NASCAR Drivers Make a Note: Fit Tony Stewart Ready to Win, Climb Fences

Stewart finished 11th in the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup point standings.

Tony Stewart says he is in the best shape of his life, and ready to climb a lot of fences this year. Photo: joegibbsracing.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - When Tony Stewart stops the Home Depot Chevrolet on the start/finish line, clambers out of the car and begins his assault on the frontstretch catch fence this season, it will hopefully give him time to come up with a new laugh line for the post-race interview session.

You see, there’s a bit less of Stewart to appreciate these days, and he’ll have to come up with a new stock answer for how it felt to climb the fence after sitting in a hot race car all day.

He can no longer complain about being too fat to climb fences.

Thanks to an iron will -- and trainer Marc Arnone -- that issue will be off the table in 2007.

Arnone, who has trained professional athletes in other sports but never a NASCAR driver, came aboard last September to help Stewart become more physically fit.

By all accounts, his presence -- and the willingness of his charge -- has done exactly that.

"I just wanted to get in better shape," Stewart said. "I'm sure there are 80-90 percent of the people who'd like to get in better shape. I just got to the point where I said, 'OK, I'm going to do this.'

"I used to put the steering wheel where I had to have it, not where I wanted it," he joked. "Now, I put the steering wheel where I want it."

So what is the magic formula that Arnone created for Stewart, who has never been a big fan of working out?

There’s no magic; just hard work and a plan.

"I have him do three or four days of weight training and six days of cardiovascular work," Arnone said. “We always do cardio."

Arnone said that the goal is to have Stewart at Daytona in peak shape.

"That's what I'm really trying to do," Arnone said. "This is a lot different from football. Those guys (NFL players) play from August to December and January. Their season is nowhere near as long. With NASCAR drivers, it's much more of a year-round thing."

During the season, Stewart did weight training on Monday and Tuesday and cardio where he could the rest of the week. There's no weight training past Tuesday, for obvious reasons.

"I don't want him to feel sore or tear down his muscles to where he'll feel it inside the car," he said. "If he's turning the wheel and his arms are sore, then he's not focused 100 percent on what he's doing."

Stewart, for his part, has been a good pupil, Arnone said, having lost 20 pounds since Sept. 11 and probably a good percentage of body fat to boot. Arnone's goal is to have him at a trim 170-175 pounds with a body fat of between 15-17 percent by Daytona.

"He's been very receptive to what I've tried to do for him," he said of Stewart. "He does ask a lot of questions, but it's not questioning what we're doing. He wants to know for his own knowledge."

Even at the track, when others are eating snack food and swigging soft drinks, Stewart has been on the program.

"He's been good," Arnone said. "When someone offers him something, he'll say, 'I can't.' It's making my job easy."

As for his regimen, Stewart spends a lot of time on a stationary bike, elliptical machine, rowing machine or on the road jogging. Weight training is usually with lighter weight and concentrates on full range of motion rather than brute strength.

"I'd rather he do three sets of 15 to build stamina than pile on 300 pounds to see if he can do it once," Arnone said. "I'm really big on full range of motion to make sure he's got all the weapons he needs."

This is for the same guy who once described his workout regimen as "channel up, channel down."

Stewart’s life is anything but restful. He does appearances for Home Depot and other sponsors, does some racing and testing and has a lot going on.

That means Arnone has to have some creative workout venues.

"If he's at home, we use the gym in his garage, and if we're on the road, I try to find a local gym or even the hotel fitness room," Arnone said. "You do what you can."

For Stewart, the fun part of getting in shape is about competition.

"Race drivers are competitive by nature, so every day when I work out, probably the thing I use the most is the rowing machine," Stewart said. "It's good for cardio, but at the same time, it works your back, your shoulders, your arms and your legs.

"The first day I went 6,000 meters, then it was 6,300 and then 6,500 and the other day I went 8,000 meters. It's just neat to push myself and see how far I can go.

"When I see myself progress that way, it's not so much counting pounds, because you can drive yourself nuts doing that everyday because you want to jump on the scale. Being able to go out everyday and do something better and go a little bit further and lift a little bit heavier weight than I was a day or two before, that's how I'll judge my progress."

For his part, Arnone is Stewart's personal crew chief. Instead of trying to make his car go faster, he's trying to make Stewart's body stronger and more conditioned to withstand potential injury.

"I'm trying to work him out to help protect his body," Arnone said. "We focus on his stomach and lower back, shoulders and neck. I'm not trying to increase his 40-yard-dash time or his vertical jump; I'm trying to help him be stronger so that he can fight off injuries like the shoulder blade injury he had last year."

It ought to help climbing fences, too.

keep up the good work you can do it please keep winning bigest fan win win win win races

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports