NASCAR fans recognize Tony Stewart, the driver of the number 14 Old Spice Chevrolet Impala, as a two-time Cup Series champion. But when Stewart arrived on Coronado’s campus wearing a black collared shirt and worker jeans, he was not all about racing, but rather about helping Coronado.
The NASCAR Club held a charity car wash in the Coronado parking lot on Feb. 26 in the spirit of NASCAR weekend, a race that would take place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1. During the car wash, club members received a special visit from the twotime NASCAR champion, who announced his arrival just a day prior.
Hundreds of cars packed the front parking lot to not only get their vehicle cleaned, but to hopefully meet and get an autograph from the guest celebrity. The NASCAR Club charged customers a minimum of $20 for an exterior detailing, with all proceeds going to the school. Stewart signed autographs for Coronado students and everyone who purchased a wash.
While being surrounded by reporters and photographers, Stewart hosed and scrubbed cars along with students from the NASCAR Club and the dance team.
“It’s pretty cool. You would’ve never expected someone famous to get down and dirty washing cars with you,” says sophomore Michael Molomy, who had the honor of washing several cars with Stewart.
Stewart was just as excited to help the students wash cars and give to a good cause.
“It is fun to come here and see how many of the students around here are working with us to help wash these cars,” Stewart says.
Some customers went even further than others to try to get the racing icon’s attention.
“I think some of them actually went out to get their cars dirty so we would wash them when we arrived,” jokes Stewart.
After washing three cars, Stewart and Armor All representatives presented a check for $10,000 to Coronado to benefit the school’s finances. The school also raised just over $1,000 from car wash sales.
“This was a really exciting moment,” says Assistant Principal Paul Fagone, who received the check on behalf of Coronado. “This is very good for the school,” he adds.
Though Stewart was having fun washing the cars, he did not mind talking about his racing strategies and what he has planned for the rest of the season.
“We want to make the chase. I feel that we have a team that is capable of going out and winning races and having a chance to make a run at the championship,” says Stewart.
Stewart also discussed Joey Logano taking over his former number 20 Home Depot Toyota and his spot with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I think he has done a great job,” says Stewart. “It was kind of a tough deal for us because we did not want to leave Joe Gibbs Racing, but if we left, we wanted to make sure there was going to be someone to represent the team. He has done a great job at such a young age, and I think we have a lot to look forward to with him.”
After leaving Gibbs Racing, Stewart decided to create his own racing team called Stewart-Haas Racing.
“It’s fun,” Stewart says. “It is a lot of responsibility because I have 150 people I have to be responsible for. But when you have results at the end of the day, it makes you feel proud of all the people that were working with you.”