The unmistakable roar from the crowd was loud enough to easily hear over the 700-horsepower engine as the car blasted down the front stretch and across the start/finish line.
The cheers were the familiar head-turning jolt of loud adoration Dale Earnhardt Jr. is accustomed to receiving at Talladega every single time he moves to the lead in a race.
But this thunderous applause was in Indianapolis. And this was Tony Stewart in the car.
NASCAR’s “champion of the people” had arguably just reeled off his best single lap of the 2015 season, putting his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet at the very top of Indy’s famous scoring pylon for the first round of qualifying for the Brickyard 400 two weeks ago.
And as Indiana’s favorite native-born son climbed out of his car, he couldn’t help but be touched by the overwhelming reception. A grin spread across his face and he waved to the grandstands acknowledging the love and loyalty.
“That is huge,”‘ Stewart said of the crowd reaction. “Like I say, when you come home that is what you want. They play as big of a part in this as anything when it comes to keeping your morale up.”
“I have said all year that (performance on track) could change in a week and it doesn’t even mean that after this weekend it’s not going to go back to where it has been,” Stewart, 44, added jokingly. “It could go and be a natural disaster tomorrow. It could all be for nothing.”
And indeed, while Stewart’s final round qualifying session ultimately put him fourth on the grid — his best start of the year — the two-time Indy winner finished 28th at Indy.
Last week at Pocono, he was better able to take advantage of a top-10 qualifying effort (sixth) and finished ninth, but it was only his second top-10 effort in 21 races this season.
Stewart heads into Watkins Glen this week as the road course’s all-time winningest NASCAR driver (five victories) but still needing a win in the next five races to qualify for his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs since 2012.
It’s been a rough and emotional past two years for the three-time Cup champ, who has endured and persevered through serious injury, heartache and substandard results. Stewart was involved in an on-track fatality when fellow competitor Kevin Ward Jr. exited his car, approached Stewart’s car during caution laps, was struck and died later from his injuries.
Stewart missed three races but was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing. Since then, his performance on the track has included three top-10 finishes in 33 Sprint Cup races.
However, the immense and intense faith of Stewart’s fans has never faltered.
“It seems like more people are rallying behind him than ever before actually,” said 33-year-old James Groff, who showed up at a Bass Pro Shops grand opening outside Tampa, Florida, last week in hopes of getting Stewart’s autograph, shaking his hand and most importantly, to remind his racing hero that a whole lot of people support him. “He’s going through some rough times, but he’ll get back to being the Tony he was. A broken leg, then that other sprint car accident, I’m sure it takes a toll. But he’s a great driver and that’s what it comes down to.”
Thousands of people showed up at the Bass Pro Shops store that Stewart was set to help christen for his longtime sponsor. And there were countless dressed in Stewart’s racing T-shirts and hats. Grown men acted giddy taking a photo in front of one of Stewart’s show cars.
Women giggled at the thought of a hug and photo from Stewart and young kids carried die-cast replica cars for him to sign.
“You gotta root for him, everyone has a bad year or so, but a true fan is a true fan,” said Jason Mock, 32, of Wesley Chapel, Florida, who brought his 10- and 12-year-old daughters and 6-year-old son to meet their favorite driver.
Asked why she was willing to come out on a rainy weekday night and brave the crowd to meet Stewart, 13-year-old Haylee Gulino explained with a smile. “I’m a Tony fan. My dad is too so I was raised that way.”
Unfortunately, Stewart wasn’t able to attend the event because he was suffering from a severe migraine. But while he was home nursing a headache, had he been in Florida, his heart would have surely been healing.
Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris is among Stewart’s loyal legions. His company has been a longtime sponsor of Stewart and his Stewart-Haas Racing team. Beyond that, Morris has developed a close friendship with the driver.
And while things have been challenging for Stewart over the last couple years, Morris’ support and confidence has never wavered.
“Without any question,” Morris said. “What are friends for? A friend in need is a friend indeed, as they say. I have a lot of admiration for Tony, his passion to give back to the sport he loves. Tony has been a steadfast friend of ours, too. People see part of a high-profile celebrity — whether it be Tony racing or an entertainer — and I feel privileged to have gotten to know Tony behind-the-scenes and seen what a compassionate, down-to-earth person he is.”
Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage has also witnessed first-hand the “Stewart Effect.”
Each December for most of the past decade, Gossage gets a telephone call “out of the blue” from the champ, not a SHR team representative or one of Stewart’s assistants, but Stewart himself ready to schedule the next year’s version of his “Smoke Show” fundraiser at the track.
“Who does that?” said Gossage, explaining that Stewart’s two-day event — which will be held this week — has raised more than $1 million for Speedway Children’s Charities. “No other driver calls to just say, ‘How can I help you? What’s going on? What can I do?’ “
“The most precious thing any driver has to offer is time. They can give you money, memorabilia to auction off, any number of things, but the thing they have the least of is time because of their schedules, professional and personal life.
“This is nine years now we’ve done the Smoke Show and it all came about from a casual conversation we were having and he said, ‘I’ll do that.’ “
And he has in the only way Stewart knows how. He’s all in, a trait that has made him one of the most successful race car drivers of his generation and endeared him to one of the largest fan bases of any professional athlete.
Gossage describes The Smoke Show as a “bucket list thing to do” for some of the super fans, willing and able to donate big bucks for a day-and-a-half to get up close and personal with Stewart.
They have dinner with the champion and then the following day take a driving school type course getting tips from Stewart throughout. He gives the participants thrill rides — at speed — with him around the 1.5-mile speedway and celebrates with them in a mock Victory Lane complete with the cowboy hat, six-shooters and confetti used during the Texas Motor Speedway’s two Sprint Cup Series race weekends.
Even fan applause is piped in.
“The cool thing is Tony gets to know every one of them and assigns them a nickname and he’ll bust their chops all day long, and they love him,” Gossage said. “He sits in that hot race car all day with sweat running off his nose and never unstraps from that race car until he’s done. He’s in it for hours and hours giving rides. He honestly is out there sweating his butt off for charity. I don’t know anyone else that will do that.
“What makes him different is the fire that burns inside him. That’s what makes champions out of some athletes where others just have skills. He’s got both. It’s what’s inside them. People may not fully understand he’s the most sensitive tough guy I’ve ever met in my life. And I’m certain what’s happened has had a lifelong impact on him.
“What fans love about him is they think, ‘He’s just like me, a hard-working blue-collar regular guy except he got a break and got into one of those race cars.’
“He’s the ‘every man’ out on the race track.”
