Tony Stewart kept his focus on racing throughout his last Indianapolis weekend.
Stewart, a three-time Sprint Cup champion, made the final start of his full-time Cup career at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. He led the field in around the track in a ceremonial opening lap. Stewart, who has raced in the Indianapolis 500 as well as the Brickyard 400 — and is an Indiana native — has special memories of the track. He kept those at bay on Sunday.
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While taking the lap, Stewart took a moment to speak with NASCAR on NBC analyst Jeff Burton.
Asked to explain his emotions, Stewart showed that his focus had not changed since he arrived at Indy. He's chasing his third Sprint Cup win at the track. Perhaps it will after the race before he reflects on what this track has meant to him.
"Well I wish I could say it was reminiscing and thinking all about the past but to be honest, I'm honestly really focused on trying to win this race here," he said on the broadcast. " … I want to go out there and do the best we can today. I think we've got a shot at this thing."
He showed that on the opening laps, surging a spot to second in a daring pass early.
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Almost time to go green at @IMS! @TonyStewart leading the field in his final Indy start. #Brickyard400 pic.twitter.com/w1MGF2ueAd
— NASCAR on NBCSN (@NASCARonNBC) July 24, 2016
#NASCAR ... @TonyStewart leads field on first pace lap at @IMS @NASCARonNBC pic.twitter.com/bYlIv3ovkE
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) July 24, 2016
Before the race, he told Burton on the broadcast that the key to the day would be keeping up with the track changes throughout the day.
"Just finding out what this thing's really going to do, truly, on long runs," he said when asked the key to winning. "I mean, nobody really ran more than about 10 laps at a time, so we've got to go about 30 laps here today. We've just got to stay up with the balance. We're at the hottest part of the day right now, it's going to get cooler, and the track's going to get more grip as the day goes on so we've just got to stay up with it and try to stay balanced."
It's the tone he maintained all weekend, from his opening news conference to Sunday's green flag.
"I'm not doing all the sentimental crying stuff that you guys think I'm going to be doing," he said on Friday. "I'm going to race this weekend. I'm more focused … I'm probably more prepared for a Brickyard than I have been any other year."