Motorsports fans may debate about what auto racing series is the best around the world. However, for one day, NASCAR and Formula One united for a one-day event at one of America's finest road course facilities at Watkins Glen, NY.
Two champions came together as members of Mobil 1's racing family to swap rides at the Watkins Glen International road course this past Tuesday, negotiating around the famed speedway first in their original cars before climbing into unfamiliar territory.
Lewis Hamilton, who won the F1 title in 2008, warmed up his famed McLaren Mercedes colors with his car from last year, which was the MP4-23, before climbing into Tony Stewart's No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala.
Similar to Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya's car swap event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003, Hamilton and Stewart would make their first laps in different rides for one day.
Hamilton, who was coming off a last-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal this past weekend, was nervous before he got behind the wheel of Stewart's stock car.
If he was nervous, it was hardly noticeable, as he found himself quite comfortable in the Impala.
The 26-year-old pride of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England took the car out for one extra lap after his standard, six-lap quick race-trim run.
"I just feel like a kid," Hamilton said per AP Sports Writer John Kekis' article. "It's one of the coolest things I've done outside of Formula One. The competitive side of (racing) is so serious. After a tough weekend, I was worried even this morning."
No worries for Hamilton, as he impressed Stewart with his smooth laps and impromptu burnout after his run was completed.
"The good part is when you see somebody doing a burnout like that, you know they're having a good time," Stewart said. "That was icing on the cake."
As for the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, Tony Stewart was absolutely beside himself in Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes ride, delighting in the comforts and intricacies of his car.
Stewart drove his borrowed ride for four fast laps, besting Hamilton's quickest time by eight seconds despite running on rain tires.
"I couldn't even get it up high enough in the revs to get it to actually pull away in first gear," Stewart said. "As a competitor, you want to go out and find the limit.
"I told the guys on pit road that it's probably going to make my crew chief a little more stressed during the weekends now because I'm going to want it to handle like that all the time. That was truly the experience of a lifetime."
For the estimated crowd of 10,000 fans at the race track, it was about as good as it gets at Watkins Glen, which originally hosted the US Grand Prix from 1961 to '80.
NASCAR has made itself a fixture every August since 1986, but for track president Michael Printup, the scene of an F1 car roaring its way around the famed venue was spellbinding.
"I can't get rid of my goosebumps and my chills," Printup said. "It was amazing, and it was amazing to have these fans here."
Even Stewart told NASCAR Sprint Cup pace car driver Brett Bodine that he wanted the sanctioning body to consider utilizing the full road course layout instead of the shorter, 2.4-mile track.
These two champions got to experience the thrill of a lifetime with the ride swap, which will surely catch the attention and admiration of their competitors come their next racing weekend at their respective tracks at Brooklyn, MI and Valencia, Spain.
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