Tony Stewart and Lewis Hamilton swap cars at The Glen [w/video]
Filed under: Motorsports, Marketing/Advertising, Racing
As far as racing disciplines go, F1 and NASCAR may appear to have about as much in common as soccer and the NFL; they may be classified under the same banner, but that’s about the extent of it. But recent years have seen more crossover than ever before.
Juan Pablo Montoya may be the first among contemporary F1 drivers making a name for themselves in NASCAR, but he’s hardly the last. Scott Speed has made the jump, as has Kimi Raikkonen. And there’s sure to be more to follow. But the latest crossover just took place at Watkins Glen, where Lewis Hamilton and Tony Stewart – both champions in their own series – swapped cars for the day, just as planned.
Stewart slithered into the cockpit of Hamilton’s McLaren-Mercedes MP4-23, while Hamilton climbed into Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet Impala. The experience was a first for Hamilton, who was keen to put his disastrous weekend in Montreal behind him and have a little fun. And it was a first for Stewart too, but this wasn’t the first time he drove an open-wheel racer, having wracked up the IRL title in 1997, or his first time at The Glen, where NASCAR races every year.
The track is one of the few in the world to have hosted both NASCAR and F1, making this an ideal meeting place for a bit of a culture clash, enabled by Mobil1, which sponsors both their cars. Follow the jump for two videos documenting the encounter along with the brief press release, and check out the high-res images in the gallery for a closer look.
Continue reading Tony Stewart and Lewis Hamilton swap cars at The Glen [w/video]
Tony Stewart and Lewis Hamilton swap cars at The Glen [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
