the race car driver, according to Stewart. The thrilling aspect, or adrenaline rush, sort of cycles throughout the day, hitting the highs as well as the plateau phases, which are difficult to comprehend for the drivers.

“When you’re in the Cup car and you start to race, the adrenalin’s there and it’s up there for three-and-a-half straight hours, where when you’re here, it’s up for the run, and when you come back, then you lose that adrenaline. And then it comes back up when you run the next time… I feel like that’s one of the biggest aspects of this that people don’t realize, how adrenalin affects your body. They know what it does when it comes up, but they don’t realize the backside of the cycle and your mood cycle,” Stewart went on to explain.

Success and title wins have been a trend for Tony Stewart whenever he has tried his hand at competing in different racing series. But it’s his zeal to embrace his passions despite his age that is even more commendable.

“Can’t Do That in NASCAR”- Tony Stewart Snubs His Love for Stock Cars as He Puts NHRA on a Pedestal