At Talladega, Tony Stewart Reveals What It Feels Like To Win A NASCAR Race

I’ve never won a race. Odds are most of you reading this haven’t either.

Sure, maybe you’ve beaten your buddies while go-karting or playing a racing video game. But have you ever wondered what it would be like to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race?

I asked Tony Stewart that question at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday. Here’s what he said:

Your adrenaline is pumping the whole race. That’s why guys, an hour after the race, are just tired – over it for the day. But especially at a place like this where the last lap, you don’t know you’ve got it won until you get there...that anticipation is building and building, and the reason it’s so suspenseful is you don’t know until you get to the line whether you’ve got it or don’t have it.

There’s times when you win races and you’ve had a comfortable lead the last couple laps, and your heart rate is down because you’re not being pressured. Here, you don’t have that luxury. You’re pressured all the way to the line and you don’t know until you get there whether you’ve got it. You know how far you are away from it, so the anticipation keeps building.

So can Stewart remember everything about the finish of a race he wins, or is it all a blur?

You remember. You don’t remember anything about the early part of the race, you remember the end that got you there and won you the race. It may be only a 100-foot section, but you remember all 100 feet and the move that got you to the line.

The rest of Stewart’s interview session wasn’t as cordial, but the feisty driver seemed to be in a good mood overall and was fastest in the lone Sprint Cup Series practice on Friday.

Could a win be in store for Stewart on Sunday?