On July 17, 2006, two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart visited Talladega Superspeedway to lend a hand in the monumental paving project currently underway. (TSS PR Photo)

Two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart visited Talladega Superespeedway Monday, July 17 to lend a hand in the monumental paving project underway at the track. Stewart climbed aboard the paver as it made its way through turn one of the track, applying the level-up course* of asphalt.

"That was not just a normal paving project going on out there," said Stewart. "I think that was pretty obvious to see. When you have bulldozers on the outside holding the equipment up, to see the counterbalance and talk to the engineers about how much weight has to be put on the asphalt to push it down onto the track and compress it, and to see what they are doing on 33-degree banking is pretty impressive. That's not a highway paving project that's going on out there like everybody would think. That is a very, very large undertaking."

Stewart on the completion of the track's new surface at Talladega Superspeedway: "It's going to mean my comfort level in the car is going to be a lot higher because it is just going to be smoother. It's going to be better than driving down the interstate from that standpoint. To run three-wide around here all day is going to be as common as driving down I-20 all day in traffic. It's not going to be hard at all. It wouldn't surprise me if you see four-wide racing at times during the race and people doing it somewhat comfortably. I don't know if it will happen or not, but I think it's definitely got potential to be able to do that.

Before meeting with members of the media, Stewart talked with members of the paving crew, then climbed aboard the paver as it progressed through turn one applying the level-up course of asphalt. (TSS PR Photo)

"I just think it is going to have a lot more grip. People who like the three- and four-wide racing, that's what they're going to see. Handling has not really been that huge of an issue here; it's always been about how fast your car was. Now, for sure it's going to be that much more grip, and handling will be even less of an issue, so that three- and four-wide racing - that's what it's going to be all day long."

On monday's announcement that he'd been selected by fans as the 2006 Talladega-TEXACO Walk of Fame active driver inductee: "That was really, really cool. I found out about that this morning. That's a pretty huge honor for fans to give."

Stewart answered that his all-time favorite driver is A.J. Foyt, then answered a question submitted by a young driver, which was "How did you get to be as good as you are?" "I realized at an early age I was too lazy to work a real job, so I had to be good at it (laughs). Honestly, I don't know. I just raced, I didn't do anything special. I went out and tried to run as many different types of cars as I could. I think that it was a great experience for me running midgets and sprint cars, then going and running a modified or late model somewhere and having to learn how to adapt to a different type of car. I think that is something that has always helped me in my career no matter what type of car I drove. I didn't have that set feel of what a race car feels like. I think that's what hurts a lot of guys in this day and age, is they've got a path where they want to go and they learn how to drive that type of car and that's it. So when they go to a different type of car, it's a little harder to get adjusted to it."

Tony Stewart aboard the paver. (TSS PR Photo)

On his newly finished (and newly stocked) lake at his home in Indiana: "It is finished, and my good friend (Bass Pro Shops Founder) Johnny Morris stocked it for my birthday. We tested Monday and Wednesday at the speedway last week and on Tuesday I took the guys there. I went one lap around fishing with them and he took some other people out, but we caught between 130 and 140 fish in one afternoon. That wasn't a whole day, it was an afternoon. There were fish chasing fish. I had a phone call at one point and had my lure sticking out of the water about six inches, hanging out, and had the rod over the edge of the boat and a fish jumped out of the water and tried to get the lure. Johnny is like Santa Claus to me right now; I almost love Johnny more than life itself right now. That was the best birthday present I think I have ever had in my life."

On visiting Alabama and Talladega Superspeedway: "It's one of the premier race tracks on the circuit. For me, it's one of my favorite stops each year. I get to come down three or four days early. I come down and go fishing and hunting with Red Farmer. Literally, this is what I look forward to:  Talladega week, going down to see Red, going to the hunting club, not listening to the phone ring for three or four days, not having to be up before noon if I don't want to get up unless Red wakes me up saying 'We're going! Come on!' We come in here on Friday and start practice, then Friday night I get go literally across the street and watch Red and everybody race. The longer I am friends with Red, and he's like family now, every year that goes by, I appreciate him more and more as a race car driver and as a person and you learn more and more about his history. Then you get a chance to go over and watch him and you think 'Man I wouldn't miss an opportunity to watch Red Farmer drive a race car for anything. So for two nights, I get to go literally across the street and watch Red race, then I get to race here on Sunday. That's a pretty fun weekend to be able to do three things you love to do, all in the same place."

The finished project will result in asphalt repaving of the entire track, skid pad and pit road, and will be completed by the track's fall UAW-Ford 500 event weekend, set for Oct. 6 - 8. Tickets are available now by calling 1-877-Go2-DEGA (1-877-462-3342); for our hearing impaired guests, please call TDD 1-866-ISC-TRAK (1-866-472-8725). You may also purchase tickets in person by visiting the Talladega Superspeedway Ticket Office from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. CDT, Monday - Friday.

* The level-up course is a layer of material constructed directly on the existing pavement surface to eliminate irregularities before placing an overlay course. (Source: Texas Department of Transportation Glossary)