(WOMR file photo)
If Tony Stewart want to “do the double” in 2013, race in both the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600, last Friday at the NASCAR banquet Roger Penske threw out the offer to put “Smoke” in a Penske Racing Indy Car for that race!
Penske twice Friday night offered Stewart the chance to enter next year’s race and insisted he’s serious about the opportunity. “Where’s Stewart?” Penske asked during his speech accepting the Sprint Cup trophy during NASCAR’s season-ending awards ceremony. “How about doing the double at Indy this year? You available?” The banquet room at Wynn Las Vegas Resort broke out into laughter, but Penske later insisted he was serious. “If he wants to do the double, I’d put him in it,” Penske said. “We’ve talked about it before. I guess I made it official tonight.” Stewart was not immediately available for comment.
Tony Stewart has passed up a chance to race for Roger Penske in the Indianapolis 500.
The three-time NASCAR champion said Wednesday, at the International Motorsports Industry Show, that he wouldn’t attempt to race in both the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
Penske extended the invitation last week in Las Vegas while accepting the Sprint Cup trophy. Later, when given the chance to shrug it off as a lighthearted moment with Stewart, Penske insisted he was very serious. There has been a push to get Stewart to race in Indianapolis since Penske made the offer, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway starting an online petition for fans to encourage the driver to accept the ride.
The Indiana native twice ran both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. In 1999, he was ninth at Indy and fourth at Charlotte, and in 2001, he was sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte.
It would appear that the day of “doing the double”, by either a NASCAR or IndyCar driver, is a thing of the past, much to the chagrin of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and NASCAR!
If that were to happen again, however, it would be an advertising dream to both sanctioning bodies!
Do you think that there is any driver left, in either IndyCar or NASCAR, that would have a shot at “doing the double” in the future?
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
