Pruett has 10 trophies in Top Fuel, three in Pro Modified and championships in both the 2019 Factory Stock Showdown and the 2010 Hot Rod Heritage Series’ Nostalgia Funny Car classes.
Curiously, the four-wide format, which has confounded even the most seasoned drag-racing veterans, didn’t faze Stewart. He said he figures it’s a bit of an equalizer.
“I’m pretty excited about it, honestly,” he said. “I looked forward to this event when we were doing the schedule. I got excited about it, because there’s no way I’m going to sit here and say I’m not at a disadvantage when you’re going up against guys who have been drag racing for years. But they don’t race four-wide a lot. So that kind of gets ’em out of their comfort zone, gets ’em out doing something different — and it’s all different for me.
“If anything, this would be a bit of an equalizer and I wouldn’t be at quite a disadvantage. I embraced it.
“There wasn’t anything that caught me off-guard, necessarily,” he continued. “There’s nothing about the four-wide that I haven’t liked so far. I feel like the approach I’ve been going with every round of qualifying has been a very solid approach. You hear drivers talk about getting disoriented on which light they’re looking at. I’ve found the lights to be easy to stay with.”
He likened this unconventional style to “having the opportunity to run a road course or dirt track in the Cup Series, do something that’s a little different. So doing the four-wide version, I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s kind of like heat-race format, I guess, for short-track racing. You don’t have to win. You just got to finish in the top two until you get to the finals. Then you’ve got to go for the win, obviously.”
This story appeared in the April 26, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
