Tony Stewart reveals Joe Gibbs’ “massive game changer” advice after failed Double Duty attempt

Retired NASCAR legend Tony Stewart has uncovered Joe Gibbs' decades-old advice that helped him become the only driver to date who has successfully finished the exhausting Indy-Charlotte Double. The 3x Cup Series champion couldn't complete the doubleheader in his first attempt, following which he approached the Joe Gibbs Racing owner for suggestions.

Stewart kicked off his maiden Memorial Day Double in 1999. After finishing fourth at the 500-mile dash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he flew to Charlotte and finished fourth at the Coca-Cola 600. However, the Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner fell shy of four laps and wrapped up his IndyCar run with 196 laps in the bag.

So, technically, despite finishing inside top-5 in both races, Tony Stewart's double duty was deemed incomplete. Nonetheless, Stewart geared up his fitness regime and churned a remarkable outcome on his second attempt. He bagged a sixth-place finish at the Indy 500 and earned a podium spot at the Coca-Cola 600, finishing third.

Outlining how Joe Gibbs' advice proved to be a "massive game changer" in creating history, Tony Stewart said via NASCAR on NBC on X,

"I can tell you the first time to the second time, they were drastically different. In 1999, after the race was over, I thought I was going to throw up. When [Chip] Ganassi and I talked about doing it in 2001, and I went to Joe Gibbs about it."

"He [Joe Gibbs] said, 'First and foremost, if you're going to do this, you have to have a trainer.' It was a massive game-changer for me. I lost six and a half pounds, I was in my better shape," Stewart added.

"I was hungry 50 laps into the race": Tony Stewart on his first Indy-Charlotte Double attempt

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway are over 530 miles apart. This means, that to ace the double duty, the aspiring driver does not have the luxury of time and is bound to fly for the Coca-Cola 600 shortly after winding up the open-wheel race.

Moreover, the scarcity of time and the exhausting 1100 miles of run means that proper nutrition and liquid intake are paramount to avoid undesirable occurrences like dehydration and energy loss. Tony Stewart suffered the same problem as he kept drinking water to hydrate himself but ended up full on his stomach and couldn't eat anything.

Stewart highlighted how despite trying to grab one of Bobby Labonte's PowerBars with just 50 laps into the race, he was drained after the Double Duty:

“I got my body so out of whack that, by the time the 600 was done in Charlotte, I’d had enough. I was hungry 50 laps into the race. It’s a 400-lap race in the 600, so 50 laps into it, it was still daylight. We actually tried to get one of Bobby Labonte’s PowerBars—tried to get something in me to tide me over until the race was over," the NASCAR Hall of Famer said via Autoweek.

"It didn’t work. I got two bites of it and two bites did not make it the next 350 laps around Charlotte," Stewart added.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson will be the fifth NASCAR driver to have a shot at the exhausting 1100-mile schedule, with the last attempt coming from Kurt Busch in 2014.